Early life

LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Shayna (née Saide) and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf. LaBeouf’s mother is a dancer and ballerina turned visual artist and clothing jewelry designer. LaBeouf’s father is a Vietnam War veteran who had numerous jobs. LaBeouf’s mother is Jewish and his father is a Cajun. LaBeouf was raised in his mother’s Jewish religion and had a Bar Mitzvah, though he was also baptized. He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD) and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors. In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers his some of those memories scars. LaBeouf has described his parents as “hippies”, his father as “tough as nails and a different breed of man”, and his upbringing as similar to a “hippy lifestyle”, stating that his parents were “pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them.”The actor also accompanied his dad to alcoholic anonymous meetings. LaBeouf has also said he was subjected to verbal and mental abuse by his father, who once pointed a gun at his son during a Vietnam War flashback. LaBeouf says his father was “on drugs” during his childhood and was placed in drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction while LaBeouf’s mother was “trying to hold down the fort.” His parents eventually divorced, mainly due to financial problems, and LaBeouf had what he has described as a “good childhood”, growing up poor with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches in Echo Park. LaBeouf’s uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and “they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps.” As a way of dealing with his parents divorce he would perform for his family, mimicking his father LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents.

When LaBeouf was 19, after a neighbor in his Studio City apartment complex had allegedly insulted his mother and rear-ended her car, LaBeouf brought a knife, and a friend for backup, to the neighbor’s apartment, which resulted in LaBeouf being assaulted by the neighbor and six of the neighbor’s friends.Few of the 21st century class of teen actors enjoyed as meteoric a rise as Shia LaBeouf, who was elevated from kid TV star to bankable movie lead in such Hollywood blockbusters as “Transformers” (2007) and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008). Though an Emmy winner for his performance as an excitable grade schooler on the Disney sitcom “Even Stevens” (The Disney Channel, 2000-03), he initially remained a celebrity solely in the eyes of the ‘tween’ set. However, the quick wit and easy-going charm he displayed in the youth-oriented features “Holes” (2003) and “The Greatest Game Ever Played” (2004) set him apart from the Tiger Beat crowd, earning him notice from major players like Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay who would both keep an eye on the promising youth. With his first adult role in the bonafide hit thriller “Disturbia” (2006) LaBeouf proved he could open a movie. Not long after, he solidified his new A-list status with a starring role in Michael Bay’s special effects extravaganza, “Transformers.” Only his turn as the Brando-like greaser son of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) in the highly anticipated “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” could top that double shot of screen success. The express rocket to fame afforded by these films also increased scrutiny of the baby-faced actor’s personal life, which was put into sharp focus when LaBeouf was arrested on several misdemeanor counts for trespassing and drunk driving, just as he was enjoying his status as the latest heartthrob du jour.

Born Shia Saide LaBeouf on June 11, 1986, in Los Angeles, CA, LaBeouf was raised in the working class neighborhood of Echo Park by his mother, Shayna Saide, whose own father worked as a comedian in the Borscht Belt. His father, Jeffrey, was a Vietnam veteran and jack-of-all-trades who divorced Saide while struggling with drug addiction, leaving her to support their son by selling fabrics and jewelry. In later years, LaBeouf would reconcile with his eccentric father and even provide shelter for him in a teepee on land purchased in Montana and, on occasion, in the garage of his Los Angeles home. A precocious child with a talent for spinning outlandish stories at a young age, LaBeouf began performing stand-up at local clubs while still in grade school – all in a means of assisting his cash-strapped family. The acting bug bit harder when LaBeouf saw a friend on an episode of the family series, “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” (CBS, 1993-98) – a pivotal moment which strengthened his resolve to pursue acting as a means of satisfying both his need to financially help his family and his desire to perform.

According to LaBeouf, he landed an agent by simply picking one from the Yellow Pages, pretending to be an adult while raving about an up-and-coming young talent named “Shia LaBeouf.” The ruse clearly worked, as he was signed by the agency at the age of 12, and began making the rounds on network programs like “The X-Files” (Fox, 1993-2002) and “Freaks and Geeks” (NBC, 1999-2000). In 2003, he landed the role of Louis Stevens, the manic, nerdy counterpoint to perfect older sister Ren (Christy Carlson Romano) on “Even Stevens.” The series was a success with younger viewers and earned LaBeouf excellent notices, as well as a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series for the show’s final season in 2003.

