Favorite Famous Directors!
These are some of my favorites and some of the ones I keep recognizing and keep seeing in the films I view. I will sometimes see a film just because of the director involved. Like my other list's, I will list some of the films I have seen with them as directors...and /or producers/writers.
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John Sturges was an American film director, mostly remembered for his outstanding Western films. In 1992, Sturges was awarded a Golden Boot Award for his lifelong contribution to the Western genre.
Sturges was born in the village of Oak Park, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. By 1930, the village had a population of 64,000 people.
Sturges started his film career in 1932, as a film editor. During World War II, he started directing documentaries and training films for the United States Army Air Forces.
Sturges made his directing debut in 1946, in the drama film "The Man Who Dared" (1946) by the studio Columbia Pictures. The film's protagonist frames himself for murder, in order to prove that innocent people may be convicted by circumstantial evidence. His next film project was the film noir "Shadowed" (1946), about a corpse being found in a golf club, and how an innocent man finds his life threatened by a gang leader. Sturges' last film of the year was the crime drama "Alias Mr. Twilight" (1946), about an elderly con-artist who uses his earnings to provide for his beloved granddaughter.
Sturges was entrusted with directing the third film in the then -popular Rusty film series, about the adventures of a German shepherd. The film was called "For the Love of Rusty" (1947), and introduced the new dog actor Flame. Flame portrayed Rusty in four of the eight Rusty films.
Sturges' next film project was "Keeper of the Bees" (1947), the third film adaptation of the 1925 novel by Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924). The film involved aging beekeeper Michael Worthington (played by Harry Davenport ) who recruits a nomadic painter and an orphan girl as his new employees. Despite a high-profile cast, the film is considered a lost film.
Sturges' last film of the year was the war documentary "Thunderbolt" (1947), concerning Operation Strangle (March 19-May 11, 1944). The aerial operation had American aircraft attacking German supply routes in Central Italy, in order to force the Germans to withdraw. The documentary included actual combat footage from the operation, and part of its profits was used to finance the Army Air Force Relief Society.
Sturges returned to the film noir genre with the film "The Sign of the Ram" (1948). The film's villain protagonist Leah St. Aubyn (played by Susan Peters) was depicted as an invalid woman with an obsessive desire to control and dominate the life of her family and friends, and going to extremes in order to achieve her goal.
Sturges next directed the historical drama "Best Man Wins", an adaptation of the short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865) by Mark Twain (1835-1910). The film depicts professional gambler Jim Smiley (played by Edgar Buchanan) trying to use his jumping frog Daniel Webster to win bets. He hopes to use his earnings to win back the love of his ex-wife, and to buy the love of his estranged son.
Sturges' first Western was "The Walking Hills" (1949), which used film noir tropes in a new setting. The film involves treasure hunters searching for a lost wagon train carrying gold bars. But many of the characters are hiding secrets, and a there is a manhunt for a wanted fugitive in the area.
Sturges had a critically successful film with the biographical film "The Magnificent Yankee", which dramatized the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841-1935), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, but won neither.
Sturges next projects included the film noir "The Capture" (1950), the film noir "Mystery Street" (1950), and the sports drama "Right Cross" (1950). His crime drama "Kind Lady" (1951) was a remake of a 1935 film with the same title, directed by George B. Seitz. In the film, wealthy art collector Mary Herries (played by Ethel Barrymore) allows painter Henry Springer Elcott (played by Maurice Evans) to move into her London house. But her new house-guest is planning to rob her.
Sturges' film noir "The People Against O'Hara" (1951) was a film noir with elements from courtroom drama. It was a box office hit, and had Sturges working with lead actor Spencer Tracy. Sturges was one of seven film directors who co-directed the anthology film "It's a Big Country", concerning life in the United States.
Sturges' biographical film "The Girl in White" (1952) dramatized the life of female surgeon Emily Dunning Barringer (1876-1961). The real-life Barringer was "the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency". Sturges returned to the film noir genre with "Jeopardy" (1953), an adaptation of a radio play by Maurice Zimm.
Sturges directed the sports comedy "Fast Company" (1953), about an exceptional race horse, and a struggle over its ownership. He returned to the Western genre with the American Civil War-themed film "Escape from Fort Bravo" (1953). In the film the prisoners confined in a Union prison camp attempt to escape. This color film used the Anscocolor process.
Sturges had a career highlight with the thriller film "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955), which combined elements from both film noir and the Western. It involves a town hiding a secret, and mysterious stranger John J. Macreedy (played by Spencer Tracy) trying to uncover the elusive truth. Sturges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, but the award was won instead by rival director Delbert Mann (1920-2007).
Sturges' next film project was the treasure-hunting themed adventure "Underwater!" (1955). His historical drama "The Scarlet Coat" (1955) dramatized the plot of military officer Benedict Arnold (1741-1801) to surrender West Point to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. The film also dramatized the life of British spy John André (1750-1780).The film's American counterspy John Bolton was loosely based on historical spymaster Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835).
Sturges returned to the Western genre with popular films such as "Backlash" (1956), "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" (1957), "The Law and Jake Wade" (1958), "Last Train from Gun Hill" (1959). He also directed the adventure drama "The Old Man and the Sea" (1958), an adaptation of the 1952 novella by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961). For this film, Sturges once again worked with leading actor Spencer Tracy.
Sturges' World War II-themed war film "Never So Few" (1959), featured a cast of rising actors, such as Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, and Steve McQueen,. Sturges had another career highlight with a film remake, the Western "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). It was a loose adaptation of the Japanese film "Seven Samurai" (1954) by Akira Kurosawa. The film under-performed in the United States, but was a smash hit in Europe, and very profitable for the film studio United Artists. It sold 89,118,696 tickets sold in overseas territories, and broke box office records in the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Kurosawa himself liked this adaptation, and the film received three sequels, two remakes of its own, and a television series adaptation.
Sturges' next film project included the law-firm drama "By Love Possessed" (1961), which included controversial themes such as rape, suicide, and embezzlement. Sturges next Western film was "Sergeants 3", loosely based on the poem "Gunga Din" (1890) by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936). This film is mostly remembered as the " last film to feature all five members of the Rat Pack".
Sturges' next film was more sexually explicit: "A Girl Named Tamiko" (1962). Lead character Ivan Balin (played by Laurence Harvey) is a man who desperately wants to emigrate to the United States, and uses his sex-appeal to seduce women who may help him achieve his goal. His next war film was "The Great Escape" (1963) about prisoners of war trying to escape from Stalag Luft III. It was one of the highest-grossing films of its year of release.
Sturges directed his first science fiction film at age 55, and that film was "The Satan Bug" (1965). The film depicted the manufacture of bio-weapons, and their potential release against American major cities. Sturges also directed the Western comedy "The Hallelujah Trail" (1965), about a predicted harsh winter threatening the whiskey supply of a frontier town. He next directed a more serious Western, "Hour of the Gun" (1967). It was his second film about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1881), but attempted to be more historically accurate than previous film depictions of the events.
Sturges' next film project was the Cold War thriller "Ice Station Zebra" (1968), loosely based on the missing experimental Corona satellite capsule (Discoverer II) which fell to Norway in 1959, and the efforts to recover it before it fell on Soviet hands. The film was mildly controversial, since it dramatized events that were still classified secret at the time of production. Sturges used former American agents as technical advisers.
Sturges' second science fiction film was Marooned (1969), depicting a potentially deadly accident affecting the Apollo program. Released at a time of high public interest on the Apollo program, it attracted an audience but was a box office flop. The film's visual effects expert won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Sturges partially directed the auto racing film "Le Mans" (1971), but quit before the film was completed. He was replaced by fellow director Lee H. Katzin (1935-2002). Sturges returned to the Western genre with the peasant-revolt themed "Joe Kidd" (1972). It featured bounty hunter Joe Kidd (played by Clint Eastwood) hunting down a Mexican revolutionary who is campaigning for land reform. The film is considered an example of the Revisionist Western, a more cynical take on the genre.
Sturges last Western was the Italian-produced "Chino" (1973). He returned to the film noir genre with the neo-noir "McQ" (1974), with lead character Lon "McQ" McHugh (played by John Wayne) being an aging police detective who is trying find out who was behind a failed attempt on his life. Sturges' last film was the war film "The Eagle Has Landed" (1976), depicting a German plot by Abwehr leader Wilhelm Canaris (1887-1945) to kidnap Winston Churchill. His last film was a box office hit in its own right.
Sturges retired from film directing at the age of 66. He continued living in retirement until his death in 1992. He was 82-years-old, and several of his film were finding retrospective critical acclaim.1951 The People Against O'Hara
1957 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1959 Never So Few
1960 The Magnificent Seven
1963 The Great Escape
1973 Chino- Producer
- Writer
- Director
George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is best known for his Mad Max franchise, with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being hailed as amongst the greatest action films of all time. Aside from the Mad Max films, Miller has been involved in a wide range of projects. These include the Academy Award-winning Babe (1995) and Happy Feet (2006) film series.
Miller is co-founder of the production houses Kennedy Miller Mitchell, formerly known as Kennedy Miller, and Dr. D Studios. His younger brother Bill Miller and Doug Mitchell have been producers on almost all the films in Miller's later career, since the death of his original producing partner Byron Kennedy.
In 2006, Miller won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Happy Feet (2006). He has been nominated for five other Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay in 1992 for Lorenzo's Oil (1992), Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay in 1995 for Babe (1995), and Best Picture and Best Director for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).1979 Mad Max
1981 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie (segment "4")
1985 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
1987 The Witches of Eastwick- Producer
- Writer
- Director
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, producer or writer since launching the summer blockbuster with Jaws (1975), and he has done more to define popular film-making since the mid-1970s than anyone else.
Steven Allan Spielberg was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Leah Frances (Posner), a concert pianist and restaurateur, and Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer who worked in computer development. His parents were both born to Russian Jewish immigrant families. Steven spent his younger years in Haddon Township, New Jersey, Phoenix, Arizona, and later Saratoga, California. He went to California State University Long Beach, but dropped out to pursue his entertainment career. Among his early directing efforts were Battle Squad (1961), which combined World War II footage with footage of an airplane on the ground that he makes you believe is moving. He also directed Escape to Nowhere (1961), which featured children as World War Two soldiers, including his sister Anne Spielberg, and The Last Gun (1959), a western. All of these were short films. The next couple of years, Spielberg directed a couple of movies that would portend his future career in movies. In 1964, he directed Firelight (1964), a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967, he directed Slipstream (1967), which was unfinished. However, in 1968, he directed Amblin' (1968), which featured the desert prominently, and not the first of his movies in which the desert would feature. Amblin' also became the name of his production company, which turned out such classics as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, Duel (1971), with Dennis Weaver. In the early 1970s, Spielberg was working on TV, directing among others such series as Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969) and Murder by the Book (1971). All of his work in television and short films, as well as his directing projects, were just a hint of the wellspring of talent that would dazzle audiences all over the world.
