This article is about the actor. For the cement businessman, see B. F. Affleck.
[>>]Source: WikipediaThis article is about the actor. For the cement businessman, see B. F. Affleck.
"Aflack" redirects here. For the insurance firm, see Aflac. For the Egyptian nationalist, see Aflaq.
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972), better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), and Dogma (1999). Affleck won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997), which he co-wrote with Matt Damon, and has appeared in lead roles in such popular hits as Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Daredevil (2003), Hollywoodland (2007) and State of Play (2009).
Affleck is a critically acclaimed filmmaker. He directed Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010), playing the lead in the latter. He has worked with his younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, on several projects, including Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone.
Affleck has been married to Jennifer Garner since June 2005. They have two daughters, Violet and Seraphina, and a son, Samuel. He dated the actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998. His relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez attracted worldwide media attention, in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed "Bennifer". The two broke up in 2004.
Affleck has been actively involved in politics and charitable causes. He and Matt Damon also founded the production company LivePlanet.
Early life
Affleck was born in Berkeley, California. His mother, Christine Anne "Chris" (née Boldt), is a school district employee and teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, has been, at various times, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bartender, writer, director, and actor with the Theater Company of Boston. Affleck's mother graduated from Harvard University and was a freedom rider in the 1960s; she teaches in Cambridge Public Schools. His younger brother is actor Casey Affleck. Affleck has Irish, Scottish, English, and German ancestry (the surname "Affleck" is Scottish). He was raised in a mostly Episcopal family. His family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, when he was very young and his parents divorced in 1984. At age eight, Affleck met 10-year-old Matt Damon, who lived two blocks away (Damon is Affleck's tenth cousin, once removed, through a common New England ancestor). The two later attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School together, although they were in different grades. Affleck attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, as well as the University of Vermont, and majored in Middle Eastern affairs.
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