LaBeouf reunited with the “Even Stevens” cast for a Disney Channel original movie, “The Even Stevens Movie” (2003), before making the jump to theatrical features, starting with Disney’s adaptation of the popular young adult book “Holes” (2003). As Stanley Yelnats, the son of a family of New York eccentrics who finds himself incarcerated at a hard labor camp for young criminal offenders, LaBeouf brought both his comic chops and an effortless knack for drama, which allowed him to shine in a cast populated by heavyweights like Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight and Tim Blake Nelson. “Holes” earned LaBeouf critical praise as well as the inevitable “performer-to-watch” buzz. For his performance in “Holes,” LaBeouf netted an MTV Movie Award for Breakthrough Male Performer. LaBeouf’s other big screen adventures in 2003 were somewhat less noteworthy – he had a cameo in the noisy “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and took the lead in “The Battle of Shaker Heights,” the second film to come from the dire “Project Greenlight” (HBO/Bravo, 2000-05) reality series. LaBeouf’s raw frustration with the ill-prepared directors of “Shaker Heights” and its hot-wired producers was the sole highlight of the show’s second season.

2005 saw LaBeouf back in the Disney fold for the historical drama “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” in which he played a real-life golf prodigy who squares off against the game’s top player in the 1913 U.S. Open. Few theatergoers saw his subdued performance, but it did help solidify the notion that LaBeouf could carry a film. That same year, LaBeouf made another canny career move that helped entrench him in Hollywood’s mind, following a small role in the Will Smith big-budget sci-fi film, “I, Robot.” Following these movies, LaBeouf divided his time between major studio productions and smaller, independent projects. He played the wisecracking chauffeur to Keanu Reeves’ supernatural detective in “Constantine, then lent his voice to the English-language dub of “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” (2005), an anime feature popular with devotees of the genre. He also made his directorial debut alongside Lorenzo Eduardo that year with the experimental short, “Let’s Love Hate,” which addressed racial intolerance. The film netted several awards at regional festivals.

In 2006, LaBeouf risked much and bared all as a waiter who strips nude during an LSD experience in Emilio Estevez’s pet project, “Bobby,” which chronicled the lives of various Robert Kennedy supports at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of his 1968 assassination. As part of the A-list cast, LaBeouf shared a Screen Actors’ Guild nomination with the sizable all-star lineup. Although they did not win that award, LaBeouf would go on to win the Special Jury Prize with his castmates for “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” (2006), a gritty true-life drama about growing up in 1980s New York. Though neither film was a box-office success, they further bolstered LaBeouf’s profile as a young actor with mature skills and interests.

LaBeouf remained strictly on the Hollywood side of the movie fence for much of 2007. He took the lead in “Disturbia,” a youth-oriented thriller inspired by “Rear Window” (1954), then voiced a hot-dogging penguin who surfed in the animated feature “Surf’s Up.” LaBeouf also signed on as one of the few human performers in Michael Bay’s summer offering, “Transformers.” The young actor received a major career boost when he was cast to play Mutt Williams, son of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) and Marion (Karen Allen), in the much-anticipated, but ultimately disappointing “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008). Despite making over $300 million at the box office, the fourth installment to the series was criticized for a weak plot and over-excessive CGI-graphics.

Just months after “Crystal Skull” was released, LaBeouf was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving after his pick-up truck collided with another vehicle at 3 a.m. in West Hollywood, CA. The actor was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries to his knee and hand, as well as a minor head injury. Though the arresting officers detected alcohol on his breath and obvious signs of intoxication, LaBeouf was not formally charged. Police later revealed that the other driver caused the accident by ignoring a red light and was subject to arrest. In the car with LeBeouf was actress Isabel Lucas, who was set to co-star with him in the action sequel, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009).

Facts

• Birthname: Shia Saide LaBeouf

• Nicknames: Shia, Rappi

• Family: Father (Jeffrey La Beouf). Cajun; seperated from Shayna c. 1996; a Vietnam vet and onetime rodeo clown, who was in and out of rehab for heroin addiction Mother: (Shayna La Beouf). Jewish; seperated from Jeffrey c. 1996; sold beads on the street for extra cash to support son.

