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 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. He gained notoriety as an uncredited assistant editor on the classic western Wagon Train (1957). 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 so prominently. 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 Indiana Jones and the 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.
Bio:
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. He gained notoriety as an uncredited assistant editor on the classic western Wagon Train (1957). 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 so prominently. 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 Indiana Jones and the 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.
Tivia:
He once screened Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with director David Lean, who gave Spielberg a "live director's commentary", as Spielberg put it. Spielberg said that it was one of the best moments of his life, learning from a true master. Consequently, Spielberg stated that it helped him make better pictures and that commentary directly influenced every movie he has made since.When Spielberg received his undergraduate degree (about 35 years after he had first entered college), the orchestra played the theme from the "Indiana Jones" series of films as he walked up to and across the stage.During filming of their episode of Night Gallery (1969), Spielberg gave Joan Crawford the gift of a single red rose in a Pepsi bottle. During an on-set conversation with Detroit Free Press reporter Shirley Eder, Crawford pointed out Spielberg and said, "Go interview that kid, because he's going to be the biggest director of all time!" Crawford and Spielberg remained good friends until her death in 1977.He is a fan of video games and says that their development is intriguing to him.When asked what are the films he's made he would like to be remembered for, he said E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993).His favourite directors are David Lean, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Fran?ois Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford.His favorite indoor relaxation pursuits are watching golf on TV and playing his computer game "Assassin's Creed".When he was a child, he sneaked onto the lot of Universal Studios during a tour and befriended an editor who showed him a few things about filmmaking.He is the godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.He was directing a childbirth scene when he received a call that Amy Irving was giving birth to their son Max Spielberg.He almost directed Big (1988) with Tom Hanks starring, but didn't want to steal the thunder of his sister, Anne Spielberg, who co-wrote the script.He has always been very protective of his name. If his company is working on a film and he feels it is not up to his standards, he will remove his name as a producer.He has an estimated fortune of $2.8 billion ($2,800,000,000), according to the "Los Angeles Business Journal". The size of his fortune him the 14th richest person in the Los Angeles area and likely the wealthiest producer-director in the world (with only his friend George Lucas coming close).His longtime friend George Lucas originally wanted him to direct the third entry of the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Spielberg was eager to do so, but Lucas was unsuccessful in getting him the job because of his dispute with the Director's Guild at the time.He attended California State University-Long Beach after being turned down by USC Cinema school twice.He turned down the opportunity to direct Deep Impact (1998) and The Mask of Zorro (1998) to work on Saving Private Ryan (1998).He spent five months developing the script for Rain Man (1988) with Ron Bass, but had to commit to his handshake deal to direct Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Spielberg gave all of his notes to Barry Levinson.In 1998, he received the Germany's Cross of Merit with star for his sensible representation of Germany's history in Schindler's List (1993).He, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola presented Martin Scorsese with his first ever award for Best Director, for The Departed (2006).He was voted the 11th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.He was originally set to direct Cape Fear (1991). He later recommended Martin Scorsese for the job and personally called the director, letting him know that this was a commercial film that had potential to be a hit, which would exercise more power for Scorcese to make his films.He flew Will Smith to his Hamptons home via helicopter to offer him the part in Men in Black (1997).He often casts new actors based on their performances in other works. He rarely requires auditions for major roles.Early in his career, while working for Universal Studios, he was asked to give a tour to a special guest who had just sold the film rights to one of his books to the studio. That guest was Michael Crichton, who later worked with Spielberg on Jurassic Park (1993).His father served in World War II in South East Asian Front.His dog Elmer starred in several of his films including Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).In 1996, he purchased Clark Gable's Oscar (which he won for It Happened One Night (1934)) to protect it from further commercial exploitation and gave it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, commenting that he could think of "no better sanctuary for Gable's only Oscar than the Motion Picture Academy".He is a huge fan of the actors Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Robin Williams. He is also proud to admit they are good friends of his.His father Arnold Spielberg was an innovator who worked on the first computer that was ever sold commercially back in 1950.The film The Goonies (1985) was based on his group of childhood friends, which he referred to as the "goon squad.".He directed 17 actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Liam Neeson; Ralph Fiennes; Anthony Hopkins; Tom