Keanu Charles Reeves (pronounced in IPA: [ki'anu]) is a Canadian actor, born September 2, 1964 in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is well known for playing Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix. He is also well known for playing Ted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey. Other notable roles include Scott Favor in the drama My Own Private Idaho alongside River Phoenix, Kevin Lomax in the supernatural thriller The Devil's Advocate, and starring roles in the action films Speed and Constantine. He has played bass guitar in the grunge band Dogstar during the 1990s, and more recently in the band Becky. In an ETonline survey in 2006, he is in "Top Ten of America's Favorite Stars".In December 1999, Reeves' girlfriend, Jennifer Syme, gave birth to a stillborn daughter who was named Ava Archer Syme-Reeves. In April 2001, Syme was killed in a car accident. She was buried next to their daughter in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Reeves was a pallbearer at Syme's funeral.
Reeves enjoys riding his numerous motorcycles and coined the term "demon ride" to describe how he often rides with no headlights at night. On one of his "demon rides" in 1988, he crashed near Topanga Canyon and broke several ribs and ruptured his spleen; he has had an abdominal scar ever since: when the paramedics arrived, an emergency medical technician trainee dropped one end of the stretcher by mistake.For nearly a decade following his initial rise to stardom, Reeves lived a vagabond existence in hotels, opting not to buy a house or find a permanent place of residence, despite earning millions. Reeves has lived in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles since 2003, but also has an apartment in New York City. Although it is commonly assumed that he believes in Buddhism because he studied the religion while filming The Little Buddha, he said: "I wasn't raised in any special denominations and I haven't taken on any so far."After Syme's death, he said he doesn't believe that things happen "for a reason."
Reeves is fond of chess, motorcycles, ice hockey, and table tennis. He is left-handed, but plays the bass guitar right-handed and loves punk rock bands such as The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, and The Clash, he also has a taste for Indie Rock citing to be a fan of They Might Be Giants and Crooked Fingers, as well as Mary J Blige and RnB legends Stevie Wonder and Otis Redding
In a 1992 New Year's Eve party show, Reeves filled in on bass for punk rock band The Vandals while bassist Joe Escalante was at a wedding. He began playing the bass with rock band Dogstar, which has now gone "into hibernation." Reeves also had a part in New York thrash metal band Anthrax's "Safe Home" music video. More recently, he played bass in a band called Becky with former Dogstar drummer Rob Mailhouse, guitarist Paulie Kosta and singer Rebecca Lord. In early 2005, he announced that he was leaving the band and his musical career for good.
Reeves is reported to be very generous with his time and money, lending both to a variety of causes. He took a significant amount of the profits from his Matrix series and treated the 12 stuntmen who worked on the films to Harley Davidson motorcycles, among other things.