Spielberg's first major directorial effort was The Sugarland Express (1974), with Goldie Hawn, a film that marked him as a rising star. It was his next effort, however, that made him an international superstar among directors: Jaws (1975). This classic shark attack tale started the tradition of the summer blockbuster or, at least, he was credited with starting the tradition. His next film was the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), a unique and original UFO story that remains a classic. In 1978, Spielberg produced his first film, the forgettable I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and followed that effort with Used Cars (1980), a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten, Kurt Russell/Jack Warden comedy about devious used-car dealers. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), with Harrison Ford taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was Poltergeist (1982), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg also helped pioneer the practice of product placement. The concept, while not uncommon, was still relatively low-key when Spielberg raised the practice to almost an art form with his famous (or infamous) placement of Reese's Pieces in "E.T." Spielberg was also one of the pioneers of the big-grossing special-effects movies, like "E.T." and "Close Encounters", where a very strong emphasis on special effects was placed for the first time on such a huge scale. In 1984, Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which was a commercial success but did not receive the critical acclaim of its predecessor. As a producer, Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as The Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins (1984). He also produced the cartoon An American Tail (1986), a quaint little animated classic. His biggest effort as producer in 1985, however, was the blockbuster Back to the Future (1985), which made Michael J. Fox an instant superstar. As director, Spielberg took on the book The Color Purple (1985), with Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, with great success. In the latter half of the 1980s, he also directed Empire of the Sun (1987), a mixed success for the occasionally erratic Spielberg. Success would not escape him for long, though.
The late 1980s found Spielberg's projects at the center of pop-culture yet again. In 1988, he produced the landmark animation/live-action film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The next year proved to be another big one for Spielberg, as he produced and directed Always (1989) as well as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Back to the Future Part II (1989). All three of the films were box-office and critical successes. Also, in 1989, he produced the little known comedy-drama Dad (1989), with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, which got mostly mixed results. Spielberg has also had an affinity for animation and has been a strong voice in animation in the 1990s. Aside from producing the landmark "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", he produced the animated series Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), Animaniacs (1993), Pinky and the Brain (1995), Freakazoid! (1995), Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain (1998), Family Dog (1993) and Toonsylvania (1998). Spielberg also produced other cartoons such as The Land Before Time (1988), We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), Casper (1995) (the live action version) as well as the live-action version of The Flintstones (1994), where he was credited as "Steven Spielrock". Spielberg also produced many Roger Rabbit short cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials. Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s, as he directed Hook (1991) and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Arachnophobia (1990), Back to the Future Part III (1990) and Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). While these movies were big successes in their own right, they did not quite bring in the kind of box office or critical acclaim as previous efforts. In 1993, Spielberg directed Jurassic Park (1993), which for a short time held the record as the highest grossing movie of all time, but did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. Big box-office spectacles were not his only concern, though. He produced and directed Schindler's List (1993), a stirring film about the Holocaust. He won best director at the Oscars, and also got Best Picture. In the mid-90s, he helped found the production company DreamWorks, which was responsible for many box-office successes.
As a producer, he was very active in the late 90s, responsible for such films as The Mask of Zorro (1998), Men in Black (1997) and Deep Impact (1998). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic Amistad (1997), a spectacular film that was shorted at the Oscars and in release due to the fact that its release date was moved around so much in late 1997. The next year, however, produced what many believe was one of the best films of his career: Saving Private Ryan (1998), a film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. It was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare in Love (1998).
Spielberg produced a series of films, including Evolution (2001), The Haunting (1999) and Shrek (2001). he also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993), which were financially but not particularly critical successes. In 2001, he produced a mini-series about World War Two that definitely *was* a financial and critical success: Band of Brothers (2001), a tale of an infantry company from its parachuting into France during the invasion to the Battle of the Bulge. Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. It did reasonably at the box office and garnered varied reviews from critics.
Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. He produced the short-lived TV series SeaQuest 2032 (1993), an anthology series entitled Amazing Stories (1985), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of ER (1994). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and Tom Hanks collaborated on Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen (2000), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called Eyes of the Holocaust (2000). With all of this to Spielberg's credit, it's no wonder that he's looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment.Date of Birth
18 December 1946, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Birth Name
Steven Allan Spielberg
Height
5' 7½" (1.71 m)
Spouces:
Kate Capshaw
(12 October 1991 - present) (5 children)
Amy Irving
(27 November 1985 - 2 February 1989)
(divorced) (1 child)
TradeMarks:
Uses powerful flashlights in dark scenes (Jurassic Park (1993); The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)). The outline of the beam is often made visible through dust, mist, or fog.
Frequently uses music by John Williams.
Often shows shooting stars (Jaws (1975)).
Onscreen performers staring, usually at something off-camera.
He often uses images of the sun (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Saving Private Ryan (1998)).
His films often show children in some sort of danger.
Consistent references to World War II.
Frequent references to Disney films, music, or theme parks.
Frequently uses a piano as an element in key scenes (Schindler's List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Minority Report (2002)).
Important images, or characters, are often seen through the rear-view mirror of a car (Duel (1971), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)).
Frequently casts Tom Hanks, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Frank Welker and Tom Cruise.
Protagonists in his films often come from families with divorced parents, with fathers portrayed as reluctant, absent or irresponsible, most notably in _et: the Extra-Terrestrial_ (Elliot's mother is divorced and father is absent) and Catch Me If You Can (2002) (Frank Abagnale's mother and father split early in the film). This reflects Spielberg's own experience as a youth with his parents breaking up.
A common theme in many of his films is ordinary people who discover something extraordinary - people, places, artifacts, creatures, etc. (Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)).
Since Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), all of his movies have featured visual effects (even those that were undetected) by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), the F/X house created by his friend George Lucas. The only exception has been The Terminal (2004), which had F/X work by Digital Imageworks.
Is credited for starting the summer blockbuster tradition with 1975's first $100 million megahit, Jaws (1975).
His films are almost always edited by Michael Kahn.
Known on-set for being able to work and come up with ideas very quickly (the best example of this would be the filming of "Saving Private Ryan", where Spielberg came up with angles and shot ideas on the spot, due to the fact that the film was largely un-storyboarded). Perhaps this is a habit he picked up after the filming of "Jaws", which was, very famously, a torturously slow shoot due to technical problems.
Ardent champion of the "cutting-in-camera" philosophy
Frequently uses (and helped re-popularize) the "dolly zoom" in-camera effect used to signify/evoke an impactful moment or realization, famously employed in "Jaws" upon Chief Brody witnessing the shark attack from his beach chair.
1969-1971 Night Gallery (TV Series) (2 episodes)- Make Me Laugh/Clean Kills and Other Trophies (1971) ... (segment "Make Me Laugh")
- Night Gallery (1969) ... (segment "Eyes")
1971 Columbo (TV Series) (1 episode)- Murder by the Book (1971)
1971 Duel (TV Movie)
1974 The Sugarland Express
1975 Jaws
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1979 1941
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1983 Twilight Zone: The Movie (segment "2")
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
1985 Amazing Stories (TV Series) (2 episodes)- The Mission (1985)
- Ghost Train (1985)
1985 The Color Purple
1987 Empire of the Sun
1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
1993 Jurassic Park
1993 Schindler's List
1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park
1998 Saving Private Ryan
2001 A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2002 Minority Report
2005 War of the Worlds
2008 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- Producer
- Director
- Actor
William Theodore Kotcheff was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Bulgarian parents from Plovdiv. He graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Toronto. He began his professional career directing TV drama at age 24 at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, at the time becoming the youngest director in the CBC. After two years there he went to live and work in England, directing in television and the theatre.
He twice won the British Emmy for Best Director, the second time for an extraordinary docudrama about a female derelict entitled, "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" episode of Play for Today (1970). The film also won the Best Actress and Best Script Award. Kotcheff's television work in Great Britain was part of the new wave of working-class actors and drama that changed British theatre and television in the late 1950s. His stage successes include the long-running Lionel Bart musical, "Maggie May." His film career started in England: Tiara Tahiti (1962), a social comedy starring James Mason and John Mills; Life at the Top (1965), starring Laurence Harvey and Jean Simmons; Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969), starring Robin Phillips, a film set in the West Indian community of London and dealing with relationships between blacks and whites which was the official British entry at the Venice Film Festival. His next film, Wake in Fright (1971), was made in Australia. It was the Australian entry in the Cannes Film Festival and many Australians still think it is the finest Australian film ever made and the beginning of the renaissance of the Australian cinema. Kotcheff returned to Canada in 1972 to make a film of a novel written by his best friend, Mordecai Richler, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974). This film, thought to be one of the best Canadian films ever made, won the Golden Bear First Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and numerous other awards including an Academy Award nomination for best script. Kotcheff also directed Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), starring Jane Fonda and George Segal; Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), starring Jacqueline Bisset and George Segal; North Dallas Forty (1979)--which he also wrote--starring 'Nick Nolte' (a film considered by many in the sport to be one of the best ever made about professional football); First Blood (1982), starring Sylvester Stallone--one of the biggest box-office winners of all time--Uncommon Valor (1983), starring Gene Hackman; and Weekend at Bernie's (1989). In the mid-'80s Kotcheff made a film of another Mordecai Richler novel, Joshua Then and Now (1985). This film, starring James Woods and Alan Arkin, was the official Canadian entry in the Cannes Film Festival, and together with "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz", is one of the most widely known and acclaimed Canadian films in the United States. Kotcheff is married to Laifun Chung and has two children, Thomas age 7 and Alexandra age 9. Laifun Chung is President of their film company, Panoptica Productions, Inc. He has homes in Toronto and Los Angeles.1982 First Blood
1983 Uncommon Valor
1993 Red Shoe Diaries 3: Another Woman's Lipstick (Video)
1995 Family of Cops (TV Movie)- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Reginald Hudlin was born on 15 December 1961 in Centerville, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Marshall (2017), House Party (1990) and Django Unchained (2012). He has been married to Chrisette Suter since 30 November 2002. They have two children.1990 House Party
1992 Boomerang
2009-2010 Modern Family (TV Series) (2 episodes)- Fears (2010)
- Come Fly with Me (2009)
2010-2012 Psych (TV Series) (2 episodes)- True Grits (2012)
- Ferry Tale (2010)
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Producer
Robert Aldrich entered the film industry in 1941 when he got a job as a production clerk at RKO Radio Pictures. He soon worked his way up to script clerk, then became an assistant director, a production manager and an associate producer. He began writing and directing for TV series in the early 1950s, and directed his first feature in 1953 (Big Leaguer (1953)). Soon thereafter he established his own production company and produced most of his own films, collaborating in the writing of many of them. Among his best-known pictures are Kiss Me Deadly (1955), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and the muscular WW II mega-hit The Dirty Dozen (1967).Trade Mark
Frequently casts Wesley Addy
Directed in a considerable plethora of generas but almost all of his films contained a subversive undertone
Extreme and often selfish leading characters
As Director:
The Doctor: Season 1, Episode 10
The Guest (26 Oct. 1952)
Four Star Playhouse: Season 2, Episode 5
The Witness (22 Oct. 1953)
1954 Apache
1954 Vera Cruz
1955 Kiss Me Deadly
1963 4 for Texas
1967 The Dirty Dozen
1974 The Longest Yard
1977 Twilight's Last Gleaming
1979 The Frisco Kid- Music Department
- Writer
- Composer
John Howard Carpenter was born in Carthage, New York, to mother Milton Jean (Carter) and father Howard Ralph Carpenter. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father, a professor, was head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended Western Kentucky University and then USC film school in Los Angeles. He began making short films in 1962, and won an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Subject in 1970, for The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (1970), which he made while at USC. Carpenter formed a band in the mid-1970s called The Coupe de Villes, which included future directors Tommy Lee Wallace and Nick Castle. Since the 1970s, he has had numerous roles in the film industry including writer, actor, composer, producer, and director. After directing Dark Star (1974), he has helmed both classic horror films like Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), and The Thing (1982), and noted sci-fi tales like Escape from New York (1981) and Starman (1984).Date of Birth
16 January 1948, Carthage, New York, USA
Birth Name
John Howard Carpenter
Nickname
JC
Height
6' (1.83 m)
Spouse
Sandy King (1 December 1990 - present)
Adrienne Barbeau (1 January 1979 - 14 September 1984) (divorced) 1 child
Horror] Although Carpenter has directed films in numerous other genres (dark comedy, sci-fi, romance), he is known primarily for making horror films (Halloween (1978) and the subsequent sequels not directed by him. He is also known as the "Master of Horror" or the "Prince of Darkness" (after one of his films).
