Owen Wilson

Born: 18 November 1968
Where: Dallas, Texas, USA

The broken-nosed star of Starsky & Hutch and Behind Enemy Lines was once thrown out of school for cheating in a maths exam.

His advertising executive father and photographer mother Laura than despatched him to the tough New Mexico Military Institute to learn some discipline.

It was there he discovered his passion for writing - editing the college magazine - and then went to California's UCLA to study English.

Next he and future director and writer Wes Anderson clicked when they met in a script-writing class at the University of Texas.

Wilson's entry into the film industry came with the short, Bottle Rocket, which he wrote along with Wes and starred in with brothers Andrew and Luke.

With a shoestring budget, the semi-autobiographical film was successful on the festival circuit and allowed Wilson and Anderson to flesh out the idea.

However, the James L Brooks-produced, longer version of Bottle Rocket failed test screenings and received little studio push.

As an actor, Wilson had minor roles in The Cable Guy in 1996 and the following year in the B-movie Anaconda.

He reteamed with Anderson on the sublime Rushmore, starring Bill Murray, which he co-wrote and executive produced.

Next came cod-horror flic The Haunting, during which he needed stitches when a candlestick stunt went wong.

Switching genres, he starred as Roy O'Bannen in the martial arts spoof Shanghai Noon with Jackie Chan.

He starred with comic mate Ben Stiller in Meet The Parents and Zoolander, as well as The Royal Tenenbaums (for which he was Oscar-nominated as a co-writer), also starring brother Luke.

Next up was the slick action caper Behind Enemy Lines with Gene Hackman, the buddy movie I Spy with Eddie Murphy and Shanghai Noon sequel Shanghai Knights

He played Hutch in the modern remake of Seventies TV series Starsky & Hutch for an £8m paycheque to Stiller's Starsky and also stars in crime thriller The Big Bounce.

In 2005, he teamed up with Vince Vaughn to play a couple of rogue romeos in the comedy Wedding Crashers.

Offscreen, Wilson's private life entered a dark chapter when he reportedly attempted to take his own life by slashing his wrists and overdosing on pills in August 2007.

The alleged suicide bid took place shortly after his split with actress Kate Hudson and led to his withdrawal from the filming of the Ben Stiller comedy Tropic Thunder.

Since the incident, Wilson has appeared in the Wes Anderson movie The Darjeeling Limited and the comedy Drillbit Taylor.