Bio: 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).
Tivia: Praised longtime friend and frequent collaborator Kurt Russell for being a hard-working, professional actor who isn't afraid to take on roles that might hurt his image or make him look like a fool.Based his most famous character, the iconic Michael Myers from Halloween (1978), on a thirteen year old boy he saw at a mental institution on a school trip.Said in a 1982 interview that he thought the R rating for Halloween (1978) was justifiable, but The Fog (1980) should've been rated PG.Appears in his own films under the name Rip Haight, appearing in in The Fog (1980), Starman (1984), Body Bags (1993), and Village of the Damned (1995).Is an avid fan of the Godzilla films. He considers the first Godzilla movie (Godzilla (1954)) to be an inspiration for him.In an interview, he stated that he takes much of the failure of his movies pretty hard. However, out of all the movies that he had done, he claimed that The Thing (1982) was the failure he took the hardest.Named his six favorite films as Only Angels Have Wings (1939), Rio Bravo (1959), Citizen Kane (1941), Vertigo (1958), Black Christmas (1974) and Blow-Up (1966).Turned down the chance to direct Zombieland (2009).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.Turned down the chance to direct Top Gun (1986).He is a big fan of video games. He claims that his son, Cody Carpenter got him hooked when he was a child. The two spent time playing together, with early games such as Sonic the Hedgehog (1991). To this day, he continues playing video games both with his son and independently. As of 2021, his recent favorites included: Dishonored (2012), Assassin's Creed III (2012), the God of War (2005) Collection and Halo Infinite (2021). He can frequently be seen at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) with his son.In the movie Change of Habit (1969) Elvis Presley plays a character named John Carpenter. In 1979 Carpenter directed the TV movie Elvis (1979) starring his good friend Kurt Russell.Loves Elvis Presley and old Cadillacs.He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Halloween (1978).Considers it bad luck to wear the hat of the show he's working on. Will not wear a crew cap until the film is over.Turned down the chance to direct Fatal Attraction (1987).Was originally supposed to direct Firestarter (1984), and even had a screenplay written by Bill Lancaster. Both were replaced when The Thing (1982), a film on which they both collaborated, did poorly at the box office.Fans of John Carpenter's work include the directors Bertrand Bonello, Tom Tykwer, Bong Joon Ho, Jeff Nichols, Olivier Assayas, Alice Winocour, Gaspar No��, Jeremy Saulnier and Jordan Peele, who all named him as an influence on some of their own work. The composer Hans Zimmer was an early fan and said Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) has his favorite movie theme of all time. Another fan is Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, who is especially fond of They Live (1988).He directed child actress Kim Richards in his second feature film, Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), and directed Kim's sister Kyle Richards in his next film, Halloween (1978).He has always claimed that the Western is his favorite genre but he's never made a full-length film within the genre.Was offered a chance to direct the Eddie Murphy film The Golden Child (1986), but turned it down.He is known to be completely comfortable with filmmakers doing sequels to or remakes of his movies, but he has also admitted that he is mostly indifferent to them, and usually gets involved in such projects for the money.He is a big fan of The Beach Boys and Howard Hawks.Close friend of actor Jeff Bridges.Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Jeff Bridges in Starman (1984).In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 2 of his films are listed: Halloween (1978) and The Thing (1982).Likes to begin shots on the back of a character as they walk away from the camera, thus revealing the setting. There are examples included in Christine (1983), Prince of Darkness (1987), and They Live (1988), among others.Is a fan of the Quartermass movies (The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), Quatermass and the Pit (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".He has a son, Cody Carpenter (born John Howard Carpenter Jr.), with Adrienne Barbeau.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.He said in an interview that he almost directed Tombstone (1993).Lives in West Hollywood, California.Was approached to score Planet Terror (2007) for Robert Rodriguez, but was busy finishing up post-production on Masters of Horror (2005).Holds a commercial pilot's license, flying rotorcraft-helicopters.Was offered the chance to direct Armed and Dangerous (1986) but turned it down. The job went to Mark L. Lester who also directed Firestarter (1984), which was offered to Carpenter.He was offered the chance to direct The Exorcist III (1990).Carpenter's character Snake Plissken (of Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996)) is about to become a comic book. Published by theCrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as "John Carpenter's The Snake Plissken Chronicles". It is set for publication beginning in 2003.He is an avid basketball fan.Was given the chance to direct Mutant Chronicles (2008).His favorite movies are "Only Angels Have Wings("1939), "Rio Bravo"(1959), "Citizen Kane"(1941), "Vertigo"(1958), and "Blow Up"(1966).Biography in the following: John Wakeman, editor. World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985. pp. 184-189. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.