Matthew Modine

Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22nd, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles that include Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, Sullivan Groff on Weeds and Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix original Stranger Things.

Modine has been acting since his graduation and he is also the nephew of stage actress Nola Fairbanks. After his graduation, Modine moved to New York City to pursue his dream of art and theater.

As of today, he is married to actress Caridad Rivera and they have two children together; Boman Mark Rivera Modine (born November 8th, 1985) and Ruby Wylder Rivera Modine (born July 31st, 1990).

Early Life

Modine was born in Loma Lunda, California and was the youngest of seven children. He was the son of Dolores, a bookkeeper, and Mark Alexander Modine, who managed a few Drive-In Theaters. He was also the nephew of a stage actress Nola Modine Fairbanks and the great-grandson of the prospector and pioneer Ralph Jacobus Fairbanks. Modine had lived in Utah for several years, moving every 1 or 2 years. The drive-in theaters his father had managed were being torn down because the land beneath them had exceeded the value of the theaters. The Modine Family had returned to Imperial Beach, California. There, Matthew had attended and graduated from Mar Vista High School in 1977.

Career

His first film role was in John Sayles' film Baby Its You. Modine's perfomance in that film caught the eye of director Harold Becker, who casted him in the film Vision Quest, which was based on Terry Davis' novel of the same name. Modine also appeared in the sex comedy, Private School, the film co-stared Phoebe Gates and Betsy Russell.