Macaulay Culkin, byname Mack, (born August 26, 1980, New York City, New York, U.S.), American actor who rose to fame in John Hughes’s 1990 box office hit Home Alone and quickly became one of the most famous child actors of the 1990s.
He next appeared in Only the Lonely and costarred in the highly acclaimed My Girl, both released in 1991. Culkin returned to his star-making role as Kevin in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), which also performed well at the box office. Culkin’s next role, a dramatic turn from his previous work, was in the dark and disturbing The Good Son (1993), in which he played a deeply troubled child.
Culkin continued to work steadily, appearing in one more film that year and in three films the next year—The Nutcracker (1993), Getting Even with Dad (1994), The Pagemaster (1994), and, in the title role, Richie Rich (1994)—before taking a step back from acting in his early 20s to act occasionally and to pursue other creative opportunities.
Meanwhile, Culkin had returned to acting in the early 2000s. He starred in the play Madame Melville, which opened in London in 2000 and moved to New York City (Off-Broadway) the next year. His first movie as an adult was Party Monster (2003), in which he played the murderous party promoter Michael Alig. It was closely followed by his role in Saved! (2004), a comedy in which he played a high-school student whose sister is a Christian zealot. Later films included Sex and Breakfast (2007), The Wrong Ferrari (2011), Adam Green’s Aladdin (2016), and Changeland (2019). During this time he also worked in television, notably making appearances on Will & Grace, in 2003; Foster Hall, in 2004; Kings, in 2009; Dollface, in 2019; American Horror Story, in 2021; and The Righteous Gemstones, in 2022. Culkin lent his voice to Robot Chicken (2001– ) and appeared as himself in The Jim Gaffigan Show (2015–16).
Culkin pursued other creative interests as well. He wrote a novel, Junior (2005), which is the story of a young star who has a troubled relationship with his father; while ostensibly fiction, it appeared to have many similarities to Culkin’s own experiences with his father. Culkin also dabbled in music. He formed a band called the Pizza Underground that performed the songs of the Velvet Underground but with the lyrics humorously revised to incorporate a pizza theme. Pizza Underground went on a brief tour in 2014. In 2017 Culkin created the comedy website and accompanying podcast Bunny Ears, which was a satiric riff on wellness and lifestyle brands.
bio by @yusufpiskin
Known For
Music by John Williams
Kevin McCallister (archive footage) (uncredited)
2024
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy
(voice) · (1 episode)
2024
The Paloni Show! Halloween Special!
Mogg (voice)
2022
Entergalactic
Downtown Pat (voice)
2022
Celebrity Jeopardy!
Self · (1 episode)
2022
LCD Soundsystem Holiday Special
Pat Mahoney
2021
Our Popcorn Movie Dystopia - Some More News: The Movie
Macaulay Culkin/Alternate Cody
2020
The Movies That Made Us
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2019
Dollface
Dan Hackett · (1 episode)
2019
The Righteous Gemstones
Harmon Freeman · (2 episodes)
2019
Changeland
Ian
2019
Leaving Neverland: ProSieben Spezial
Self (archive footage)
2019
Google Assistant: Home Alone Again
Kevin McCallister
2018
Cabiria, Charity, Chastity
Spectre / Tough One
2017
Adam Green's Aladdin
Ralph
2016
Zoolander 2
Macaulay Culkin
2016
:DRYVRS
Kevin McCallister · (1 episode)
2015
:DRYVRS
Hero · (5 episodes)
2015
Robot Chicken: Christmas Specials
Various (voice) (archive sound)
2014
An Open Secret
Self (archive footage)
2014
The Eric Andre Show
Self · (1 episode)
2012
American Horror Story
Mickey · (5 episodes)
2011
The Wrong Ferarri
2011
Michael Jackson: VIDEOGRAPHY
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2010
Kings
Andrew Cross · (13 episodes)
2009
Sex and Breakfast
James
2007
Robot Chicken
(1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Vampire #2 / Bastian / Co-anchor · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Little Boy / Bullied Kid / Himself · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
So Hungry / Luke Duke · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Dean Devlin / Sponge · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Prince Adam / Farmer · (1 episode)
2005
Robot Chicken
Kevin McCallister / Billy / Kid (voice) · (1 episode)
2005
Michael Jackson's Boys
Self (archive footage)
2005
Jerusalem Syndrome
2004
Saved!
Roland
2004
The Angry Video Game Nerd
Self · (1 episode)
2004
Foster Hall
Clark Hall
2004
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2003
Party Monster
Michael Alig
2003
Michael Jackson's Private Home Movies
Self
2003
The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family'
Self
2002
Will & Grace
Jason 'J.T.' Towne · (1 episode)
1998
The View
Self · (2 episodes)
1997
E! True Hollywood Story
Self · (2 episodes)
1996
Ri¢hie Ri¢h
Richie Rich
1994
The Making of 'The Pagemaster'
Self
1994
The Pagemaster
Richard Tyler
1994
Getting Even with Dad
Timmy Gleason
1994
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker Prince
1993
Dangerous: The Short Films
Self (uncredited)
1993
The Good Son
Henry Evans
1993
Frasier
Elliott (voice) · (1 episode)
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
1993
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Kevin
1992
Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour
Self - Boy in video
1992
My Girl
Thomas J. Sennett
1991
Wish Kid
Nick McClary · (13 episodes)
1991
Only the Lonely
Billy Maldoon
1991
WWE WrestleMania VII
Self
1991
Home Alone
Kevin
1990
Jacob's Ladder
Gabe (uncredited)
1990
Uncle Buck
Miles Russell
1989
See You in the Morning
Billy Livingstone
1989
Rocket Gibraltar
Cy Blue Black
1988
The Midnight Hour
Halloween Kid (uncredited)
1985
The Equalizer
Paul Gephardt · (1 episode)
1985
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1975
Saturday Night Live
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
1975