Joan, along with her brother John Cusack (who also became an actor) grew up in Evanston, Illinois. There she began studying drama at the Pivan Theater Workshop. Following high school, Joan attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has two other sisters, Susie and Ann, as well as another brother, Bill. The entire Cusack clan ended up pursuing careers in acting, although John and Joan have been the most successful to date.
Cusack’s first major film role was when she was just eighteen in the film, My Bodyguard in 1980. The film starred Adam Baldwin and Matt Dillon. Joan and her brother John also began appearing in movies together beginning with Class in 1983, co-starring Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, and Jacqueline Bisset.
To date, the brother and sister duo have appeared in eight films together, including Grandview, U.S.A.; Sixteen Candles in 1984, which starred Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall; Broadcast News in 1987; Say Anything in 1989; Grosse Point Blank in 1997; Cradle Will Rock in 1999; and High Fidelity, co-starring Jack Black, Lisa Bonet, Tim Robbins, and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Most recently, Joan completed starring in the film Ice Princess in 2005. Her co-star Michelle Trachtenberg, who was her on-screen daughter, shares Joan’s birthday on October 11.
In 1985 Joan became a cast member of the popular comedy show Saturday Night Live. She stayed on the show for only one season and then went on to work on other projects. Joan became the first Saturday Night Live cast member to become an Academy Award Nominee.
In 2001, Cusack also had her own TV show called What About Joan. The series only lasted one season. One of Joan’s conditions for doing the show was that it had to be filmed in Chicago so she would not have to leave her family.
Joan has earned two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her roles in the films, Working Girl in 1988, co-starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Alec Baldwin, and In & Out in 1997, co-starring Kevin Kline, Matt Dillon, Debbie Reynolds, Tom Selleck, and Bob Newhart.
Joan married Richard Burke in 1993. Her husband is an attorney in Chicago. The couple has two sons together: Dylan, born in 1997, and Miles, born in 2000. They currently reside in Chicago, Illinois.
Currently, Joan is the spokesperson for U.S. Cellular. She has appeared in several of their commercials.
YUDDY
