Steven Spielberg

  • Name: Steven Spielberg
  • Date of Birth: December 18, 1946
  • Place of Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Mini-bio: 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. Sp...( read more)ielberg has countless big-grossing, critically acclaimed credits to his name, as producer, director and writer.

Children, with Kate Capshaw: Theo Spielberg, born in 1988, adopted; Sasha Spielberg, born in 1990; Sawyer Spielberg, born in 1992; Mikaela Spielberg, born in 1996, adopted and Destry Spielberg, born in 1996. Is stepfather of actress Jessica Capshaw, born in 1976. Son, with Amy Irving: Max Spielberg, born in 1985.

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 Applied to USC Cinema School twice and was turned down both times. Spielberg is the godfather of Drew Barrymore.
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Steven Spielberg

I interpret my dreams one way and make a movie out of them and people see my movies and make them part of their dreams -

Steven Spielberg


Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Jewish parents Leah AdlerSteven Spielberg
(née Posner), a restaurateur and concert pianist and Arnold Spielberg, a computer engineer.

Throughout his early teens, Spielberg made amateur 8 mm "adventure" movies with his Friends, the first of which he shot at a restaurant. (Pinnacle Peak Patio) in Scottsdale, Arizona. He charged admission (25 cents) to his home movies (which involved the wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold Popcorn. He became a Boy Scout and in 1958, he fulfilled a requirement for the photography merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm Film entitled "The Last Gunfight"

Spielberg recalled years later to a magazine interviewer, "My dad`s still camera was broken, so I asked the scoutmaster if I could tell a story with my Father`s movie Camera. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western. I made it and got my merit badge. That was how it all started."


At age 13, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war movie he titled "Escape to Nowhere". In 1963, at age 16, Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent movie, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight (which would later inspire Close Encounters). The movie, which had a budget of US$400, was shown in his local movie theater and generated a profit of $100.

A writer for the local Phoenix press wrote that he could expect great things to come. After his parents divorced, he moved to California with his father. His three sisters and mother remained in Arizona, where he attended Passover seders at the home of Zalman and Pearl Segal on an annual basis. Although he attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona for three years, Spielberg ended up graduating from Saratoga High School in Saratoga, California, in 1965, which he called the "worst experience" of his life and "hell on Earth". It was during this time Spielberg attained the rank of Eagle Scout.



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Few Awards from many Steven Spielberg Won:


OscarEmmyBronzeWranglergoldenglobeSattelite Award
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Steven Spielberg Information:


Birth Name: Steven Allan Spielberg


Eye color: Brown
Height:5' 7" (1.71 m)


Trade Mark:
  • Protagonists in his films often come from families with divorced parents, most notably _E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)_ (protagonist Elliot's mother is divorced) and Catch Me If You Can (2002) (Frank Abagnale's mother and father split early on in the film). This reflects Spielberg's own experience as a youth with his parents breaking up.

  • Often casts new actors based on their performances in other works. Rarely does auditions for major roles.

  • A common theme in many of his films: ordinary people who discover something extraordinary - people, places, artifacts, creatures, etc.

  • Important images, or characters, are often seen through the rear-view mirror of acar (e.g. Duel (1971) (TV); E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982);Jurassic Park (1993); Schindler's List (1993); Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001).


Notable feature(s):



Education:
  • He went to California State University Long Beach, but dropped out to pursue his entertainment career.

  • 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.

  • Received honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Yale University (27 May 2002).
  • 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.


Family and Friends

Father:
  • Arnold Spielberg. born c. 1918; lost relatives in the Holocaust; involved in the early development of computers; divorced from Spielberg's mother; remarried on April 6, 1997
Mother:
  • Leah Adler. Had four children with Arnold (Steven the youngest); married to second husband, Bernie Adler; they own a kosher dairy restaurant called The Milky Way on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles

From 1985 to 1989 Spielberg was married to actress Amy Irving. In their 1989 divorce settlement, she received $100 million from Spielberg after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement written on a napkin. Their divorce was recorded as the third most costly celebrity divorce in history. Following the divorce, Spielberg and Irving shared custody of their son, Max Samuel.

Spielberg subsequently developed a relationship with actress Kate Capshaw, whom he met when he cast her in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They married on October 12, 1991. Capshaw is a convert to Judaism. They currently move among their four homes in Pacific Palisades, California; New York City;
East Hampton, NY; and Naples, Florida.