[Attribution] The words "John Carpenter's" appear before all of his film and TV titles (e.g., John Carpenter's Halloween (1978)).
Uses synthesizer-based soundtracks that he composes himself (Most famous for the theme song to Halloween (1978), obviously).
[Cheap Scare] Many of Carpenter's films include what he calls a "cheap scare", where something comes into view very fast and leaves just as quickly, intensified by musical cues. Carpenter makes open compositions that allow the villain/monster (or sometimes just an object) to pop into frame from the background, the immediate foreground or from either side of the frame. It has since become a horror cliché after using "cheap scares" so effectively in Halloween (1978).
[Apocalypse] Apocalyptic overtones run throughout Carpenter's films, most prominently in his unofficial but aptly titled Apocalypse Trilogy (The Thing (1982), Prince of Darkness (1987), In the Mouth of Madness (1994)) and more subtly in films like Halloween (1978), They Live (1988) and Escape from New York (1981).
His lead male characters are anti-heroes (e.g., Snake Plissken in the "Escape" films and Napoleon Wilson in Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)) whereas the bad guys in his films are usually depicted as zombie-like, mindless, and lacking a personality or emotion. Though many people die in his films, with few exceptions, he usually avoids showing gore.
[Cinematography] Uses minimalist cinematography and lighting. Tries to make empty spaces look full, and full spaces look empty. Shoots all of his movies in Panavision (2.35:1 ratio with anamorphic lenses). The exceptions are Dark Star (1974) and all of his TV work.
Is known for an unofficial "Carpenter's Repertory Group" of actors who he enjoys working with, including Kurt Russell, Sam Neill, Peter Jason, George 'Buck' Flower, and various crew members. Also frequently casts musicians (Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Alice Cooper, Jon Bon Jovi).
[Names] Likes to name characters after real life people: directors, etc. Also reuses character names from classic movies. For example, John T. Chance, Carpenter's pseudonym in for editing Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), is John Wayne's character in Rio Bravo (1959); Donald Pleasence's character name in Halloween (1978), Sam Loomis, is also the name of Janet Leigh's boyfriend in Psycho (1960). Frequently uses the character names "Tramer" and "Baxter" in different films as well.
[Video Screen] His films often feature important visuals shown from a video screen (The end-of-the-world transmission from the future in Prince of Darkness (1987), the Norwegian recordings of the expedition to uncover the aliens in The Thing (1982), various TV sets and the general anti-TV motif in They Live (1988), etc.).
Frequently makes references to classic Westerns
Includes at least one scene inside an automobile in nearly all his films. Likes to include helicopters in his films, many times doing a cameo as a pilot.
Underlying sense of paranoia in horror stories
Graphic visual effects and body transformations
Often references the works of Alfred Hitchcock
Films often take place in single confined locations
He has always claimed that the Western is his favorite genre but he's never made a full-length film within the genre.
He directed child actress Kim Richards in his second feature film, "Assault on Precinct 13", and directed Kim's sister Kyle Richards in his next film, "Halloween"
With the exception of Escape from L.A. (1996), he has rarely made a sequel to any of his films. Has said that he got forced into writing Halloween II (1981), but refused to direct it because he "didn't want to direct the same movie again".
Is a great fan of Sergio Leone and cast Lee Van Cleef in Escape from New York (1981) because of his work with Leone.
Is a major NBA fan and has a satellite dish installed on his location trailer to keep up with the games. Always has a portable basketball hoop on location.
In the movie Change of Habit (1969) Elvis Presley plays a character named John Carpenter. In 1979 Carpenter directed the TV movie Elvis (1979/I) (TV) starring his good friend Kurt Russell.
Is a fan of the Quartermass movies (The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Five Million Years to Earth (1967)), wrote Prince of Darkness (1987) under the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass, and the village in In the Mouth of Madness (1994) is named after a rail station in "Quatermass and the Pit".
Appears in his own films under the name Rip Haight, appearing in in The Fog (1980), Starman (1984), Body Bags (1993) (TV), and Village of the Damned (1995).
As DIRECTOR:
2005-2006 Masters of Horror (TV series)
– John Carpenter's Cigarette Burns (2005)
2001 Ghosts of Mars
1998 Vampires
1996 Escape from L.A.
1995 Village of the Damned
1993 Body Bags (TV movie) (segments "Gas Station, The" and "Hair")
1988 They Live
1987 Prince of Darkness
1986 Big Trouble in Little China
1984 Starman
1983 Christine
1982 The Thing
1981 Escape from New York
1980 The Fog
1979/I Elvis (TV movie)
1978 Halloween
1976 Assault on Precinct 13
1974 Dark Star
As PRODUCER:
2005 The Fog (producer)
2002 Vampires: Los Muertos (executive producer)
1993 Body Bags (TV movie) (executive producer)
1986 Black Moon Rising (executive producer)
1984 The Philadelphia Experiment (executive producer)
1982 Halloween III: Season of the Witch (producer)
1981 Halloween II (producer)
1978 Halloween (producer - uncredited)
1974 Dark Star (producer)
As WRITER:
2007 Halloween (1978 screenplay)
2005 The Fog (1980 screenplay)
2005 Assault on Precinct 13 (earlier film)
2004 Michael Vs. Jason (short) (characters)
2002 Halloween: Resurrection (characters)
2001 Ghosts of Mars (written by)
1998 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (characters)
1996 Escape from L.A. (characters / written by)
1995 Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (characters)
1989 Halloween 5 (characters)
1988 They Live (screenplay / as Frank Armitage)
1987 Prince of Darkness (written by / as Martin Quatermass)
1986 Black Moon Rising (screenplay / story)
1982 Halloween III: Season of the Witch (uncredited)
1981 Halloween II (written by)
1981 Escape from New York (written by)
1980 The Fog (written by)
1978 Someone's Watching Me! (TV movie) (written by)
1978 Halloween (screenplay)
1978 Eyes of Laura Mars (screenplay / story)
1976 Assault on Precinct 13 (written by)
1974 Dark Star (original story and screenplay)
1970 The Resurrection of Broncho Billy (short) (story)
As ACTOR:
1995 Village of the Damned
Man at Gas Station Phone (as Rip Haight)
1994 The Silence of the Hams
Trenchcoat Man/Gimp
1993 Body Bags (TV movie)
The Coroner (segment "The Morgue")
1986 The Boy Who Could Fly
The Coupe de Villes
1986 Big Trouble in Little China
Worker in Chinatown (uncredited)
1984 Starman
Man in Helicopter (uncredited)
1982 The Thing
Norwegian (video footage) (uncredited)
1981 Escape from New York
Secret Service #2/Helicopter Pilot/Violin Player (voice) (uncredited)
1980 The Fog
Bennett (uncredited)
1978 Halloween
Paul, Annie's Boyfriend (voice) (uncredited)
1976 Assault on Precinct 13
Gang Member (uncredited)
1974 Dark Star
Talby voice (uncredited)
As COMPOSER:
2009 Halloween II (composer: theme music)
2007 Halloween (composer: theme music)
2002 Halloween: Resurrection (composer: theme "Halloween")
2001 Ghosts of Mars (musician, orchestrator)
1998 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (composer: theme music)
1998 Vampires (musician: rhythm guitar and synthesizers)
1995 Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (composer: theme "Halloween")
1989 Halloween 5 (composer: theme "Halloween")
1988 Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (composer: theme "Halloween")
1982 The Thing (composer: additional music - uncredited)- Producer
- Director
- Actor
Roger William Corman was born April 5, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan. Initially following in his father's footsteps, Corman studied engineering at Stanford University, but, while in school, he began to lose interest in the profession and developed a growing passion for film. Upon graduation, he worked a total of three days as an engineer at US Electrical Motors, which cemented his growing realization that engineering wasn't for him. He quit and took a job as a messenger for 20th Century Fox, eventually rising to the position of story analyst.
After a term spent studying modern English literature at England's Oxford University and a year spent bopping around Europe, Corman returned to the US, intent on becoming a screenwriter/producer. He sold his first script in 1953, "The House in the Sea," which was eventually filmed and released as Highway Dragnet (1954).
Horrified by the disconnect between his vision for the project and the film that eventually emerged, Corman took his salary from the picture, scraped together a little capital and set himself up as a producer, turning out Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954). Corman used his next picture, The Fast and the Furious (1954), to finagle a multi-picture deal with a fledgling company called American Releasing Corp. (ARC). It would soon change its name to American-International Pictures (AIP) and with Corman as its major talent behind the camera, would become one of the most successful independent studios in cinema history.
With no formal training, Corman first took to the director's chair with Five Guns West (1955) and over the next 15 years directed 53 films, mostly for AIP. He proved himself a master of quick, inexpensive productions, turning out several movies as director and/or producer in each of those years--nine movies in 1957, and nine again in 1958. His personal speed record was set with The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which he shot in two days and a night.
In the early 1960s, he began to take on more ambitious projects, gaining a great deal of critical praise (and commercial success) from a series of adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories, most of them starring Vincent Price. His film The Intruder (1962) was a serious look at racial integration in the South, starring a very young William Shatner. Critically praised and winning a prize at the Venice Film Festival, the movie became Corman's first--and, for many years, only--commercial flop. He called its failure "the greatest disappointment in my career." As a consequence of the experience, Corman opted to avoid such direct "message" films in the future and resolved to express his social and political concerns beneath the surface of overt entertainments.
Those messages became more radical as the 1960s wound to a close and after AIP began re-editing his films without his knowledge or consent, he left the company, retiring from directing to concentrate on production and distribution through his own newly formed company, New World Pictures. In addition to low-budget exploitation flicks, New World also distributed distinguished art cinema from around the world, becoming the American distributor for the films of Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Federico Fellini, François Truffaut and others. Selling off New World in the 1980s, Corman has continued his work through various companies in the years since--Concorde Pictures, New Horizons, Millenium Pictures, New Concorde. In 1990, after the publication of his biography "How I Made A Hundred Movies in Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime"--one of the all-time great books on filmmaking--he returned to directing but only for a single film, Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
With hundreds of movies to his credit, Roger Corman is one of the most prolific producers in the history of the film medium and one of the most successful--in his nearly six decades in the business, only about a dozen of his films have failed to turn a profit. Corman has been dubbed, among other things, "The King of the Cult Film" and "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and his filmography is packed with hundreds of remarkably entertaining films in addition to dozens of genuine cult classics. Corman has displayed an unrivaled eye for talent over the years--it could almost be said that it would be easier to name the top directors, actors, writers and creators in Hollywood who DIDN'T get their start with him than those who did. Among those he mentored are Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, James Cameron, Robert De Niro, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante and Sandra Bullock. His influence on modern American cinema is almost incalculable. In 2009, he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement.Date of Birth
5 April 1926, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Birth Name
Roger William Corman
Nickname
King of the Bs
Height
6' 2" (1.88 m)
Julie Corman (23 December 1970 - present) 4 children
In the early years of the American Releasing Corporation (later American International Pictures), he became one of their major sources of product for distribution. He would be given a sum of money and an advertising campaign (or somethimes just a title) and he would have to come up with the scripts and produce the films.
If he had to shoot a film on location, he would always try to shoot a second film at that same location in order to spread out the costs.
