Despite his young age, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has already distinguished himself as an actor with a wide range of performances in both television and film. He starred on the hit television series 3rd Rock From the Sun for which he earned two Hollywood Reporter Young Star Awards and the show earned three SAG Award nominations for "Outstanding Peformance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series." Prior to his success on television, he was already working steadily in feature films, debuting in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It for which he received the Young Artist Award for "Best Actor Under Ten." Other film credits include Angels in the Outfield, The Juror, Halloween: H2O, 10 Things I Hate About You and one of the lead voices in the animated film, Treasure Planet.

Gordon-Levitt recently took time off from acting to attend Columbia University. His most recent film credits include the 2001 Sundance film Manic, where he plays an angry young man sent to a juvenile mental institute. He returned to Sundance this year with two diametrically opposed lead roles in Rian Johnson's Brick and Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin. Brick, earned a Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision. Having screened at the Venice, Toronto and London Film Festivals, Mysterious Skin has already earned him accolades for his portrayal of a gay hustler haunted by his sexually abused past.

Gordon-Levitt, who resides in both New York and Los Angeles, will next appear in Barbara Kopple's Havoc as well as Shadowboxer opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. and Helen Mirren.


Attended Columbia University [2000] Plays the guitar. His maternal grandfather was Michael Gordon, who directed such films as Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) and Pillow Talk (1959). Gordon's career was crippled when he was blacklisted during the Red Scare of the mid-Twentieth Century. His parents are Jane Gordon and Dennis Levitt, who met as activists in California. Gordon ran for Congress in 1970. Appeared in a preschool production of "Wizard of Oz". Grandson of Michael Gordon. Was ranked #6 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. (2008). Gordon-Levitt was nominated for a 2009 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event with his fellow producers of the Broadway show "Slava's Snowshow.".