Early Life
Malkovich was born in Christopher, Illinois. His paternal grandparents were Croatian, natives of Ozalj. His mother was of Scottish and German ancestry. He grew up in Benton, Illinois, in a large house on South Main Street. His father, Daniel Leon Malkovich, was a state conservation director and publisher of Outdoor Illinois, a conservation magazine. His mother, Joe Anne (née Choisser), owned the Benton Evening News as well as Outdoor Illinois. Malkovich has three younger sisters and an older brother. Malkovich attended Logan Grade School, Webster Junior High, and Benton Consolidated High School. During his high school years, he appeared in various plays and the musical, Carousel. He was also a member of a folk rock musical trio, and was a member of a local summer theater/comedy project in Benton in 1972, where he co-starred in Jean-Claude van Itallie's America Hurrah. Upon graduation from high school, he entered Eastern Illinois University, and then transferred to Illinois State University, where he majored in theatre.
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