Hawke was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Leslie Carole (née Green) and James Steven Hawke. His maternal grandfather, Howard Lemuel Green, served five terms in the Texas Legislature and was a minor league baseball commissioner. Hawke's parents were students at the University of Texas at the time of his birth, and separated five years later. When he was ten, he moved with his mother from Atlanta Read more...

At the age of fourteen, he made his feature film debut in Joe Dante's Explorers (1985). Hawke studied acting at the British Theatre Association in England and at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He twice enrolled in New York University's English program and is one of the founding fathers and artistic director of Malaparte, a former New York City theatre company. Malaparte productions included Read more...

On May 1, 1998, Hawke married actress Uma Thurman. The couple had two children, daughter Maya Ray Thurman-Hawke (born July 8, 1998) and son Levon Green Thurman-Hawke (born January 15, 2002). They separated in 2003 and the divorce was finalized in 2005. Ethan married fellow Princeton native Ryan Shawhughes, a graduate of Columbia University, in June 2008. The wedding came just a few weeks before Read more...