Richard John Cusack (/ˈkjuːsæk/KEW-sak; August 29, 1925 – June 2, 2003)^[1] was an American actor and documentary filmmaker.

Cusack was born Richard John Cusack on August 29, 1925 in New York City, the son of Margaret Cusack (née McFeeley) and Dennis Joseph Cusack.^[2] His family was ofIrish Catholic background.^[3] He served with theU.S. Army in the Philippines in World War II. After the war, he attendedCollege of the Holy Cross inWorcester, Massachusetts, where he played basketball withBob Cousy and roomed withPhilip F. Berrigan, the peace activist.^[1][4][5]

Until 1970, Cusack worked as aClio Award-winning advertising executive.

He then pursued a career as a film actor, beginning with minor roles. Most of his acting roles were playing authority figures, such as a United States Senate chairman, minister/chaplain, and U.S. secretary of state. He played a judge in the TV movieOverexposed and in the theatrical releasesThings Change andEight Men Out.

Cusack was adocumentary filmmaker.^[6] He also owned a film production company.

He was honored with an award from the Evanston Arts Council for preserving a school and converting it into the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, which houses thePiven Theatre Workshop where his famous acting children trained. Two weeks before his death, he completed the final draft of a play to memorialize his former college roommate entitled,Backoff Barkman, which was produced posthumously in theMidwest.^{[citation needed]}

Cusack married his wife, Ann Paula "Nancy" (née Carolan; 1929–2022) in 1960.^[2][7] Together they had five children:Ann Cusack,Joan Cusack, Bill Cusack,John Cusack and Susie Cusack, all of whom followed him into the acting profession.^[5] Circa 1963–1966, the Cusack family moved from New York City toEvanston, Illinois, where the five children grew up.

Cusack died on June 2, 2003, inEvanston, Illinois, frompancreatic cancer, aged 77.^[5]

• Dick Cusack atIMDb
• Richard John “Dick” Cusack atFind a Grave

• 1925 births
• 2003 deaths
• American male film actors
• American male screenwriters
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• College of the Holy Cross alumni
• American people of Irish descent
• Cusack family (United States)
• Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Illinois
• Male actors from Evanston, Illinois
• Male actors from New York City
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• Screenwriters from Illinois
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male writers
• 20th-century American writers
• 20th-century American screenwriters

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