Hanks; Melinda Dillon; Whoopi Goldberg; Oprah Winfrey; Margaret Avery; Christopher Walken; Daniel Day-Lewis; Tommy Lee Jones; Sally Field; Mark Rylance; Meryl Streep; Ariana DeBose; Michelle Williams; and Judd Hirsch. Day-Lewis, Rylance, and DeBose won the award for their performances in Spielberg movies.On May 31, 2002, graduated from California State University Long Beach with a bachelor's degree in film and electronic arts. He had dropped out of college in 1968 to concentrate on his career, but during the 2000s fulfilled his remaining graduation requirements via independent projects, which required correspondence courses and several term papers. For Spielberg, the school waived its requirement that all senior film majors must submit a completed 12-minute short film, accepting Schindler's List (1993) in its place. He donned cap and gown and marched in the commencement ceremony with his fellow graduates.He is of Hungarian descent, which explains his surname, coming from the Austrian city where his ancestors lived.He personally offered the American Beauty (1999) script to Sam Mendes, who ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Director on the film, which was Mendes's debut feature.Although close friend, George Lucas, has vowed to only shoot future movies digitally, Spielberg has been the most vocal film-maker of the opposing view: to continue shooting all of his movies on film. Other directors siding with Spielberg include Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone.In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans and aliens use music and computers to communicate. Spielberg's father was a computer scientist and his mother was a musician. This fact was only recently pointed out to him on Inside the Actors Studio (1994) by host James Lipton and he was unsurprisingly delighted when he realised the connection.Although a known supporter of tighter gun controls in the U.S., he owns one of the largest gun collections on the East Coast. He shoots, but only privately. He is also an excellent shot with a shotgun. Actor Shia LaBeouf once said about his shooting, "He's an Olympic shot. The hand-eye co-ordination of that man is unlike anything I've ever seen. If he weren't a great director, he could be one of our greatest snipers".Steven Spielberg was the first living person to have a playable Lego mini-figure modelled after him. It was sold with several sets as part of the Lego Studios product range in the early 2000s.He was the co-founder (with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen) of DreamWorks SKG.The first major star he worked with was Joan Crawford, who appeared in the segment of the pilot episode for Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969) which he directed. Crawford was initially skeptical about working with the then-inexperienced director, but her fears were soon allayed when she met with him and watched him at work. He, meanwhile, was surprised to find that Crawford was not demanding and made none of the outlandish requests which stars of her caliber were usually known to make. On the contrary, she was happy to give him advice about various aspects of film making which she had learned throughout her years in motion pictures, and gave him a lot of much needed encouragement. They quickly developed a strong working relationship, and as a result of her kindness became close friends, remaining so until her death.To date, has never provided a director's commentary on any of his film's DVDs.In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 8 of Spielberg's films are listed: Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).He directed six of the American Film Institute's 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies: Jaws (1975) at #2, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at #10, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) at #31, Jurassic Park (1993) at #35, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) at #44 and Saving Private Ryan (1998) at #45.He has one of the original Rosebud sleds from Citizen Kane (1941) in his house.He confessed to host James Lipton that he has a phobia about "furniture with feet" (Episode #5.9 (1999)).The first film he directed that was not scored by John Williams was The Color Purple (1985), which was scored by Quincy Jones.Aside from producing The Goonies (1985), he also directed at least one scene in the movie.In the early 1990s, he was often linked in the British media to making a possible movie version of the long-running BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who (1963), which had been canceled as an ongoing series in 1989.According to Teri Garr, Spielberg told her on a set that one of his favorite movies is Viva Las Vegas (1964), starring Elvis Presley.He claims Richard Dreyfuss is his alter-ego. |
| Name: |
Steven Spielberg |
Type: |
Producer,Writer,Director (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Producer,Writer,Director |
| Products for sale: |
Producer,Writer,Director |
| Model rank: |
11 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 02:38:13 |
| Height: |
5' 7?' (1.72 m) |
| Biography: |
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 accla |
| Trivia: |
