Steven Spielberg


 * Birth name: Steven Allan Spielberg
 * Height: 5' 7½" (1.71 m)

Biography
Without a doubt one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film, Steven Spielberg is perhaps Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. Spielberg has countless big grossing critically acclaimed credits to his name, both as producer, director and writer. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1946. He went to Long Beach University, 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 Two Footage with footage of an airplane that is on the ground he makes you believe is moving. He also directed Escape to Nowhere (1961), which featured kids 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 be foretelling to his future career in movies. In 1964 he directed Firelight (1964), a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967 he directed the movie Slipstream (1967), which was unfinished. But in 1968 he directed the movie Amblin' (1968), which featured the desert prominently, and not the first Spielberg movie the desert would be so prominent in. Amblin would also become the production company he would produce many films with, including the classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, _Duel (1971/I) (TV)_, with Dennis Weaver. The film is considered a unique classic that still baffles some. In the early 1970s Spielberg was working on TV, in Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" (1970), "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969) and Columbo: Murder by the Book (1971) (TV), to name a few. All of his work in television and short films, as well as his directing projects were just the beginning of the gathering storm of talent that would become the Spielberg that made the brilliant films he would later become known for internationally. As an undoubted rising star, his major directorial effort was The Sugarland Express (1974), with Goldie Hawn. It was his next directorial effort that made Spielberg 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 effort was the classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), a unique and very original UFO story that remains a cult classic. In 1978 Spielberg produced his first film, the forgettable I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978), and followed his first effort with _Used Cars (1980)_, a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten Kurt Russell Jack Warden comedy. Spielberg hit gold again directing 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 one 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 made money a major part of the film industry, or at least a bigger part of the industry than it was before. He was the first producer to use product placement in his films, with the infamous placement of Rieces 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 large scale. In 1984 Spielberg followed up "Raiders" with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), which was a commercial success but critically did not live up to its predecessor. As a producer Spielberg took on many projects in the 1980s, such as the silly The Goonies (1985), and was the brains behind the little monsters in Gremlins  (1984). Spielberg also produced the cartoon An American Tail (1986), a quaint little animated classic. But his biggest effort as producer in 1985 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), which was a mixed success for the occasionally erratic Spielberg. But success would not escape him for long. The late eighties 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). But 1989 proved to be another big year 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 movies were box office and critical successes. Also in 1989 Steven Spielberg produced the little known comedy drama Dad (1989), with Jack Lemmon and Ted Danson, which gave mostly mixed results. Spielberg has also had an affinity for animation and has been a strong voice in animation in the nineties. Aside from producing the landmark Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Steven Spielberg produced the TV show "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 _Flintstones, The (1994), where Steven Spielberg was credited as "Steven Spielrock." Spielberg also produced many Roger Rabbit seperate cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials. Spielberg was very active in the early nineties, as he directed Hook (1991), and produced such films as the cute fantasy Joe Versus the Volcano ) and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller Arachnophobia  (1990), Back to the Future Part II (1990), and Gremlins 2: The New Batch  (1990). While the movies were big successes in their own right, they did not quite bring in the box office or appeal as previous efforts. In 1993 Spielberg directed Jurassic Park  (1993) which would go on to be the highest grossing movie of all time, for a short time. While the movie was a top grosser at the box office, the movie did not have the universal appeal of his previous efforts. But big box office spectacles were not his only line of business. 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-nineties Spielberg founded the production company Dreamworks, responsible for many box office successes in the nineties and the new century. Spielberg as a producer was very active in the late nineties spearheading such films as The Mask of Zorro (1998), Men in Black (1997), and Deep Impact (1998). But on the directing front Spielberg was in top form in the late nineties. Spielberg 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. But 1998 found one of Spielberg's best films in years come to the theaters: Saving Private Ryan (1998). This movie was an almost perfect film about World War Two that is spectacular in almost every respect. The movie was stiffed at the Oscars, losing best picture to Shakespeare in Love (1998). In the nineties Spielberg produced a series of films, including Evolution (2001), The Haunting (1999), and Shrek (2001). Spielberg also produced two sequels to Jurassic Park (1993) which met with big box office but an increasingly critical crowd of movie-goers. In 2001 he produced the mini-series about World War Two entitled "Band of Brothers" (2001) (mini). Also in that year, Spielberg was back in the director's chair for Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001), a movie with a message and a huge budget. The movie did reasonably at the box office and received mixed signals from critics. As of right now Steven Spielberg is teaming up with Tom Cruise for the expected box office hit Minority Report (2002). While the movie is showing off good special effects and a stellar pairing of two titans of the silver screen the critics have not all been too friendly. Perhaps this is a further sign that Spielberg's days of big box office are on the decline. As well as producing Men in Black II (2002), Spielberg's next two projects are producing and directing Catch Me If You Can (2002), with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio and _Indiana Jones 4 (2006)_. While Spielberg has proven a brilliant filmmaker in the past his latest efforts have been mixed, but only the future will tell how he is looked upon as a presence in film. And while Spielberg has been extremely active in films there are many other things he has done as well. Spielberg produced the short lived TV series "SeaQuest (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. Recently he produced the mini series "Band of Brothers"  (2001) (mini), which was based on true events of a rifle company that parachuted into France. Him and Tom Hanks  collaborated on Shooting War (2000) (TV), about World War Two combat footage, and produced a documentary about the Holocaust called A Holocaust szemei  (2000). With all if this to Spielberg's credit, it is no wonder that he is looked at as one of the greatest ever figures in entertainment. Spielberg is a great filmmaker without a doubt, and it does not seem he is anywhere near done making films, and with all of the money he has he probably could do anything he wanted to. And recently Spielberg graduated from Long Beach State University with a degree in filmmaking. His possibilities are still limitless.