All All. Sign In. Advanced search. Search filters Expand all. Birth date. Enter full date. Page topics. Only includes names with the selected topics. Death date. Gender identity. Male Female Non-binary Other. Adult names. Exclude Include. Keanu Reeves. Keanu Charles Reeves, whose first name means "cool breeze over the mountains" in Hawaiian, was born September 2, in Beirut, Lebanon.
He is the son of Patric Reeves , a showgirl and costume designer, and Samuel Nowlin Reeves, a geologist. Stepfather 1 was Paul Aaron , a stage and film director - he and Patricia divorced within a year, after which she went on to marry and divorce rock promoter Robert Miller.
Reeves never reconnected with his biological father. In high school, Reeves was lukewarm toward academics but took a keen interest in ice hockey as team goalie, he earned the nickname "The Wall" and drama. He eventually dropped out of school to pursue an acting career. After a few stage gigs and a handful of made-for-TV movies, he scored a supporting role in the Rob Lowe hockey flick Youngblood , which was filmed in Canada. Shortly after the production wrapped, Reeves packed his bags and headed for Hollywood.
Reeves popped up on critics' radar with his performance in the dark adolescent drama, River's Edge , and landed a supporting role in the Oscar-nominated Dangerous Liaisons with director Stephen Frears.
The wacky time-travel movie became something of a cultural phenomenon, and audiences would forever confuse Reeves's real-life persona with that of his doofy on-screen counterpart. Over the next few years, Reeves tried to shake the Ted stigma with a series of highbrow projects.