He once screened Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with director David Lean, who gave Spielberg a "live director's commentary", as Spielberg put it. Spielberg said that it was one of the best moments of his life, learning from a true master. Consequently, Spielberg stated that it helped him make better pictures and that commentary directly influenced every movie he has made since.When Spielberg received his undergraduate degree (about 35 years after he had first entered college), the orchestra played the theme from the "Indiana Jones" series of films as he walked up to and across the stage.During filming of their episode of Night Gallery (1969), Spielberg gave Joan Crawford the gift of a single red rose in a Pepsi bottle. During an on-set conversation with Detroit Free Press reporter Shirley Eder, Crawford pointed out Spielberg and said, "Go interview that kid, because he's going to be the biggest director of all time!" Crawford and Spielberg remained good friends until her death in 1977.He is a fan of video games and says that their development is intriguing to him.When asked what are the films he's made he would like to be remembered for, he said E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993).His favourite directors are David Lean, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Fran?ois Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kubrick, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford.His favorite indoor relaxation pursuits are watching golf on TV and playing his computer game "Assassin's Creed".When he was a child, he sneaked onto the lot of Universal Studios during a tour and befriended an editor who showed him a few things about filmmaking.He is the godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.He was directing a childbirth scene when he received a call that Amy Irving was giving birth to their son Max Spielberg.He almost directed Big (1988) with Tom Hanks starring, but didn't want to steal the thunder of his sister, Anne Spielberg, who co-wrote the script.He has always been very protective of his name. If his company is working on a film and he feels it is not up to his standards, he will remove his name as a producer.He has an estimated fortune of $2.8 billion ($2,800,000,000), according to the "Los Angeles Business Journal". The size of his fortune him the 14th richest person in the Los Angeles area and likely the wealthiest producer-director in the world (with only his friend George Lucas coming close).His longtime friend George Lucas originally wanted him to direct the third entry of the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) and Spielberg was eager to do so, but Lucas was unsuccessful in getting him the job because of his dispute with the Director's Guild at the time.He attended California State University-Long Beach after being turned down by USC Cinema school twice.He turned down the opportunity to direct Deep Impact (1998) and The Mask of Zorro (1998) to work on Saving Private Ryan (1998).He spent five months developing the script for Rain Man (1988) with Ron Bass, but had to commit to his handshake deal to direct Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Spielberg gave all of his notes to Barry Levinson.In 1998, he received the Germany's Cross of Merit with star for his sensible representation of Germany's history in Schindler's List (1993).He, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola presented Martin Scorsese with his first ever award for Best Director, for The Departed (2006).He was voted the 11th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.He was originally set to direct Cape Fear (1991). He later recommended Martin Scorsese for the job and personally called the director, letting him know that this was a commercial film that had potential to be a hit, which would exercise more power for Scorcese to make his films.He flew Will Smith to his Hamptons home via helicopter to offer him the part in Men in Black (1997).He often casts new actors based on their performances in other works. He rarely requires auditions for major roles.Early in his career, while working for Universal Studios, he was asked to give a tour to a special guest who had just sold the film rights to one of his books to the studio. That guest was Michael Crichton, who later worked with Spielberg on Jurassic Park (1993).His father served in World War II in South East Asian Front.His dog Elmer starred in several of his films including Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).In 1996, he purchased Clark Gable's Oscar (which he won for It Happened One Night (1934)) to protect it from further commercial exploitation and gave it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, commenting that he could think of "no better sanctuary for Gable's only Oscar than the Motion Picture Academy".He is a huge fan of the actors Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Robin Williams. He is also proud to admit they are good friends of his.His father Arnold Spielberg was an innovator who worked on the first computer that was ever sold commercially back in 1950.The film The Goonies (1985) was based on his group of childhood friends, which he referred to as the "goon squad.".He directed 17 actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Liam Neeson; Ralph Fiennes; Anthony Hopkins; Tom Hanks; Melinda Dillon; Whoopi Goldberg; Oprah Winfrey; Margaret Avery; Christopher Walken; Daniel Day-Lewis; Tommy Lee Jones; Sally Field; Mark Rylance; Meryl Streep; Ariana DeBose; Michelle Williams; and Judd Hirsch. Day-Lewis, Rylance, and DeBose won the award for their performances in Spielberg movies.On May 31, 2002, graduated from California State University Long Beach with a bachelor's degree in film and electronic arts. He had dropped out of college in 1968 to concentrate on his career, but during the 2000s fulfilled his remaining graduation requirements via independent projects, which required correspondence courses and several term papers. For Spielberg, the school waived its requirement that all senior film majors must submit a completed 12-minute short film, accepting Schindler's List (1993) in its place. He donned cap and gown and marched in the commencement ceremony with his fellow graduates.He is of Hungarian descent, which explains his surname, coming from the Austrian city where his ancestors lived.He personally offered the American Beauty (1999) script to Sam Mendes, who ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Director on the film, which was Mendes's debut feature.Although close friend, George Lucas, has vowed to only shoot future movies digitally, Spielberg has been the most vocal film-maker of the opposing view: to continue shooting all of his movies on film. Other directors siding with Spielberg include Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone.In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans