Steven Spielberg

One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, 'Steven Spielberg' (qv) 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)_ (qv), 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' (qv), 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)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), which featured children as World War Two soldiers, including his sister 'Anne Spielberg' (qv), and _The Last Gun (1959)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), a movie about aliens invading a small town. In 1967, he directed _Slipstream (1967)_ (qv), which was unfinished. However, in 1968, he directed _Amblin' (1968)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv). Spielberg had a unique and classic early directing project, _Duel (1971)_ (qv), with 'Dennis Weaver' (qv). In the early 1970s, Spielberg was working on TV, directing among others such series as 'Rod Serling' (qv)'s _Night Gallery (1969)_ (qv), _Dr. med. Marcus Welby (1969)_ (qv) and _Columbo: Murder by the Book (1971)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), with 'Goldie Hawn' (qv), 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)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), and followed that effort with _Used Cars (1980)_ (qv), a critically acclaimed, but mostly forgotten, 'Kurt Russell' (qv)/'Jack Warden' (qv) comedy about devious used-car dealers. Spielberg hit gold yet one more time with _Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)_ (qv), with 'Harrison Ford' (qv) taking the part of Indiana Jones. Spielberg produced and directed two films in 1982. The first was _Poltergeist (1982)_ (qv), but the highest-grossing movie of all time up to that point was the alien story _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), and was the brains behind the little monsters in _Gremlins (1984)_ (qv). He also produced the cartoon _An American Tail (1986)_ (qv), a quaint little animated classic. His biggest effort as producer in 1985, however, was the blockbuster _Back to the Future (1985)_ (qv), which made 'Michael J. Fox' (qv) an instant superstar. As director, Spielberg took on the book _The Color Purple (1985)_ (qv), with 'Whoopi Goldberg' (qv) and 'Oprah Winfrey' (qv), with great success. In the latter half of the 1980s, he also directed _Empire of the Sun (1987)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv). The next year proved to be another big one for Spielberg, as he produced and directed _Always (1989)_ (qv) as well as _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)_ (qv), and _Back to the Future Part II (1989)_ (qv). All three of the films were box-office and critical successes. Also, in 1989, he produced the little known comedy-drama _Dad (1989)_ (qv), with 'Jack Lemmon' (qv) and 'Ted Danson' (qv), 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)_ (qv), _Animaniacs (1993)_ (qv), _Pinky and the Brain (1995)_ (qv), _Freakazoid! (1995)_ (qv), _Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain (1998)_ (qv), _Family Dog (1993)_ (qv) and _Toonsylvania (1998)_ (qv). Spielberg also produced other cartoons such as _The Land Before Time (1988)_ (qv), _We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993)_ (qv), _Casper (1995)_ (qv) (the live action version) as well as the live-action version of _The Flintstones (1994)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv) and produced such films as the cute fantasy _Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)_ (qv) and _An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)_ (qv). He also produced the unusual comedy thriller _Arachnophobia (1990)_ (qv), _Back to the Future Part III (1990)_ (qv) and _Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)_ (qv). 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), _Men in Black (1997)_ (qv) and _Deep Impact (1998)_ (qv). However, it was on the directing front that Spielberg was in top form. He directed and produced the epic _Amistad (1997)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv).Spielberg produced a series of films, including _Evolution (2001)_ (qv), _The Haunting (1999)_ (qv) and _Shrek (2001)_ (qv). he also produced two sequels to _Jurassic Park (1993)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), 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)_ (qv), an anthology series entitled _Amazing Stories (1985)_ (qv), created the video-game series "Medal of Honor" set during World War Two, and was a starting producer of _ER (1994)_ (qv). Spielberg, if you haven't noticed, has a great interest in World War Two. He and 'Tom Hanks' (qv) collaborated on _Shooting War: World War II Combat Cameramen (2000)_ (qv), a documentary about World War II combat photographers, and he produced a documentary about the Holocaust called _Eyes of the Holocaust (2000)_ (qv). 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.::Scott msa0510@mail.ecu.edu