In the new decade of the 1960s, he decided that he wanted to do something that would advance his career. When American International offered him a sum of money to create another one of their low-budget black-and-white double features, he countered with an offer to use the same money to shoot a single feature in color and Cinemascope. American International finally agreed to this offer. It led to the production of House of Usher (1960). The gamble paid off and the film became a box-office hit and generated something that was unusual for an AIP release - critical praise. This was followed by what became known as Corman's "Poe series.".
A running gag in Hollywood was that Corman could negotiate the production of a film on a pay phone, shoot the film in the booth, and finance it with the money in the change slot.
His film The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) set a world's record for the shortest shooting schedule for a feature film...Two days!.
Frequently has cameos or bit parts in the films of many successful filmmakers who got their start working for him, such as Jonathan Demme, Joe Dante and Francis Ford Coppola.
Corman, as a director and/or producer, is credited with starting and/or mentoring the careers of many now-famous film directors, such as Jonathan Demme, Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, James Cameron, Joe Dante, and Martin Scorsese, and writers such as Robert Towne, and John Sayles. He also discovered/gave early roles to then-unknown actors and actresses such as Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson, Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Diane Ladd, and Sandra Bullock.
An indication of Corman's influence in Hollywood: Though no Roger Corman-produced movies were up for Oscars at the 1974 Academy Awards, nearly every major category featured wins or nominations by "Corman School" graduates - those whom Corman had either started in the business or mentored early in their careers.
Although his films were notable for the flair and mobility with which he composed for wide-screen, Corman revealed in Cinema Retro magazine (Issue #18) that he hadn't originally wanted to shoot his cult Poe series in Panavision. "I thought the anamorphic lens was better suited to westerns, whereas I was shooting in these contained little sets. But that was a decision made by AIP (American International Pictures). They were convinced that just using that lens would not only make the pictures look bigger but sound bigger in the ads".
1958 Machine-Gun Kelly
1960 The Little Shop of Horrors
1963 The Raven
1963 The Terror
1967 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
1970 Bloody Mama
1978 Deathsport (uncredited)
1980 Battle Beyond the Stars (uncredited)
1990 Frankenstein Unbound- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on the Left (1972), which he wrote, directed, and edited. Craven reinvented the youth horror genre again in 1984 with the classic A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), a film he wrote and directed. And though he did not direct any of its five sequels, he deconstructed the genre a decade later, writing and directing the audacious New Nightmare (1994), which was nominated as Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards, and introduced the concept of self-reflexive genre films to the world.
In 1996 Craven reached a new level of success with the release of Scream (1996). The film, which sparked the phenomenal trilogy, was the winner of MTV's 1996 Best Movie Award and grossed more than $100 million domestically, as did Scream 2 (1997). Between Scream 2 and Scream 3 (2000), Craven, offered the opportunity to direct a non-genre film for Miramax, helmed Music of the Heart (1999), a film that earned Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. That same year, in the midst of directing, Craven completed his first novel, "The Fountain Society," published by Simon & Shuster. Recent works include the 2005 psychological thriller Red Eye (2005), and a short rom-com segment for the ensemble product, Paris, I Love You (2006).
In later years, Craven also produced remakes of two of his earlier films for his genre fans, The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Last House on the Left (2009). Craven has always had an eye for discovering fresh talent, something that contributes to the success of his films. While casting A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven discovered the then unknown Johnny Depp. Craven later cast Sharon Stone in her first starring role for his film Deadly Blessing. He even gave Bruce Willis his first featured role in an episode of TV's mid-80's edition of The Twilight Zone. In My Soul to Take (2010), Craven once again brought together a cast of up-and-coming young teens, including Max Thieriot, in whom he saw the spark of stardom. The film marked Craven's first collaboration with wife and producer Iya Labunka, who also produced with him the highly anticipated production of Scream 4.
Craven's Scream 4 (2011) reunited the director with Dimension Films and Kevin Williamson, as well as with stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, to re-boot the beloved franchise. Craven again exhibited his knack for spotting important talent, with a cast of young actors bringing us a totally new breed of Woodsboro high schoolers, including Emma Robert and Hayden Pannetierre.Date of Birth
2 August 1939, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Birth Name
Wesley Earl Craven
Height
6' 2" (1.88 m)
Spouse
Iya Labunka (27 November 2004 - present)
Mimi Craven (25 July 1982 - 1987) (divorced)
Bonnie Broecker (1964 - 1969) (divorced) 2 children
Trade Mark
On-going in-joke feud with Sam Raimi
Family issues, specifically family breakdown
His characters often use elaborate booby traps, to capture the villain
Often features strong female characters
His unglamorous depictions of sadistic and realistically brutal killers
His protagonists are often ordinary characters caught in extraordinary and Horrific circumstances
Brutal and graphic depiction of violence
Villains are often deformed and monstrous looking
His horror films often contain important social issues (e.g. The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes)
Children in his films are often deformed or brutally murdered, often by the main villain
1972 The Last House on the Left
1977 The Hills Have Eyes
1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street
1985 The Hills Have Eyes Part II
1985-1986 The Twilight Zone (TV series)
– Wordplay/Dreams for Sale/Chameleon (1985) (segment "Chameleon" / segment "Wordplay")
– Shatterday/A Little Peace and Quiet (1985) (segment "A Little Peace and Quiet" / segment "Shatterday")
1994 New Nightmare
1995 Vampire in Brooklyn
1996 Scream
1997 Scream 2
2005 Red Eye- Actor
- Director
- Writer
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early age (he wrote and published eerie short stories, thus following his father's path) and for music (playing classical guitar until he was 12), Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in Literature after switching from the science department. He reached the cult status of horror-meister with the gore-filled, modern-vampire variations of Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977), following an experimental apprenticeship in independent film-making and in Canadian television programs.
Cronenberg gained popularity with the head-exploding, telepathy-based Scanners (1981) after the release of the much underrated, controversial, and autobiographical The Brood (1979). Cronenberg become a sort of a mass media guru with Videodrome (1983), a shocking investigation of the hazards of reality-morphing television and a prophetic critique of contemporary aesthetics. The issues of tech-induced mutation of the human body and topics of the prominent dichotomy between body and mind were back again in The Dead Zone (1983) and The Fly (1986), both bright examples of a personal film-making identity, even if both films are based on mass-entertainment materials: the first being a rendition of a Stephen King best-seller, the latter a remake of a famous American horror movie.
With Dead Ringers (1988) and Naked Lunch (1991), the Canadian director, no more a mere genre movie-maker but a fully realized auteur, got the acclaim of international critics. Such profound statements on modern humanity and ever-changing society are prominent in the provocative Crash (1996) and in the virtual reality essay of eXistenZ (1999), both of which well fared at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals. In the last two film projects Spider (2002) and A History of Violence (2005), Cronenberg avoids expressing his teratologic and oneiric expressionism in favor of a more psychological exploration of human contradictions and idiosyncrasies.Date of Birth
15 March 1943, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Birth Name
David Paul Cronenberg
Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)
Spouse
Carolyn Zeifman (1979 - present) 2 children
Margaret Hindson (1970 - 1977) (divorced) 1 child
Trade Mark
His films generally involve the horror caused by a mutation, by a parasite, or by particular medical conditions.
Uses dark backgrounds
Films often include explicit carnage
Frequent references to the Flesh or the New Flesh
Frequently uses the music of Howard Shore
Frequently casts Robert A. Silverman
Movies about crime families
Frequently casts Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel
Often uses Canada as a filming location (The Fly (1986), _A History Of Violence (2005)_, Videodrome (1983), Dead Ringers (1988)
His father was a journalist and his mother played the piano. These roles are reversed in The Fly (1986), in which Jeff Goldblum plays the piano to impress Geena Davis, who plays a journalist.
John Carpenter paid homage to him in Escape from New York (1981). One of the United States Police Force guards is on the line with Hauk, then adds that Cronenberg is on the line for him. Another person paid homage to in the movie was George A. Romero, who had Isaac Hayes's right-hand man named after him.
2005 A History of Violence
1986 The Fly
1983 The Dead Zone
1983 Videodrome
1981 Scanners
1979 The Brood- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Like William Girdler, Oliver Hellman or even Ed Wood, Sean S. Cunningham had a successful career of starting films cheap and fast. Originally from New York, Cunningham had a vast knowledge of directing films and came to Hollywood. He started about the same time Wes Craven did. Cunningham meets Craven and decided to make a comedy-romance film called Together (1971). Then they both shocked the world with the rape and ultra-violence of The Last House on the Left (1972). Craven directed the flick and Cunningham financed and produced. However Cunningham wanted to get a mix of comedy and horror and made Case of the Full Moon Murders (1973) and then started other comedy films like Manny's Orphans (1978) and Here Come the Tigers (1978) . Struggling in Hollywood Cunningham saw John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and wanted to make a follow up type film but would possibly regret it. Cunningham brought Friday the 13th (1980) into the cinema in 1980, a year of many other horror films. Friday the 13th (1980) was a shocking, gory and violent film about camp counselors being slashed by a killer and had Betsy Palmer in the lead role. Little did Cunningham know that Friday the 13th would have never ending sequels. Cunningham gladly avoided all of them and Friday the 13th remains one of the most popular horror films in history. Instead Cunningham wanted to make it big when he brought a best-selling novel to the screen, A Stranger Is Watching (1982) with Rip Torn, but it was a disappointment. Cunningham went downhill with the over sexed teen comedy Spring Break (1983) and The New Kids (1985). Cunningham then produced House (1985) and several of its sequels. Cunningham next entered the world of underwater terrors after The Abyss (1989) was released. Cunningham did a follow up called DeepStar Six (1989), but it was a flop, however it beat another 1989 underwater thriller Leviathan (1989) at box office receipts. Cunningham was finished with directing and moved on to producing films and teaching. He produced House III: The Horror Show (1989), My Boyfriend's Back (1993) and Friday the 13th's last sequel Jason Goes to Hell (1993). Cunningham then did yet another follow up to Friday the 13th with Jason X (2001).Date of Birth
31 December 1941 , New York City, New York, USA
Height
5' 5" (1.65 m)
Spouse:
Susan E. Cunningham
(? - present) (2 children)
Trade Mark:
Uses atmospheric cinematography from Barry Abrams in both Friday the 13th and A Stranger is Watching.
Directed the chase sequence in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
As Director:
1980 Friday the 13th
1989 DeepStar Six
As Producer:
1972 The Last House on the Left (producer)
1980 Friday the 13th (producer)
1986 House (producer)
1987 House II: The Second Story (producer)
1989 DeepStar Six (producer)
1989 The Horror Show (producer)
1993 Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (producer)
2001 Jason X (executive producer)
2003 Freddy vs. Jason (producer)
2009 Friday the 13th (producer)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Three-time Oscar nominee Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in 1959 in Montbeliard, France, the son of Hungarian parents who had fled Budapest during the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution. Brought to America as an infant, he settled with his family in Los Angeles and attended Hollywood High School. His first job in movies was as a production assistant on the 1981 low-budget film, Hell Night (1981), starring Linda Blair. He spent the next six years working in the art department as a set dresser and in set construction while struggling to establish himself as a writer. His first produced writing credit (shared) was on the 1987 film, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), directed by Chuck Russell. Darabont is one of only six filmmakers in history with the unique distinction of having his first two feature films receive nominations for the Best Picture Academy Award: 1994's The Shawshank Redemption (1994) (with a total of seven nominations) and 1999's The Green Mile (1999) (four nominations). Darabont himself collected Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for each film (both based on works by Stephen King), as well as nominations for both films from the Director's Guild of America, and a nomination from the Writers Guild of America for The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He won the Humanitas Prize, the PEN Center USA West Award, and the Scriptor Award for his screenplay of "The Shawshank Redemption". For "The Green Mile", he won the Broadcast Film Critics prize for his screenplay adaptation, and two People's Choice Awards in the Best Dramatic Film and Best Picture categories. The Majestic (2001), starring Jim Carrey, was released in December 2001. He executive-produced the thriller, Collateral (2004), for DreamWorks, with Michael Mann directing and Tom Cruise starring. Future produced-by projects include "Way of the Rat" at DreamWorks with Chuck Russell adapting and directing the CrossGen comic book series and "Back Roads", a Tawni O'Dell novel, also at DreamWorks, with Todd Field attached to direct. Darabont and his production company, "Darkwoods Productions", have an overall deal with Paramount Pictures.Date of Birth
28 January 1959, Montbéliard, Doubs, France
Height
6' (1.83 m)
Trade Mark
Frequently makes adaptations of stories or novels by Stephen King.