Kate Capshaw 12 October 1991 - present: 5 children
Amy Irving 27 November 1985 - 2 February 1989) (divorced) 1 child


There are seven children in the Capshaw-Spielberg family:
  • Theo Spielberg, who was adopted by Kate Capshaw before their marriage and later adopted by Spielberg, born in 1988
  • Sasha Spielberg, born on 14 May 1990
  • Sawyer Spielberg, born on 10 March 1992
  • Their adopted daughter Mikaela George Spielberg, born on 28 February 1996
  • Destry Allen Spielberg, born on 1 December 1996.
  • Kate Capshaw's daughter Jessica Capshaw, born in 1976, is from her previous marriage.

Close Friends:
  • John Williams
  • George Lucas
  • David Geffen
  • Jeffrey Katzenberg


Resides in:

  • Pacific Palisades California
  • New York City
  • East Hampton, NY;
  • Naples Florida
Religious affiliations:

  • Jewish


Political affiliation:Spielberg generally supports U.S. Democratic Party candidates. He has donated over $800,000 for the Democratic party and its nominees. He has been a close friend of former President Bill Clinton and worked with the President for the USA Millennium celebrations. He directed an 18-minute film for the project, scored by John Williams and entitled The American Journey. It was shown at America's Millennium Gala on December 31, 1999, in the National Mall at the Reflecting Pool at the base of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C..


Charities:










Causes:
  • BID 2 BEAT AIDS
  • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Entertainment Industry Foundation
  • Film Foundation
  • (RED)
  • Righteous Persons Foundation




AIDSEducation
CancerHealth
ChildrenHunger
Creative ArtsMiscellaneous
PovertyWomen




Steven Spielberg co-founded Starbright with Randy Aduana– a foundation dedicated to improving sick children's lives through technology-based programs focusing on entertainment and education. In 2002 Starbright merged with the Starlight

Foundation forming what is now today – Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation.
The charity that Steven helped establish in 1994 (Righteous Persons Foundation), has donated $1m (US) to the National Museum of American Jewish History.


Personal interests/hobbies:
  • Spielberg is an avid movie buff and when not shooting a picture, he will indulge in "movie orgies", watching many over a single weekend.

  • He sees almost every major summer blockbuster in theaters if unpreoccupied and enjoys most of them: "If I get pleasure from anything, I can't think of it as dumb or myself as shallow I'll probably go late to that movie and go, 'What the dickens was everybody complaining about, that wasn't so bad!'"

  • Since playing Pong while filming Jaws in 1974, Spielberg has been an avid video gamer. He owns a Wii, a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and enjoys playing first-person shooters such as the Medal of Honor series and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

  • He has also criticized the use of cut scenes in games, calling them intrusive, and feels making story flow naturally into the gameplay is a challenge for future game developers.
  • Is a fan of "Doctor Who" (1963)



Quotes

  • I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent timeSteven Spielberg with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back.

  • The public has an appetite for anything about imagination - anything that is as far away from reality as is creatively possible.

  • What I`m saying is that I believe in showmanship.

  • You know, I don`t really do that much looking inside me when I`m working on a project. Whatever I am becomes what that film is. But I change; you change.

  • After a scary movie about the world almost ending, we can walk into the sunlight and say, "Wow, everything`s still here. I`m OK!" We like to tease ourselves. Human beings have a need to get close to the edge and, when filmmakers or writers can take them to the edge, it feels like a dream where you`re falling, but you wake up just before you hit the ground.

  • I`d rather direct than produce. Any day. And twice on Sunday.
  • I`ve discovered I`ve got this preoccupation with ordinary people pursued by large forces.

  • I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends` lives.

  • If I weren`t a director, I would want to be a film composer.
  • Times have changed. It`s like when the first 747 landed at Los Angeles international airport: everybody thought flying through the sky was the most greatest marvel they had ever seen - floating through the air, seemingly in slow motion. Today we never even look at 747s. They`re a dime a dozen and it`s that way with the blockbuster. If there was one blockbuster every three years, it meant a lot more than when you have a blockbuster every three weeks. It`s the job of each of these studios to market these movies as the must-see movie of the year, so they go after blockbuster status by creating a grand illusion. Sometimes they`ve got a real engine behind that grand illusion, meaning the movie is damned good and the audience will say they got their money`s worth. Other times, the audience comes on the promise of seeing something they`ve never ever seen before and it becomes just another sci-fi action yarn and they feel disappointed.

  • I feel like I`ve been engaged to the British Empire since 1980 and tonight you have given me the ring knighthood.

  • The person I enjoy working for more than anyone else is George Lucas. He`s the best boss I ever had because he`s the most talented boss I ever had.

