Steven Spielberg
- 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.
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.