and aliens use music and computers to communicate. Spielberg's father was a computer scientist and his mother was a musician. This fact was only recently pointed out to him on Inside the Actors Studio (1994) by host James Lipton and he was unsurprisingly delighted when he realised the connection.Although a known supporter of tighter gun controls in the U.S., he owns one of the largest gun collections on the East Coast. He shoots, but only privately. He is also an excellent shot with a shotgun. Actor Shia LaBeouf once said about his shooting, "He's an Olympic shot. The hand-eye co-ordination of that man is unlike anything I've ever seen. If he weren't a great director, he could be one of our greatest snipers".Steven Spielberg was the first living person to have a playable Lego mini-figure modelled after him. It was sold with several sets as part of the Lego Studios product range in the early 2000s.He was the co-founder (with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen) of DreamWorks SKG.The first major star he worked with was Joan Crawford, who appeared in the segment of the pilot episode for Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1969) which he directed. Crawford was initially skeptical about working with the then-inexperienced director, but her fears were soon allayed when she met with him and watched him at work. He, meanwhile, was surprised to find that Crawford was not demanding and made none of the outlandish requests which stars of her caliber were usually known to make. On the contrary, she was happy to give him advice about various aspects of film making which she had learned throughout her years in motion pictures, and gave him a lot of much needed encouragement. They quickly developed a strong working relationship, and as a result of her kindness became close friends, remaining so until her death.To date, has never provided a director's commentary on any of his film's DVDs.In the 5th edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (edited by Steven Jay Schneider), 8 of Spielberg's films are listed: Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).He directed six of the American Film Institute's 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies: Jaws (1975) at #2, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at #10, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) at #31, Jurassic Park (1993) at #35, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) at #44 and Saving Private Ryan (1998) at #45.He has one of the original Rosebud sleds from Citizen Kane (1941) in his house.He confessed to host James Lipton that he has a phobia about "furniture with feet" (Episode #5.9 (1999)).The first film he directed that was not scored by John Williams was The Color Purple (1985), which was scored by Quincy Jones.Aside from producing The Goonies (1985), he also directed at least one scene in the movie.In the early 1990s, he was often linked in the British media to making a possible movie version of the long-running BBC science-fiction television series Doctor Who (1963), which had been canceled as an ongoing series in 1989.According to Teri Garr, Spielberg told her on a set that one of his favorite movies is Viva Las Vegas (1964), starring Elvis Presley.He claims Richard Dreyfuss is his alter-ego. |
| Trademarks: |
He 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.
He frequently uses music by John Williams.
He often shows shooting stars (Jaws (1975)).
He often shows performers staring, usually at something off-camera.
He often uses images of the sun (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Saving Private Ryan (1998)). |
| Quotes: |
I think that the Internet is going to effect the most profound change on the entertainment industries combined. And we're all gonna be tuning into the most popular Internet show in the world, which will be coming from some place in Des Moines. We're all gonna lose our jobs. We're all gonna be on the Internet trying to find an audience.
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Once a month the sky falls on my head, I come to and I see another movie I want to make.
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[on winning the Best Director Oscar for Saving Private Ryan (1998)]: Am I allowed to say I really wanted this?
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Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai (1954), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Searchers (1956).
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[on friend Joan Crawford]: She is five feet four, but she looks six feet on the screen. In a two-shot with anyone, even Gable, (Clark Gable), your eyes fix on her. She is imperious, yet with a childlike sparkle. She is haughty, yet tender. She has no great range as an actress, yet within the range she can perform better than any of her contemporaries. |
| Salaries: |
West Side Story (2021) - $10,000,000
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War Horse (2011) - $20,000,000
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Jurassic Park III (2001) - $72,000,000
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The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) - $150,000,000
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| Job title: |
Producer,Writer,Director |
| Others works: |
(1987) Music video: Appeared in the Michael Jackson video "Liberian Girl"
(1996) Featured in the pictorial essay "Mothers and Sons: In Their Own Words" by Mariana Cook
(2000) Designed award-winning LEGO & Steven Spielberg MovieMaker |
| Spouse: |
Kate Capshaw (October 12, 1991 - present) (5 children)Amy Irving (November 27, 1985 - February 2, 1989) (divorced, 1 child) |
| Children: |
Sasha SpielbergMax SpielbergSawyer SpielbergDestry Allyn SpielbergMikaela George SpielbergTheo SpielbergJessica Capshaw |
| Parents: |
Leah Frances (Posner)
Arnold Spielberg
Leah Adler |
| Relatives: |
Anne Spielberg (Sibling)
Nancy Spielberg (Sibling)
Sue Spielberg (Sibling) |
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