  • [on winning the Best Director Oscar for Saving Private Ryan (1998)]: Am I allowed to say I really wanted this?


  • I`ve taken the time to familiarize myself with the impressive field of Democratic candidates and am convinced that Hillary Clinton is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House. Hillary is a strong leader and is respected the world over. As president, she will bring America back together, rebuild our prestige abroad and ensure our protection here at home.

  • A lot of the films I`ve made probably could have worked just as well 50 years ago, and that`s just because I have a lot of old-fashion values.

  • All of us every single year, we`re a different person. I don`t think we`re the same person all our lives.

  • I have made almost as many films in England as I have in America. I will come back to England again and again.
  • You have many years ahead of you to create the dreams that we can`t even imagine dreaming. You have done more for the collective unconscious of this planet than you will ever know.

  • If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government.
  • Poltergeist is the darker side of my nature, it`s me when I was scaring my younger sisters half to death. In Poltergeist, I wanted to terrify and I also wanted to amuse - I tried to mix the laughs and screams together.

  • As long as there`s been Transformers, I`ve been one of the biggest fans. And I always thought that somewhere in this genius concept, there was a movie.

  • [When asked about being conflicted whether to make more artistic films, or more commercial films]: All the time, but when you have a story that is very commercial and simple, you have to find the art. You have to take the other elements of the film and make them as good as possible, and doing that will uplift the film.

  • I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience.

  • If Bush (George W. Bush), as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction, I cannot not support the policies of his government.

2002
  • I had dinner with the founder of Yahoo! about seven years ago in Japan. I had my son, who is now sixteen, he was much younger then. I took him to a tea house. We had Geishas, they were serving us tea and I had a little soki and we were talking. And he kept sitting across from me and he kept saying "Yahoo! You have to know what Yahoo!"... and he was going crazy over this thing called Yahoo! And I thought he was actually out of his brain. You know, because he kept talking about Yahoo! and I thought he was trying to say "Yahoo!" And he was, but I had no idea what he was building. And he was so thrilled with what was happening in his world. And this was way beyond my world at that time. And how I look back. I thought: God if I could have been a little bit nicer to that guy, he might have called me up and offered me a chance to invest early.

  • With Star Wars (1977), George (George Lucas) put the butter back into the popcorn.

  • I`ll probably never win an Oscar, but I`ll sure have a lot of fun! I really believe that movies are the great escape!

  • Naturally, it is a terrible, despicable crime when, as in Munich, people are taken hostage, people are killed. But probing the motives of those responsible and showing that they are also individuals with families and have their own story does not excuse what they did.

  • When war comes, two things happen - profits go way, way up and all perishables go way, way down. There becomes a market for them.

  • There is a fine line between censorship and good taste and moral responsibility.

  • I want to be the Cecil B. DeMille of science fiction.


  • What kept us going was the thought that David Lean, at 54, had done this every day for a year. David Lean was our criterion for survival. - on filming Raiders of the Lost Ark in Tunisia


  • I`m always in favor of Israel responding strongly when it`s threatened. At the same time, a response to a response doesn`t really solve anything. It just creates a perpetual-motion machine.

  • I would love to see the British film industry get back on its feet again.

  • Every time I go to a movie, it`s magic, no matter what the movie`s about.

  • The older I get, the more I look at movies as a moving miracle.
  • I think every film I make that puts characters in jeopardy is me purging my own fears, sadly only to re-engage with them shortly after the release of the picture. I`ll never make enough films to purge them all.

  • I`m not really interested in making money.

  • I dream for a living.

  • I am an American Jew and aware of the sensitivities involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • I`ve learned that we can do just about anything under the sun with computers. So the question becomes, should we? Or, should we remind ourselves, as filmmakers, to be careful and remember that there is nothing more important than how a story is told? If storytelling becomes a byproduct of the digital revolution, then the medium itself is corrupted. On the other hand, if digital tools are simply a way to enhance a conventional story, then in that case, they can make telling that story easier. It`s easier and more practical to show 20,000 soldiers in the Crimean War using computers, obviously. So, that`s fine. But now, we have technology that can replace actors, or an entire performance in an already existing movie. We could cut out Humphrey Bogart and replace him with Vin Diesel, if somebody wanted. Who would want to? Well, there might be people who would. That`s why we have to be careful. Movies reflect our cultural heritage from the period in time in which they were made. Therefore, altering them can destroy that historical perspective. That`s disrespectful of history, which is a big issue for me. The situation is like walking a tightrope - we have to move forward, but we have to be careful.