• Education: Hamilton Academy of Music, Los Angeles , California & Magnet School of Performing Arts, Los Angeles , California

• Height: 5′ 9¼” (1.76 m)

• Date of birth: June 11, 1986

• Place of birth: Los Angeles, California, USA

• Zodiac: Gemini

• Height: 5’10?

• Eyes/Hair: Hazel/brown

• Current Residence: Glendale, CA

• Favorite Color: Red

• Favorite Movies: Dumb & Dumber, Saving Silverman, all comedy movies, American Beauty

• Favorite TV Shows: The Cheater

• Favorite Music: The Shins, 50 Cents, all hip hop, System of a Down, Ben Folds, Jack Johnson

Trivias

• Shia’s father, Jeffrey LaBeouf, is a French Cajun and his mom, Shayna LaBeouf, is a New York-born Russian.

• Shia is raised as a Jewish, but celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah.

• Had his Bar Mitzvah when he was 13.

• His first serious girlfriend was China Brezner, daughter of Larry Brezner, producer of “The Greatest Game Ever Played”. They dated for three years, but broke up in early 2007 because Shia was very “work oriented”.

• Shia means “a gift from God” in Hebrew, while LaBeouf is a mispelled version of laboeuf, which means “the beef” in French. So literally his name means “thank God for the beef”.

• Shia said that his parents are “hippies”.

• His shoe size is 11.

• He wears contact lenses.

• When he was a kid, he and his parents dressed up as clowns and sell hot dogs in Echo Park.

• He has two dogs named Brando and Rex.

• He and his friend started a very unique hobby, painting toilet seats and then sell them to the markets.

• He plays drum and formed a recording label named Element Cru.

• Rapped alongside G-Money in the Viper Room in 2005.

• Shia enjoys rap and hip hop music so much, because he was raised in predominantly African-American society.

• He said that he’s an internet nerd, and his favorite websites on the net are MySpace, CHUD, Ain’t It Cool News, Dodgers, and Apple Quicktime Trailers.

• His favorite actors are Jon Voight, John Turturro, Jodi Foster, and Dustin Hoffman.

• Shia is a Dodgers fan. He said that Dodger tickets were one of his biggest splurge.

• He shares his first name with his maternal grandfather, a comedian who worked on Borsche Belt.

• Spent his childhood in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California.

• Was arrested in November 2007 for a criminal trespassing in Walgreens Chicago. Fortunately the charge was dropped in December 2007.

• During the filming of Eagle Eye, he was caught for unlawful smoking in a public property, and received a warning ticket. He was almost charged for an arrest warrant because he didn’t come to the court. The charge was later dismissed after he paid $500 fine.

• Was in a car crash in July 27, 2008, which made his left hand broken. Shia was not at fault because his car was hit by another car which ran a red light.

• Named after his grandfather who is also a comedian.

• Enjoys making independent short films with his friends

• Celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.

• Attended the prestigious Hamilton Academy of Music in Los Angeles, California, along with actors such as Emile Hirsch, Fernanda Romero, Frank Miranda Will Rothhaar, Rachel Kiri Walker, Candace Lifson, Kyla Pratt, Kaitlin Doubleday, and Cherish Lee.

• Graduated from high school in 2003. In the fall he is planning on going to college, preferably Yale University.

• His first name is pronounced to rhyme with “hiya.”

• Plays the drums.

• Wears a size-11 shoe

• Favorite movies are Dumb & Dumber (1994) and Saving Silverman (2001).

• For music, he likes to listen to System of a Down, 50 Cent, Eminem, D12, Led Zeppelin, Jack Johnson, Ben Folds, and others.

• Is involved with Joe Torre’s Give Back to the Children’s Fund.

• Wears contact lenses.

• When younger, he attended 32nd Street USC Visual and Performing Arts Magnet.

• Performed alongside hip-hop MC G-Money at the Viper Room on January 2005.

• Shares the same birthday with “Jackass” (2000) star Ryan Dunn.

• Won a Daytime Emmy award in 2003 for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series at the age of 16 for his portrayal of Louis Stevens on “Even Stevens” (1999).

• Sometimes plays basketball with “Lizzie McGuire” (2001) star Adam Lamberg.

• Started a hip-hop group/record label (Element) and a film production company (www.grassyslope.com) with fellow actor and best friend ‘Lorenzo Eduardo’.

• Grew up in Los Angeles with actor Bo Barrett.

• Was considered for the role of Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns (2006).

• Second father and mentor was Jon Voight.