Often casts actors Jeffrey DeMunn and William Sadler in his movies
He was born in 1959 in a refugee camp in France, where his parents were briefly resettled after the Soviet crushing of the 1956 Budapest uprising.
After closely working for more than a year with Steven Spielberg on a script for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), the script was personally rejected by producer George Lucas who had taken it upon himself to rewrite the script to his liking. Spielberg loved the script, but deferred to longtime pal Lucas on the matter.
Has directed 2 actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Morgan Freeman (Best Actor, The Shawshank Redemption (1994)) and Michael Clarke Duncan (Best Supporting Actor, The Green Mile (1999).
As Director:
1999 The Green Mile
2010 The Walking Dead (TV series)
– Days Gone Bye (2010)
As Writer:
1987 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (screenplay)
1988 The Blob (screenplay)
1989 The Fly II (screenplay)
1990-1992 Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
– Showdown (1992) (teleplay)
– The Ventriloquist's Dummy (1990) (screenplay)
1994 Frankenstein (screenplay)
1999 The Green Mile (screenplay)
The Walking Dead" (27 episodes )
Days Gone Bye (31 October 2010) - Writer (developer) (teleplay) , executive producer , Director
Guts (7 November 2010) - Writer (developer) (written by) , executive producer
Tell It to the Frogs (14 November 2010) - Writer (developer) (teleplay) , executive producer
Vatos (21 November 2010) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Wildfire (28 November 2010) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
TS-19 (5 December 2010) - Writer (developer) (written by) , executive producer
What Lies Ahead (16 October 2011) - Writer (developer) (written by) (as Ardeth Bey) , executive producer
Bloodletting (23 October 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Save the Last One (30 October 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Cherokee Rose (6 November 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Chupacabra (13 November 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Secrets (20 November 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Pretty Much Dead Already (27 November 2011) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Nebraska (12 February 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Triggerfinger (19 February 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
18 Miles Out (26 February 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Judge, Jury, Executioner (4 March 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Better Angels (11 March 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Beside the Dying Fire (18 March 2012) - Writer (developer) , executive producer
Seed (14 October 2012) - Writer (developer)
Sick (21 October 2012) - Writer (developer)
Walk with Me (28 October 2012) - Writer (developer)
Episode #3.4 (4 November 2012) - Writer (developer)
Episode #3.5 (11 November 2012) - Writer (developer)
Episode #3.6 (18 November 2012) - Writer (developer)
Episode #3.7 (25 November 2012) - Writer (developer)
Episode #3.8 (2 December 2012) - Writer (developer)- Writer
- Producer
- Director
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Emmerich began his career in his native Germany. In his youth, he pursued painting and sculpting. While enrolled in the director's program at film school in Munich, his student film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) went on to open the 1984 Berlin Film Festival. The feature became a huge success and was sold to more than 20 countries. In an amazing trivia, he directed his first feature, The Noah's Ark Principle (1984), in 1984. He is openly gay and a campaigner for the LGBT community.
A director/writer/producer with a flair for special effects-driven action, German Roland Emmerich made himself at home in blockbuster-hungry 1990s Hollywood. Born and educated in West Germany, Emmerich studied production design as well as direction at the Munich Film and Television School. After his student film, The Noah's Ark Principle, debuted at the 1984 Berlin Film Festival, Emmerich formed his production company Centropolis and directed supernatural fantasies Making Contact (1986) and Ghost Chase (1987), and the straight-to-video action film Moon 44 (1990). On the latter, he met actor Dean Devlin who subsequently switched jobs to become Emmerich's writing and producing partner once Emmerich set up shop in Hollywood.
After making his solo Hollywood debut directing Jean-Claude Van Damme in the cyborg action fest Universal Soldier (1992), Emmerich and Devlin revealed a talent for conjuring A-level action spectacles out of B-movie scenarios with their first film together, Stargate (1994). A space odyssey mixing ancient Egyptiana and high-tech wizardry, Stargate became an unexpected hit. Emmerich hit his blockbuster stride with his next film, Independence Day (1996). With its eye-popping destruction of major cities and climactic annihilation of a spacecraft via portable computer, Independence Day blew away its summer movie competition on the strength of its visual flash. Geared to repeat with the endlessly- and creatively-hyped version of Godzilla (1998), Emmerich instead faced the conundrum of directing a $100 million grossing film that did not live up to box office expectations. Emmerich and Devlin next turned their epic visions to the decidedly lower-tech (but still CGI-enhanced) action of the American Revolution in the Mel Gibson summer vehicle The Patriot (2000).Date of Birth
10 November 1955, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Nickname
Das Spielbergle aus Sindelfingen (South German dialect for "Little Spielberg from Sindelfingen")
Trade Mark
Often features an object crashing into the camera (Independence Day (1996))
Often features an insert or zoom-in shot of a villain's eyes widening when meeting demise (Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996)).
All of his major films have featured a couple kissing in front of a luminous background.
Often features the number "44" somewhere in his films in reference to his movie Moon 44 (1990).
Movies frequently feature a scene with rain
Large-scale disaster films (Independence Day (1996), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), 2012 (2009/I)).
Often uses a shot of a teacup and saucer rattling wildly to demonstrate a strong vibration.
Often uses extreme telephoto lenses with very deep focus in his shots so that all elements are in sharp focus.
Often uses father / son themes in movies.
1990 Moon 44
1992 Universal Soldier
1994 Stargate
1996 Independence Day
1998 Godzilla
2000 The Patriot
2004 The Day After Tomorrow
2008 10,000 BC
2009- '2012'- Director
- Producer
- Writer
The old Etonian, after National Service in the British Army, wanted to get into films but found the doors were closed to him, so he worked on commercials for about 20 years. David Putnam gave him a chance to direct Chariots of Fire which was a hit, and he never looked back.
He met his second wife, actress Maryam d'Abo, when she came to see him about wanting to play the leading role of Jane in his film Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984). They reconnected 15 years later at a dinner party. They wed four years later in 2003.Date of Birth
25 August 1936 , London, England, UK
Spouses:
Maryam d'Abo
(November 2003 - present)
Susan Caroline Michie
(1977 - ?) (divorced) (1 child)
1981 Chariots of Fire
1984 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
1985 Revolution
1989 Lost Angels
2000 I Dreamed of Africa- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating from Morehouse, Lee attended the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980), a reworking of D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), a ten-minute film. Lee went on to produce a 45-minute film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983) which won a student Academy Award. In 1986, Spike Lee made the film, She's Gotta Have It (1986), a comedy about sexual relationships. The movie was made for $175,000, and earned $7 million at the box office, which launched his career and allowed him to found his own production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks. His next movie was School Daze (1988), which was set at a historically black school, focused mostly on the conflict between the school and the Fraternities, of which he was a strong critic, portraying them as materialistic, irresponsible, and uncaring. With his School Daze (1988) profits, Lee went on to make his landmark film, Do the Right Thing (1989), a movie based specifically his own neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The movie portrayed the racial tensions that emerge in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood on one very hot day. The movie garnered Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, for Danny Aiello for supporting actor, and sparked a debate on racial relations. Lee went on to produce and direct the jazz biopic Mo' Better Blues (1990), the first of many Spike Lee films to feature Denzel Washington, including the biography of Malcolm X (1992), in which Washington portrayed the civil rights leader. The movie was a success, and garnered an Oscar nomination for Washington. The pair would work together again on He Got Game (1998), an excursion into the collegiate world showing the darker side of college athletic recruiting, as well as the 2006 film Inside Man (2006). Spike Lee's role as a documentarian has expanded over the years, highlighted by his participation in Lumière and Company (1995), the Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls (1997), to his Peabody Award-winning biographical adaptation of Black Panther leader in A Huey P. Newton Story (2001), through his 2005 Emmy Award-winning examination of post-Katrina New Orleans in When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and its follow-up five years later If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010). Through his production company 40 Acres and A Mule Filmworks, Lee continues to create and direct both independent films and projects for major studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach and support. He is married to Tonya Lewis Lee, and they have two sons, Satchel and Jackson.Date of Birth
20 March 1957, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Birth Name
Shelton Jackson Lee
Height
5' 6" (1.68 m)
Spouse
Tonya Lewis Lee (2 October 1993 - present) 2 children
Trade Mark
Frequently casts himself
Frequently casts John Turturro,Samuel L. Jackson, Delroy Lindo, Kim Director'. and Roger Guenveur Smith
His films frequently involve African Americans and African-American themes
Films called "A Spike Lee Joint"
Frequently has characters directly address the camera. Frequently places actors on dollies to achieve a gliding or rotating effect against the background of the shot.
His films often have the phrase "Wake Up!" as in an urging to the awakening of maturity and social conscience.
Baseball: Every one of his narrative feature films makes reference to baseball teams and players.
Often casts Denzel Washington
Frequently uses a technique he calls the "double dolly." This is where the camera and the subject are placed on a dolly and pushed through the scene. This makes the subject look like they are floating or gliding.
Frequently casts Michael Imperioli
1989 Do the Right Thing
1992 Malcolm X
1995 Clockers
1997 Michael Jackson: HIStory on Film - Volume II (video documentary) (video "They Don't Care About Us")
2000 The Original Kings of Comedy (documentary)- Director
- Producer
- Writer
John McTiernan was born on 8 January 1951 in Albany, New York, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Die Hard (1988), Rollerball (2002) and Last Action Hero (1993). He has been married to Gail Sistrunk since 2012. He was previously married to Kate Harrington, Donna Dubrow and Carol Land.Date of Birth
8 January 1951, Albany, New York, USA
Birth Name
John Campbell McTiernan Jr.
Height
6' (1.83 m)
Spouse
Kate Harrington (19 July 2003 - present) 2 children
Donna Dubrow (1988 - 1997) (divorced)
Carol Land (12 October 1974 - ?) (divorced)
Trade Mark
Often shows characters speaking in a foreign, unsubtitled language. According to McTiernan, this habit comes from the countless foreign films he saw as a student.
Films often feature lens flare (Die Hard (1988) even had a sound effect synced up to a flare).
Often works with Australian cinematographers Donald McAlpine, Dean Semler, Peter Menzies Jr. and Steve Mason.
Frequently casts Sven-Ole Thorsen in minor roles. (Predator (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Last Action Hero (1993), and The 13th Warrior (1999)).
Enjoys working with the composers of the James Bond franchise (Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Eric Serra).
Known for directing violent, high-energy action-adventures (Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990)).
In a criminal-wiretapping case filed by the U.S. District Attorney for Los Angeles, John McTiernan plead guilty to lying to F.B.I. agents about requesting to have Anthony Pellicano investigate producer Charles Roven during production of Rollerball (2002). Sentenced to four months in federal prison on 09/24/07, plea was withdrawn and restated as innocent since statement had been given to FBI when McTiernan was admittedly suffering jet-lag and drunk after arriving in US from UK trip. Case was tried and US conviction was handed down on 10/4/2010 by US District Judge Dale Fischer with one-year sentence and $100,000 USD fine against McTiernan. McTiernan's attorneys announced intent to appeal and he is currently free on appeal.
