Griffin Dunne
☼ Born on 8 December 1955, in New York City, New York, USA
BiographyGriffin Dunne was born on June 8, 1955 in New York City, the oldest child of Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer, and Ellen Beatriz (Griffin) Dunne, an activist. His sister was actress Dominique Dunne. He grew up mainly in Los Angeles, California and attended school in Colorado before moving back to New York in the late 1970s. As an actor, Dunne has the distinction of having starred in two 1980s cult favorites. First came the John Landis monster movie An American Werewolf in London (1981), then the Martin Scorsese black comedy After Hours (1985). After Hours is also among the movies that Dunne has produced with partner Amy Robinson through their company Double Play Productions. Other Double Play productions include Running on Empty (1988), White Palace (1990) and Once Around (1991). Dunne has continued to appear on both sides of the camera, taking supporting roles as an actor in films like My Girl (1991) and I Like It Like That (1994). He made his directorial debut with a short film, Duke of Groove (1995), which was nominated for an Oscar.
Dunne then made the leap to feature films with Addicted to Love (1997), Practical Magic (1998), Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000) and Fierce People (2005). Dunne produced and starred in the film Game 6 (2005), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005.
Griffin's ancestry is Irish (from his father) and Irish, English, German, Mexican, and Swedish (from his mother).
In the role of actor
Werewolf (14/01/2017)
This review was originally posted as part of my coverage of TIFF 2016 Two homeless lovers choose different paths for each other in Werewolf. Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Nessa (Bhreagh MacNeil) are two homeless recovering drug addicts. In between trips to get their daily dose of methadone, the two lovers go door-to-door offering to mow lawns for cash. […]
Werewolf (10/09/2016)
Two homeless lovers choose different paths for each other in Werewolf. Blaise (Andrew Gillis) and Nessa (Bhreagh MacNeil) are two homeless recovering drug addicts. In between trips to get their daily dose of methadone, the two lovers go door-to-door offering to mow lawns for cash. Nessa begins to take her road to recovery more seriously, seeking out […]
Dallas Buyers Club (22/01/2014)
My pre-Oscar catch-up begins with this biographical drama starring Matthew McConaughey and directed by Quebecois filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée (Café de Flore). The film, which takes place in the mid-1980s, tells the story of Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), an electrician and rodeo cowboy, who finds out that that he is HIV positive. While at first Woodroof is […]
In the role of director
The Husband (16/03/2014)
The latest film from director Bruce McDonald focuses on Henry Andreas (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), a man who has to care for his infant son by himself, while his wife Alyssa (Sarah Allen) is in prison for sleeping with an underaged teenager named Colin Nesmith (Dylan Authors). Being the husband of a convicted pedophile is a hard […]