  • Duel was almost a once-in-a-lifetime story. You don`t get stories like that all the time.

  • I`d rather direct than produce. Any day. And twice on Sunday.

  • I think every film I make that puts characters in jeopardy is me purging my own fears, sadly only to re-engage with them shortly after the release of the picture. I`ll never make enough films to purge them all.




Trivia:

Was directing a childbirth scene when he received a call that Amy Irving was giving birth to their son Max Spielberg.


Always uses friend George Luca`s special-effects group Industrial Light and Magic for his visual effects.

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.


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 he used product placement in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), he used Reese's Pieces only because M & M's parent company didn't want their product associated with aliens and UFOs.

Flew Will Smith to his Hamptons home via helicopter to offer him the part in Men in Black (1997).


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.


During an interview with Roger Ebert regarding his film Munich (2005) and the response from Jewish critics that claim it depicts Israeli and Palestinian causes as morally equivalent: Frankly, I think that`s a stupid charge. The people who attack the movie based on `moral equivalence` are some of the same people who say diplomacy itself is an exercise in `moral equivalence` and that war is the only answer. That the only way to fight terrorism is to dehumanize the terrorists by asking no questions about who they are and where they come from. What I believe is, every act of terrorism requires a strong response, but we must also pay attention to the causes. That`s why we have brains and the power to think passionately. Understanding does not require approval. Understanding is not the same as inaction. Understanding is a very muscular act. If I`m endorsing understanding and being attacked for that, then I am almost flattered.


Stalking
In 2001, Spielberg was stalked by conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis, who accused him along with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt of controlling her thoughts through "cybertronic" technology and being part of a satanic conspiracy against her. Napolis was committed for a year in a state hospital before pleading guilty to stalking and released on probation with a condition that she have no contact with either Spielberg or Hewitt.


Spielberg was a target of the 2002 white supremacist terror plot.

Last update: Jan 25 2010, 8:30 PM EST by ScoopOnline (content history | content tools) (help)
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  • joyjoy400
    joyjoy400
    hello my dear,
    My name is miss joy,i saw your profile today a(flixster.com)
    and i became intrested in you,i will also like to know you the more,and i want you to send me a mail to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom l am.Here is my email address (joyjoy400@yahoo.com) i believe we can move from here.I am waiting for your mail to my email address. (Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life)
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    Love from me
    joy.

    PLEASE EMAIL ME AT MY EMAIL BOX(JOYJOY400@YAHOO.COM)
    posted 44 days ago
  • MrOrange8590
    MrOrange8590
    um did anyone else see the comment that said hes a good ACTOR?? wow.
    posted 145 days ago
  • SkywalkerJones
    SkywalkerJones
    Thank you for giving us memorable movies.It won t be a better director like Steven Spielberg.
    posted 157 days ago
  • kalegolae
    kalegolae
    hi m steven i small egyption actor i dreamd all last 5 years to act with u but naw i begen to tray haw to act in amovie u my find my craktres in it if u recive my sms plz tray to see my clips it is owner to me to see it thx
    posted 237 days ago
  • bdrock
    bdrock
    You are unparallel Stevy.....
    posted 260 days ago
  • scrapperwarlord
    scrapperwarlord
    yet again youve made me crap my pants in water because of jaws im not going in the water
    posted 285 days ago
  • fredpaye
    fredpaye
    hello , i am joyce .you are great actor , can we be friends
    posted 383 days ago
  • Milan113
    Milan113
    :O Mr. Spilberg, i love your movies, i think your tops are:

    1.-Schindle's List.
    2.-E.T.
    3.-War of the Worlds.
    posted 480 days ago
  • emanuelaok
    emanuelaok
    emanuela_ok@yahoo.com
    Hi,
    Im emanuela. Im looking for my special man, my prince, the man of my dream. I hope you are my man, I am looking for a kind, sincere, purposeful man with the sense of humor. I want to feel like a real girl with him, always know that I can trust and rely on you. In my turn I will do everything possible to make you happy.
    Please write me about you. Bye for now.
    emanuela_ok@yahoo.com
    Yours, emanuela
    posted 496 days ago
  • MovieLover57
    MovieLover57
    Top 3 Steven Spielberg Movies:
    1.Jurassic Park
    2.ET
    3.Gremlins

    Top 3 Steven Spielberg Cartoons:
    1.Tiny Toon Adventures
    2.Animaniacs
    3.Pinky and The Brain
    posted 508 days ago
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    The Hollywood director, Steven Spielberg, played a cameo role as the clerk who receives Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi's money at the end of the 'Blues Brothers' (1980).
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