1987 Predator
1988 Die Hard
1990 The Hunt for Red October
1993 Last Action Hero
1995 Die Hard: With a Vengeance
2002 Rollerball
2003 Basic- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Born in the Australian rural town of Griffith, New South Wales, Phillip Noyce moved to Sydney with his family at the age of 12. As a teenager, he was introduced to underground films produced on shoestring budgets as well as mainstream American movies. He was 18 when he made his first film, the 15-minute Better to Reign in Hell (1969) utilizing a unique financing scheme selling roles in the movie to his friends.
In 1973 he was selected to attend the Australian National Film School in its inaugural year. Here, he made Castor and Pollux (1973) a 50 minute documentary which won the award for best Australian short film of 1974.
Noyce's first professional film was the 50-minute docudrama God Knows Why, But It Works (1976) in 1975. This helped pave the way for his first feature, the road movie Backroads (1977) which starred Australian Aboriginal activist Gary Foley and iconic Australian actor Bill Hunter who would go on to appear in 2 other Noyce films. In 1978, he directed and co-wrote Newsfront (1978), which won Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Australian Film Awards, as well as proving a huge commercial hit in Australia. In addition to opening the London Film Festival, Newsfront was the first Australian film to screen at the New York Film Festival.
In 1982, Heatwave (1982), co-written and directed by Noyce and starring Judy Davis, was chosen to screen at the Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
The success of the Australian produced Dead Calm (1989), starring Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane brought Noyce to Hollywood, where he directed 6 films over the next decade, including Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994) starring Harrison Ford, and The Bone Collector (1999), starring Oscar© winners Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
In 2002 Noyce returned to his native Australia, where released two films worldwide at almost the same time. The Quiet American (2002) starred Michael Caine in an Academy nominated Best Actor performance and appeared on over 20 top ten lists for 2002, including the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute. Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002) was based on the true story of three Aboriginal girls abducted from their families by Australian authorities in 1931 as part of an official government policy. The film won Best Picture at the Australian Film Awards, and together with The Quiet American garnered Noyce numerous best director awards including National Board of Review in the US and UK's London Film Critics Circle.
In 2006 Noyce directed Tim Robbins and Derek Luke in the South African set political thriller Catch a Fire (2006).
2010 Saw Noyce re-teaming with Angelina Jolie for his biggest box-office hit, the spy thriller Salt (2010), which grossed $295 million worldwide.
In Spring 2011, Noyce directed and executive produced the pilot for the ABC series Revenge (2011), which ended a four-season run on May 10, 2015.
In 2013 Noyce directed and executive produced the NBC pilot Crisis (2014), which went to series. Later that year, he returned to South Africa to film The Giver (2014), starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Brenton Thwaites, which opened in the US on August 15, 2014 from The Weinstein Company.
In 2016 Noyce directed the first night of the Emmy nominated miniseries Roots (2016).
In 2017 Noyce directed the pilot and first episode of Fox Network's medical show The Resident (2018) reuniting him with Emily VanCamp, who starred in Revenge.
In 2018 Noyce directed the feature Above Suspicion (2019), starring Emilia Clarke and Jack Huston. In 2018 he also directed the pilot and first episode of the 10-part series What/If (2019), starring Renée Zellweger and created by Revenge creator Mike Kelley, to be released in June 2019 by Netflix.Date of Birth
29 April 1950, Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Height
6' 4" (1.93 m)
Spouse
Vuyo Dyasi (2006 - present) 1 child
Jan Sharp (1979 - 2004) 2 children
Jan Chapman (December 1971 - 1977) (divorced)
1989 Dead Calm
1985-1989 The Hitchhiker (TV series)
– Nightshift (1985)
1989 Blind Fury
1992 Patriot Games
1993 Sliver
1994 Clear and Present Danger
1997 The Saint- Director
- Producer
- Editor
David Nutter was born in 1960 in the USA. He is a director and producer, known for Game of Thrones (2011), The Pacific (2010) and Space: Above and Beyond (1995). He was previously married to Birgit Nutter.1996-1997 Millennium (TV Series) (4 episodes)- Loin Like a Hunting Flame (1997)
- 522666 (1996)
- Gehenna (1996)
- Pilot (1996)
2000 Dark Angel (TV Series) (1 episode)- Pilot (2000)
2001 Smallville (TV Series) (2 episodes)- Unaired Pilot (2001)
- Pilot (2001)
2005 Supernatural (TV Series) (2 episodes)- Wendigo (2005)
- Pilot (2005)
2008 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TV Series) (3 episodes)- Samson & Delilah (2008)
- Gnothi Seauton (2008)
- Pilot (2008)
2014 The Flash (TV Series) (1 episode)- Pilot (2014)
- Producer
- Writer
- Actor
Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making movies with an 8mm camera. He was a devoted fan of The Three Stooges, so much of Raimi's film work in his teens, with good friends Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert, was slapstick comedy based around what they had observed from "Stooges" movies.
Among the three of them, they wrote, directed, produced and edited a short horror movie titled Within the Woods (1978), which was then shown to prospective investors to raise the money necessary to film The Evil Dead (1981). It met with lukewarm interest in the U.S. with local distributors, so Raimi took the film to Europe, where it was much more warmly received. After it started gaining positive reviews and, more importantly, ticket sales upon its release in Europe, U.S. distributors showed renewed interest, and "Evil Dead" was eventually released stateside to strong box office returns. His next directorial effort was Crimewave (1985), a quirky, cartoon-like effort that failed to catch fire with audiences. However, he bounced back with Evil Dead II (1987), a racier and more humorous remake/sequel to the original "Dead" that did even better at the box office. Raimi was then given his biggest budget to date to shoot Darkman (1990), a comic book-style fantasy about a scarred avenger. The film did moderate business, but Raimi's strong visual style was evident throughout the film via inventive and startling camera work that caught the attention of numerous critics.
The third chapter in the Evil Dead story beckoned, and Raimi once again directed buddy Campbell as the gritty hero "Ash", in the Gothic horror Army of Darkness (1992). Raimi surprised fans when he took a turn away from the fantasy genre and directed Gene Hackman and Sharon Stone in the sexy western, The Quick and the Dead (1995); four years later, he took the directorial reins on A Simple Plan (1998), a crime thriller about stolen money, starring Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda. In early 1999, he directed the baseball film, For Love of the Game (1999), and, in 2000, returned to the fantasy genre with a top-flight cast in The Gift (2000). In 2002, Raimi was given a real opportunity to demonstrate his dynamic visual style with the big-budget film adaptation of the Stan Lee comic book superhero, Spider-Man (2002), and fans were not disappointed. The movie was strong in both script and effects, and was a runaway success at the box office. Of course, Raimi returned for the sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004), which surpassed the original in box-office takings.Date of Birth
23 October 1959, Royal Oak, Michigan, USA
Birth Name
Samuel Marshall Raimi
Nickname
Sammy
Height
5' 11" (1.80 m)
Spouse
Gillian Greene (1993 - present) 5 children
Trade Mark
[Three Stooges] He uses Stooge-like sequences in many of his movies (especially in the Evil Dead films). Raimi is a huge fan of The Three Stooges. He made many super-8 films that resembled classic Stoogeshorts.
[Shemp] Often credits a character called a "Shemp", another homage to The Three Stooges. Most frequently, it is a "Fake Shemp", a reference to the Three Stooges shorts where a stunt man was used in place of Shemp Howard.
Often has a voiceover from a principal character at the end of his films (Army of Darkness (1992), all the Spider-Man films).
On-going in-joke feud with Wes Craven
Frequently casts Bruce Campbell, 'Theodore Craven', J.K. Simmons, and his brother Ted Raimi.
Kinetic, wild camera movement (Includes the Evil Dead and Spider-Man films)
Likes the "whip pan," possibly inspired by Martin Scorsese
Frequently figures out difficult shots by "reverse motion acting" (filming the actor acting backwards and playing in reverse).
Usually wears a jacket and tie on the set of his films, a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock.
Often includes scenes in his movies in which large clocks/clock towers play important parts (The Quick and the Dead (1995), Spider-Man 2 (2004)).
Always has his car (a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 dubbed "the classic") somewhere visible to the audience in all of his films (including a modified covered wagon, according to Bruce Campbell, in The Quick and the Dead (1995)). It is even visible in the Spider-Man (2002) trailer (the car that Spider-man jumps on).
[POV] Often features a shot from the point-of-view of the villain/monster (The Dark Spirit in the Evil Dead films, the camera view of Doc Ock's mechanical tentacles in Spider-Man 2 (2004), the black blob from outer space in Spider-Man 3 (2007)).
Often collaborates with the Coen Brothers
Supernatural and Fantasy Themes
References to Classic Comedy and Horror Films
Known for inflicting physical Violence on main characters either with large violent scenes or smaller ones throughout
Bloody but comical set pieces
Known for humorously "Abusing" actors,i.e,hitting Them with tree branches to simulate getting hit with debris,throwing popcorn at Them.
Frequently films scenes in which a main character is on the receiving end of an extremely brutal attack
References to the works of Alfred Hitchcock
Unflinchingly graphic and brutal depiction of Violence
His characters are often ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances
As Director:
1981 The Evil Dead
1995 The Quick and the Dead
1992 Army of Darkness
1990 Darkman
1987 Evil Dead II
2009 Drag Me to Hell
2007 Spider-Man 3
2004 Spider-Man 2
2002 Spider-Man
As Producer:
1981 The Evil Dead (executive producer)
1994 Hercules and the Amazon Women (TV movie) (executive producer)
1994 M.A.N.T.I.S. (TV movie) (executive producer)
1993 Hard Target (executive producer)
1992 Darkman (TV movie) (executive producer)
1994-1997 M.A.N.T.I.S. (TV series) (executive producer - 22 episodes)
1995-1999 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (TV series) (executive producer - 111 episodes)
1995-2001 Xena: Warrior Princess (TV series) (executive producer - 134 episodes)
2007 30 Days of Night (producer)- Producer
- Director
- Production Designer
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom and Europe before they eventually returned to Teesside. Scott wanted to join the British Army (his elder brother Frank had already joined the Merchant Navy) but his father encouraged him to develop his artistic talents instead and so he went to West Hartlepool College of Art and then London's Royal College of Art where he helped found the film department.
In 1962, he joined the BBC as a trainee set designer working on several high profile series. He attended a trainee director's course while he was there and his first directing job was on an episode of the popular BBC police series Z Cars (1962), Error of Judgement (1965). More TV work followed until, frustrated by the poor financial rewards at the BBC, he went into advertising. With his younger brother, Tony Scott, he formed the advertising production company RSA (Ridley Scott Associates) in 1967 and spent the next 10 years making some of the best known and best loved TV adverts ever shown on British television, including a series of ads for Hovis bread set to the music of Dvorak's New World Symphony which are still talked about today ("'e were a great baker were our dad.")
He began working with producer David Puttnam in the 1970s developing ideas for feature films. Their first joint endeavor, The Duellists (1977) won the Jury Prize for Best First Work at Cannes in 1977 and was nominated for the Palm d'Or, more than successfully launching Scott's feature film career. The success of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) inspired Scott's interest in making science fiction and he accepted the offer to direct Dan O'Bannon's low budget science fiction horror movie Alien (1979), a critical and commercial success that firmly established his worldwide reputation as a movie director.