• Last name is pronounced “La-buff”.

• American Beauty (1999) is one of his favorite films.

• His French-Cajun father, Jeffrey LaBeouf, was a clown from San Francisco who spent time in France studying commedia dell’arte.

• His mother, Shayna, was a former ballet dancer from New York who once studied with Martha Graham. She also once ran a head shop across the street from Tompkins Square Park.

• As a child, he and his parents would dress up like clowns and sell hot dogs in the park across the street from their apartment.

• Growing up, he lived in an apartment on Glendale Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

• Grew up in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California.

• Considers The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) as his transition movie from child actor to adult actor.

• When he was a guest on “Late Show with David Letterman” (1993) during the hype for Transformers (2007), Dave asked Shia how his name originated. Shia responded saying that the name “Shia” was Hebrew for Praise God and his last name “LaBeouf” was French for Beef, hence the phrase “Praise God for Beef”.

• Had only two days off between finishing the shooting of Disturbia (2007) and beginning that of Transformers (2007).

• Became good friends with Adam Scarimbolo, and Channing Tatum on the set of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).

• Was ranked #7 on Yahoo! List of 10 Most Popular Stars of 2007 on Yahoo! Movies.(2007).

• Ranked #4 on interview magazines Hollywood faces to watch “future stars of tomorrow”.

• Was ranked #24 on Entertainment Weekly’s ’30 Under 30′ the actors list. (2008).

• Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Jodie Foster, and John Turturro are his inspirations.

• At age 13, he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah (the traditional coming-of-age ceremony for Jewish boys).

• Was arrested for driving under the influence after being involved in a car accident. [July 2008]

• His car crash at the end of July 2008 left him with a damaged hand. He had to undergo extensive surgery that lasted for at least 4 hours. His injury will be written into Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) from which he had to take some time off after the crash.

• Was ranked #6 on Moviefone’s ‘The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25′(2008).

• Wants to Star in a biopic of New York Horror-Core MC and personal friend, Cage (Chris Palko).

• His driver’s license was suspended for a year in January 2009, as a consequence of refusing blood-alcohol-level testing after his car accident in 2008.

• Is in a relationship with Carey Mulligan as of August 2009, having met her when they began filming Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) together.

• His family name does not actually mean “the beef”. As spelled, it is a Cajun deformation of the original French name “LeBoeuf”. “Le” instead of “La” because in French, “Beef” or “Boeuf” is masculine and the correct way the name is spelled is “Leboeuf” or “LeBoeuf”. As so often happened in Louisiana, the name became deformed because the French sent there could say their name but could not read or write French correctly. “Beouf” is not a French word or name. There is no such name as “Labeouf” or “LaBeouf” in French. Correctly spelled it would mean “the beef” in the singular tense.

• [2009] Topped Forbes list of actors who give movie studios the best return on their investment, with his films earning an average of $160.00 Dollars for every $1 Dollar he is paid.

• Has appeared in three movies that feature sentient robots. I, Robot (2004), Transformers (2007) and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009).

• Lives in Sherman Oaks, California.

• Appeared twice on the cover of GQ magazine: June ’08 and April ’10.

Quotes

• [when asked about what it's like to be a celebrity] I’ll tell you when I become one.

• [when asked about what type of girls he likes] I like the dark, mysterious, maybe even gothic type girls. They have to have a good personality, too. I’m very picky.

• I got to grow up in a situation where drugs were demonic. To watch your dad go through heroin withdrawal is something that would keep you from doing any of that yourself.

• I’m not an Adonis, that’s for damn sure. I’ve never really thought of myself that way, and it doesn’t matter to me. My favorite actors aren’t Adonises. Dustin Hoffman is a flawed-looking man; he’s amazing to me. Tom Hanks is flawed-looking; people love him. Same with Gene Hackman.

• I was billed as the ten-year-old kid with the 50-year-old mouth. I knew if I wanted to work in the business, funny would be good because I looked like Garry Shandling.

• Clubs are so lame. Nobody even dances at these clubs. They stand around and get drunk and they schmooze. There is no enjoyment factor. You get so many invites . . . partying has never interested me. My dad was a drug addict. There’s something about watching your dad go through heroin withdrawal when you’re 11. It’s not interesting anymore. I’m not individualizing this. There are lots of kids that deal with this. I’m an ’80s baby; that’s what was going on.
• [on his co-star Harrison Ford]I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Harrison on (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the) Crystal Skull, and I can honestly say it is a dream come true. He’s a man’s man. And he’s incredible because he make movies even better, because we love him as much as Indy hates snakes, and because he’s captain of the goddamn Millenium Falcon!

