Dick Cusack Biography

Richard John “Dick” Cusack was an award-winning American actor, advertising executive, filmmaker, screenwriter, and playwright. The multi-talented person with a dry sense of humor was the patriarch of a noted family of actors from Chicago. Born and raised in New York, into an Irish Catholic family, Cusack served in World War II and later studied at the ‘College of the Holy Cross.’ He made a successful career in advertising and earned a ‘Clio Award.’ However, later, he left the advertising field to form his own production company, ‘Cusack Productions,’ and won an ‘Emmy Award’ for his educational documentary ‘The Committee.’ Cusack wrote a number of plays and screenplays. He also appeared in a number of movies, portraying authoritative characters in most of them. Though he worked in nearly 15 films, his first preference was writing. He wrote the 1999 film ‘The Jack Bull,’ which starred his son, John Cusack. Dick Cusack was married to Ann Paula “Nancy” and had five children, all of whom later made their mark in acting. He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 77.