Blade Runner (1982) followed in 1982 to, at best, a lukewarm reception from public and critics but in the years that followed, its reputation grew - and Scott's with it - as one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. Scott's next major project was back in the advertising world where he created another of the most talked-about advertising spots in broadcast history when his "1984"-inspired ad for the new Apple Macintosh computer was aired during the Super Bowl on January 22, 1984. Scott's movie career has seen a few flops (notably Legend (1985) and 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)), but with successes like Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000) and Black Hawk Down (2001) to offset them, his reputation remains solidly intact.
Ridley Scott was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 2003 Queen's New Year Honours for his "substantial contribution to the British film industry". On July 3, 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship in 2018. BAFTA described him as "a visionary director, one of the great British film-makers whose work has made an indelible mark on the history of cinema. Forty years since his directorial debut, his films continue to cross the boundaries of style and genre, engaging audiences and inspiring the next generation of film talent."Date of Birth
30 November 1937, South Shields, County Durham (now South Shields, Tyne & Wear), England, UK
Nickname
R-Scott
Rid
Height
5' 8½" (1.74 m)
Spouse
Sandy Watson (24 May 1979 - 12 January 1989) (divorced) 1 child
Felicity Heywood (March 1964 - 15 December 1975) (divorced) 2 children
Trade Mark
[Stunning visuals] He personally sketches most of his own storyboards, left-handed, with great artistic style (The Duellists (1977), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Black Rain (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), American Gangster (2007), Body of Lies (2008)).
[Strong female characters] This includes Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1979), Geena Davis & Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise (1991), Alison Lohman in Matchstick Men (2003), all the female characters in A Good Year (2006), Cate Blanchett and Eileen Atkins in Robin Hood (2010), and even the female athlete in the Superbowl ad "1984" for Apple Computers.
Being the actors' director that he is, Scott favors extensive use of the two-camera 'V' set-up, thus enabling his actors to play more fluidly off one another without being constantly interrupted by calls to "Cut!".
Frequently uses music by Hans Zimmer
Begins most films with an info card sequence/montage (Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Gladiator (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001)).
Frequently casts Russell Crowe (Gladiator (2000), A Good Year (2006), American Gangster (2007), Body of Lies (2008), and Robin Hood (2010)).
Usually incorporates snapshot photography into edited sequences (A Good Year (2006)).
Usually casts / works with actors who have a strong theatre background and are graduates of drama school. He likes to be personally involved with the casting of his movies as well.
Is the father of "director's cut" (Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Gladiator (2000)).
Does not use a lot of wide lenses; tends towards longer focal lengths
Sweeping landscapes/backdrops - at times, with close-up of a character's face in foreground - as shown in Gladiator (2000) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005).
Black Hawk Down (2001) is dedicated to his mother, who died in 2001.
Directed a Maxwell House coffee commercial that starred Shakira Caine. Michael Caine saw the commercial and was so taken by her beauty, he desperately searched for her. They have been married 30 years.
He cast his partner in life, Giannina Facio, in all of his films since Gladiator (2000).
Suffers from claustrophobia, a condition he actively sought to instill in his Alien (1979) cast by making their Nostromo living quarters as cramped as possible.
Coming from an army and fine arts background, he is an inveterate stickler for detail who tackles each movie project with the vehemence of a general with a battle plan. His persistent scrutiny of minutiae on the Alien (1979) shoot prompted Sigourney Weaver to complain that he cared more about his props and sets than he did about his cast.
He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2003 Queen's New Years Honors List for his services to the Film Industry.
1977 The Duellists
1979 Alien
1982 Blade Runner
1985 Legend
1987 Someone to Watch Over Me
1989 Black Rain
1991 Thelma & Louise
1997 G.I. Jane
2000 Gladiator
2001 Hannibal
2001 Black Hawk Down
2012 Prometheus- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden, with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969, he directed the popular Dutch TV series, Floris (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer, who has appeared in many of Verhoeven's later films. Verhoeven's first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. "What do I See?"), was released in 1971. However, it was his second, Turkish Delight (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story-line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldier of Orange (1977) and The 4th Man (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was Flesh+Blood (1985) in 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and, especially, Total Recall (1990) that made him a big box office success. Sometimes accused of portraying excessive violence in his films, Verhoeven replies that he is only recording the violence of society. Verhoeven has co-scripted two of his films: Soldier of Orange (1977) and Flesh+Blood (1985). He also directed an episode of the HBO The Hitchhiker (1983) TV series. Several of his films have been photographed by Jost Vacano, including the hit cult film, Starship Troopers (1997), starring Casper Van Dien.Date of Birth
18 July 1938, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Spouse
Martine Verhoeven (7 April 1967 - present) 3 children
Trade Mark
Famous for his extremely violent, yet intelligent, science fiction films (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997) and Hollow Man (2000)).
Frequently works with screenwriter Gerard Soeteman (on his Dutch films), photographer Jost Vacano, and Rutger Hauer (Turkish Delight (1973), Keetje Tippel (1975), Soldier of Orange (1977), Spetters (1980) and Flesh+Blood (1985)).
A lot of his films include media coverage of some kind, ranging from real archive footage (Soldier of Orange (1977) ) to fictional news (RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997)) and sportscasts (Spetters (1980)).
Heavy use of Christian symbolism (Turkish Delight (1973),Spetters (1980), The Fourth Man (1983), Flesh+Blood (1985), RoboCop (1987), Basic Instinct (1992) )
Sexually-charged subject matter (Turkish Delight (1973), Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995) and Black Book (2006)).
His films usually have the two main antagonists hostile to each other (Dick Jones and Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop (1987), Cohaagen and Richter in Total Recall (1990), Catherine Trammel and Beth Garner, the two main suspects in Basic Instinct (1992), who were possibly framing each other and Ludwig Muntze and Gunther Franken in Black Book (2006))
Use of Nazi symbolism/imagery. Examples: The characters played by Kurtwood Smith in Robocop and Neil Patrick Harris in Starship Troopers are patterned after Heimrich Himler of Hitler's SS. The society of Earth in Starship Troopers is patterned after Nazi Germany.
Strong visual style with heavy use of special effects
1973 Turkish Delight
1977 Soldier of Orange
1980 Spetters
1985 Flesh+Blood
1986 The Hitchhiker (TV series)
– Last Scene (1986)
1987 RoboCop
1990 Total Recall
1992 Basic Instinct
1997 Starship Troopers- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Joss Whedon is the middle of five brothers - his younger brothers are Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon. Both his father, Tom Whedon and his grandfather, John Whedon were successful television writers. Joss' mother, Lee Stearns, was a history teacher and she also wrote novels as Lee Whedon. Whedon was raised in New York and was educated at Riverdale Country School, where his mother also taught. He also attended Winchester College in England for two years, before graduating with a film degree from Wesleyan University.
After relocating to Los Angeles, Whedon landed his first TV writing job on "Roseanne", and moved on to script a season of "Parenthood". He then developed a film script which went on to become Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Whedon was very unhappy with the final film - his original script was extensively re-written and made lighter in tone. After this he earned screenwriting credits on such high profile productions as Alien: Resurrection (1997) and Toy Story (1995), for which he was Oscar nominated. He also worked as a 'script doctor' on various features, notably Speed (1994).
In 1997, Whedon had the opportunity to resurrect his character Buffy in a television series on The WB Network. This time, as showrunner and executive producer, he retained full artistic control. The series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was a popular and critical hit, which ran for several seasons, the last two on UPN. Whedon also produced a spin-off series, "Angel", which was also successful. A foray in to sci-fi television followed with "Firefly", which developed a cult following, but did not stay on air long. It did find an audience on DVD and through re-runs, and a spin-off feature film Serenity (2005) was released in 2005.
Other projects have included comic book writing, the sci-fi drama "Dollhouse" and the screenplay for Marvel blockbuster The Avengers (2012).Date of Birth
23 June 1964, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name
Joseph Hill Whedon
Height
5' 10" (1.78 m)
Spouse
Kai Cole (? - present) 2 children
Trade Mark
Plans storylines far in advance for all his television series, allowing for remarkable long-term continuity.
Frequent use of nouns as adjectives, by adding the suffix "-y"
Features tough, strong female characters
Kills off characters who are among his most popular, to keep his audiences surprised.
Supernatural and science fiction themes
Often gives his characters names that are later revealed to be their last names and/or based on an unusual abbreviation for their full name. For example: only after the character Oz had already left "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997) did the show reveal that "Oz" was an abbreviation of his full name, Daniel Osbourne; on "Angel," they did not clarify that Doyle was actually the character's last name for many episodes; "Xander," the name of a main Buffy character, is a much less usual nickname for "Alexander" than the much more common "Alex;" and likewise for the name "Topher," the name of a main "Dollhouse" (2009) character, which is a much less usual nickname for "Christopher" than the much more common "Chris.".
Frequently casts Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk
References to classic stories and films, through storytelling methods and direct reference in dialogue
Trivia:
Whedon's children have his wife's last name, not his.
Whedon, who has made his support of feminist causes well known and who has built much of his career writing films and TV shows about empowered teenage girls or young women, was a subscriber to Sassy, an American feminist magazine for teenage girls. Sassy was published between 1988-1994, which means that Whedon (who was born in 1964) would have been far into his late 20s or early 30s while receiving the publication.
An active supporter of gay rights.
Rewrote the script for Speed (1994) uncredited.
Has cited the X-Men character Kitty Pryde (AKA Shadowcat) as a major influence for the character of Buffy.
After receiving a degree in film studies from Wesleyan University, Whedon moved to Los Angeles and landed his first writing job on the staff of "Roseanne" (1988), working as a story editor and writing several episodes of the top-rated series. He later pulled double duty on the NBC series "Parenthood" (1990), co-producing and writing a number of episodes.
Writing is clearly in his blood, since he could arguably be the world's first third-generation television writer. His grandfather was a successful sitcom writer in the 1950s and '60s on "The Donna Reed Show" (1958) and "Leave It to Beaver" (1957), and his father wrote for the likes of "The Dick Cavett Show" (1968), "Alice" (1976) and "Benson" (1979).
1996-2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)
1999-2004 Angel (TV series)
2011 Thor (director: post-credits scene - uncredited)
2012 The Avengers
As Writer:
1989 Roseanne (TV series)
– Chicken Hearts - Chicken Hearts (1989) (written by)
– Brain-Dead Poets Society (1989) (written by)
– House of Grown-Ups (1989) (written by)
– Little Sister (1989) (written by)
1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (written by)
1997 Alien: Resurrection (written by)
2000 Titan A.E. (screenplay)
1996-2003 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)
1999-2004 Angel (TV series)
2011 The Cabin in the Woods (written by)
2012 The Avengers (screenplay / story)- Music Artist
- Writer
- Actor
Robert Bartleh Cummings, more famously known as Rob Zombie, was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts on January 12, 1965. He is the oldest son of Louise and Robert Cummings, and has a younger brother, Michael David (aka Spider One; b. 1968), who is the lead singer of Powerman 5000. Growing up, Zombie loved horror movies, which have greatly influenced his music and filmmaking career; in 1983, he graduated from Haverhill High School. After graduating, he moved to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design, also briefly working as a production assistant on Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986).
Zombie and his then-girlfriend, Sean Yseult, co-founded the band White Zombie, named after the Bela Lugosi classic horror film of the same name (White Zombie (1932)). The band released their debut studio album, 'Soul-Crusher', in 1987; their second, 'Make Them Die Slowly', followed in 1989, but generated little buzz.