• Talent is funny, I’ve always looked at talent like what the hell does talent really mean? Talent is to actors what luck is to card players. It’s not really anything, it’s just a fictitious word that people have created and labeled things. Talent is like you know I never really believed in talent, I believed in drive and determination and preparation but talent is sort of like luck. I wouldn’t want to think of myself as talented it doesn’t seem like there’s any validity in that. I like to think of myself as an ordinary man with extra ordinary determination. That’s it.

• [on Megan Fox] She is a very attractive girl. Very attractive. And she’s a very close friend. But it hasn’t been a romantic thing, because you’re trying to respect the work environment. You don’t push anything. And with sex and romance, things can become so convoluted so fast.

• [on dating Rihanna] It never got beyond one date. The spark wasn’t there. We weren’t passionate about each other in that way, so we remain friends.

• There’s no patriotism. There’s selfishness. It’s the movie Wall Street (1987). Pure selfishness, ‘Greed is good’, It really happened. People don’t look at that character, Gordon Gekko, and see an enemy. They look at him like they look at Scarface (1983), a kind of role model. ‘Hell, yeah. That’s the guy! That’s the superman!’ Well, that’s our pop culture. That’s its values.

• My generation will actually be the first generation that is tamer than the one that came before it, and it will probably be poorer; less fun and less money. It’s ridiculous. In my parents’ generation, rebellion was pop culture. It’s not anymore. You can see it in something as simple as where their music was at and where ours is now. If you look at our Billboard Top 100, a lot of those songs on there are from Christian country artists. A lot of rappers, too, are very Christian. The fact that religion is even still talked about is kind of wild to me. I think my generation understands it, but they are too selfish to let it matter.

• I come from hippies. My dad was a wandering dude recovering from the war in Vietnam. And my mom, before she met him, had a head shop in Brooklyn. Bob Dylan used to come in and smoke weed. All her furniture hung upside-down from the ceiling. She was out of her mind. It was the 1970s.

• Actors live dependent on being validated by other people’s opinions. I don’t understand what it is I do that people want. I don’t know what an actor does. I have no credentials. I don’t know what I’m doing. To my mind, talent doesn’t really exist. Talent is like a card player’s luck. It is motivation, ambition, and luck. It’s just a drive to be the best. I think acting is a con game.

• I know I’m one of the luckiest dudes in America right now. I have a great house. My parents don’t have to work. I’ve got money. I’m famous. But it could all change, man. It could go away. You never know.

• Most actors on most days don’t think they’re worthy. I have no idea where this insecurity comes from, but it’s a God-sized hole. If I knew, I’d fill it, and I’d be on my way.

• Sometimes I feel I’m living a meaningless life and I get frightened.

• [On Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)] There are a lot of people that liked the second one, but I hated it. I just didn’t enjoy it. I thought we missed the mark. I got confused, I couldn’t see what the f*ck was going on, you know with certain robots… I couldn’t decipher what was happening. There were storyline paths that I just wouldn’t have gone down.

• [On Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)] I know that directors Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are dedicated to making the best movie we possibly can, and we’re not going to miss next time.

• [On his career] I hope I will never go to the Robert De Niro stage where I’ve gotten there and I am comfortable. Because that’s the death of an actor. Look at Dustin Hoffman, he is still striving, pushing and fighting. Comfort is the end.

• [On acting] This is a dream. At first, it was just fun, and a great way to pay the rent, but I gradually realized that there’s an art to this, and if I try, I can do it well. I shouldn’t say I realized that, because it was really more a case of my being taught that lesson, by Jon Voight, when we made Holes (2003) together. He just became a real mentor to me, and his wisdom, his years of experience, just gave me a whole new perspective on what I’m doing. I’ve always tried to do the best job I possibly can in every movie since.

• [On being directed by Oliver Stone in "Money Never Sleeps"]: I felt outclassed as an actor. The first meeting I had with Oliver, he looked me in the eye and said, ‘Don’t worry. Tom Cruise wasn’t an actor before he met me either. I’ve never been so scared into submission. He frightened me to the depths of my being.