Following the release of their fourth extended play, however, White Zombie caught the attention of Geffen Records, who in 1992 went on to release their third studio album, 'La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One'. This album sold over two million copies in the U.S., becoming the band's breakout hit. White Zombie's fourth and final album, 'Astro-Creep: 2000 - Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head', was released in 1995 to critical and commercial success, ultimately becoming their most successful album. The band released a remix album in 1996 and disbanded the same year, officially breaking up in 1998.
Rob Zombie began working on a debut album in 1997; 'Hellbilly Deluxe: 13 Tales of Cadaverous Cavorting Inside the Spookshow International' came out in 1998, selling over three million copies. Zombie formed his own record label, Zombie-A-Go-Go Records, in 1998.
Zombie composed the original score for the video game Twisted Metal III (1998) and designed a haunted attraction for Universal Studios in 1999. In 2000, he began working on his directional debut, House of 1000 Corpses (2003). Inspired mainly by classics such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), the film was delayed until 2003 due to distributional issues. Though criticized for its explicit depictions of violence and gore, it went on to gross over $16 million and has garnered a cult following.
Zombie's second studio album, 'The Sinister Urge', was released in 2001 and sold over a million copies. In 2002, he married his longtime girlfriend Sheri Moon Zombie, who has appeared in all of his movies to date and often accompanies him on tour to choreograph dance routines and create costumes. Zombie released a sequel to 'House of 1000 Corpses' in 2005, entitled The Devil's Rejects (2005). Although it received much more positive reviews than its predecessor, it was still criticized for its violent content. He released his third studio album, 'Educated Horses', the following year.
In 2007, Zombie decided to focus on his work as a filmmaker for a while; the same year, he would release his most polarizing movie to date: Halloween (2007), a remake of the 1978 classic of the same name (Halloween (1978)). It received a mixed reception, but was a box office hit, and still currently resides as the top Labor Day weekend grosser. Zombie directed a fictitious trailer entitled 'Werewolf Women of the SS' (inspired by the exploitation flick Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS (1975)) for Grindhouse (2007). In 2009, Zombie directed Halloween II (2009), which was critically panned, and The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009), which was based upon one of his comic book series.
Also in 2009, Zombie began working on a new album; 'Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool' came out the following year. In 2011, he directed a horror-themed commercial for Woolite, and began work on a new film, The Lords of Salem (2012). Unlike Zombie's previous efforts, 'The Lords of Salem' focused more on building suspense and a nightmarish, surreal atmosphere and less on brutal violence and excessive profanity. It ultimately received mixed reviews; just after its release, Zombie came out with his fifth studio album, 'Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor', his lowest-selling to date.
Zombie lent his voice to the superhero movie Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). He also began work on 31 (2016), which tells the story of five carnival workers who are trapped and forced to fight for survival against a gang of murderous clowns. It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in January, and will be released in September. In April, Zombie's sixth studio album, 'The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser', was released. Additionally, he has signed on to direct a film on the life of zany comic Groucho Marx, though a release date is uncertain.
Zombie is most recognized for his heavy metal style of music, influenced by his love of classic horror, and his exploitation/splatter-type movies. Overall, he has sold an estimated fifteen million albums worldwide, and his films have grossed over $150 million in total.Date of Birth
12 January 1965, Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA
Birth Name
Robert Bartleh Cummings
Height
5' 10" (1.78 m)
Spouse
Sheri Moon Zombie (31 October 2002 - present)
Trade Mark
Dreadlocks
Gruff vocals
Often casts Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley and Tom Towles in his films.
Uses clips of old horror movies in his music videos and films
His Beard
Remakes of Horror Films
Graphic depiction of Violence
Heavily tattooed arms
Originally stated he would never do a sequel to Halloween (2007), until the studio decided to make Halloween II (2009). Then he signed on to write and direct, because he didn't want someone to ruin his vision. He did not sign on to direct the second sequel Halloween III (????).
Avoids doing casting himself or even giving himself cameos in any of his films. He has said that, as a director, he doesn't feel comfortable in front of the camera and generally feels that directors should focus on directing rather than being in the film.
Has a 12-foot stuffed bear in his living room. He also has a sarcophagus, an enormous Boris Karloff poster, a green, scaly Creature from the Black Lagoon statue, and real baby bats which have mounted and framed.
Long-time vegetarian.
Member of the unofficial "Splat Pack," a term coined by film historian Alan Jones in Total Film magazine for the modern wave of directors making brutally violent horror films. The other "Splat Pack" members are Alexandre Aja, Darren Lynn Bousman, Neil Marshall, Greg Mclean, Eli Roth, James Wan & Leigh Whannell.
Collector of classic movie posters including horror films and the classic Marx Brothers films, after whom he named several of the characters in House of 1000 Corpses (2003) (Otis Driftwood, Captain Spaulding, etc.).
He has a pair of boots that he's been wearing for over 20 years.
Brother Spider One is "Spider", lead singer of the metal band Powerman 5000.
2009 Halloween II
2008 Michael Lives: The Making of 'Halloween' (video documentary)
2007 Halloween
2007 Grindhouse (fake trailer segment "Werewolf Women of the S.S.")
2005 The Devil's Rejects
2003 House of 1000 Corpses- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Writer
Since 1980 Sam Firstenberg has been in the independent filmmaking field. Directing 22 theatrical feature films since completing his graduate studies in film at Loyola Marymount University. One More Chance (1981), starring Kirstie Alley, won prizes in major film festivals and sparked the beginning of his career as a director. Subsequent films have become commercial hits and cult classics, especially the "American Ninja" series starring Michael Dudikoff and the break-dance phenomenon Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984).
Born in Poland, he grew up in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1972 he moved to the US where "Shmulik" became "Sam", and he completed his graduate studies in film at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, where he resides with his wife and three daughters.Date of Birth
13 March 1950, Poland
Birth Name
Shmulik Firstenberg
1983 Revenge of the Ninja
1984 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
1984 Ninja III: The Domination
1985 American Ninja
1986 Avenging Force
1987 American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
1992 American Samurai- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Raoul Walsh's 52-year directorial career made him a Hollywood legend. Walsh was also an actor: He appeared in the first version of W. Somerset Maugham's "Rain" renamed Sadie Thompson (1928) opposite Gloria Swanson in the title role. He would have played the Cisco Kid in his own film In Old Arizona (1928) if an errant jackrabbit hadn't cost him his right eye by leaping through the windshield of his automobile. Warner Baxter filled the role and won an Oscar. Before John Ford and Nicholas Ray, it was Raoul Walsh who made the eye-patch almost as synonymous with a Hollywood director as Cecil B. DeMille's jodhpurs.
He interned with the best, serving as assistant director and editor on D.W. Griffith's racist masterpiece, The Clansman, better known as The Birth of a Nation (1915), a blockbuster that may have been the highest-grossing film of all time if accurate box office records had been kept before the sound era. He pulled triple duty on that picture, playing John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theater and ranked as the most notorious American actor of all time until Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens).
The year before The Clansman, Walsh was second unit director on The Life of General Villa (1914), also playing the Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa as a young man. Walsh got his start in the business as co-director of another Pancho Villa flick, The Life of General Villa (1914), in 1912. The movie featured footage shot of an actually battle between Villa's forces and Mexican federal troops.
In 1915, in addition to helping out the great Griffith, Walsh directed no less than 14 films, including his first feature-length film, The Regeneration (1915), which he also wrote. The movie starred silent cinema superstar Anna Q. Nilsson as a society woman turned social worker who aids the regeneration of a Bowery gang leader. It was a melodrama, but an effective one. In his autobiography, Walsh credited D.W. Griffith with teaching him about the art of filmmaking and about production management techniques. The film is memorable for its shots of New York City, where Walsh had been born 28 years earlier on March 11, 1887.
Raoul Walsh would continue to be a top director for 40 years and would not hang up his director's megaphone (if he still had one at that late in the game) until 1964. As a writer, his last script was made in 1970, meaning his career as a whole spanned seven decades and 58 years.
He introduced the world to John Wayne in The Big Trail (1930) in 70mm wide-screen in 1930. It would take nine more years and John Ford to make the Duke a star. In one three-year period at Warner Bros., he directed The Roaring Twenties (1939), They Drive by Night (1940), High Sierra (1940), The Strawberry Blonde (1941), Manpower (1941), They Died with Their Boots On (1941), and Gentleman Jim (1942), among other films in that time frame. He helped consolidate the stardom of Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn while directing the great James Cagney in one of his more delightful films, The Strawberry Blonde (1941). This was the same director that would elicit Cagney's most searing performance since The Public Enemy (1931) in the crime classic White Heat (1949).
Novelist Norman Mailer says that Walsh was dragged off of his death bed to direct the underrated film adaptation of Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1958). The movie is as masculine and unsentimental as the book, an exceedingly harsh look at the power relations between men at war on the same side that includes the attempted murder of prisoners of war and the "fragging" of officers (Sergeant Croft allows his lieutenant to walk into an ambush). Walsh was at his best when directing men in war or action pictures.
Raoul Walsh seemingly recovered from Mailer's phantasmagorical death bed, as he lived another 22 years after The Naked and the Dead (1958). He died on December 31, 1980, in Simi Valley, California, at the age of 93.Date of Birth
11 March 1887, New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death
31 December 1980, Simi Valley, California, USA
Birth Name
Albert Edward Walsh
Nickname
Uncle
Height
6' 0½" (1.84 m)
Spouse
Mary Simpson (1947 - 1980) (his death)
Lorraine Miller (20 August 1928 - 1947) (divorced)
Miriam Cooper (1916 - 1926) (divorced) 2 adopted sons
Trade Mark
Although he directed in numerous "manly" genres, he is principally remembered as a master of crime dramas
Trivia
Final resting place: Assumption Catholic Cemetery, Simi Valley, California.
Lost his right eye and lead role on location for In Old Arizona (1928) when a jackrabbit leaped into the windshield of his car.
Is portrayed by Kyle Chandler in And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (2003) (TV).
He often repeated Jack Pickford's wisecrack about him: "Your idea of light comedy is to burn down a whorehouse."
1941 High Sierra
1942 Gentleman Jim
1949 White Heat- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Steve Miner has had a very popular career in making films and remains one of Hollywood's most prolific directors and has worked with a variety of stars that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, C. Thomas Howell, Tom Arnold, Amy Steel Rick Moranis, and Bill Pullman.
Before becoming a director, Miner worked as an editor for Wes Craven and Sean S. Cunningham on several occasions, helping bring the notorious rape/murder film The Last House on the Left (1972) to the screen. He worked for Cunningham again in 1980 on Friday the 13th (1980) as an associate producer. The following year he was hired to direct its sequels Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) and Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982). Miner also directed the comedy, Soul Man (1986) and moved onto a serious drama Forever Young (1992) in 1992. Returning to comedy with Rick Moranis and Tom Arnold, he made Big Bully (1996) and returned back to horror with the very successful Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) and the under water/comedy thriller Lake Placid (1999). His recent film Texas Rangers (2001) with young upcoming Hollywood stars isn't bad either. Nearly all films have been successful and/or a box office hit.Date of Birth
18 June 1951 , Westport, Connecticut, USA
Birth Name
Stevan W. Miner
Spouse:
Susan
(17 September 1977 - present)
Prefers to think of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) as Halloween II (1981) instead of the chronologically correct "Halloween VII".
The only director to direct more than one film in the Friday the 13th series.
1981 Friday the 13th Part 2
1982 Friday the 13th Part III
1986 House
1986 Soul Man
1989 Warlock
1991 Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken
1998 Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
2002 Smallville (TV Series) (1 episode)- Duplicity (2002)
2003 Karen Sisco (TV Series) (1 episode)- Nostalgia (2003)
2008 Day of the Dead