James Cameron

Birthday

Aug 16, 1954

Birthplace

Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada

Bio: James Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, on August 16, 1954. He moved to the USA in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University but, after graduating, drove a truck to support his screen-writing ambition. He landed his first professional film job as art director, miniature-set builder, and process-projection… More Bio: James Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, on August 16, 1954. He moved to the USA in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University but, after graduating, drove a truck to support his screen-writing ambition. He landed his first professional film job as art director, miniature-set builder, and process-projection supervisor on Roger Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and debuted as a director with Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981) the following year.

In 1984, he wrote and directed The Terminator (1984), a futuristic action-thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. It was a huge success. After this came a string of successful science-fiction action films such as Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Cameron is now one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. He was formerly married to producer Gale Anne Hurd, who produced several of his films. He married Kathryn Bigelow in 1989.

Daughter, with Hamilton, Josephine Archer Cameron born. [15 February 1993]

Brother of Mike Cameron.

According to Cameron, he got his big break while doing pick-up shots for Galaxy of Terror (1981) as 2nd unit director. He was shooting scenes of a dismembered arm teeming with maggots (actually mealworms). In order to make them move, he hooked up an AC power cord to the arm, and an unseen assistant would plug it in when the film was rolling. Two producers were strolling through, and when Cameron yelled "Action!" the worms began to writhe on cue. When he yelled "Cut!" the worms stopped. The producers were so amazed at his directing prowess that they began talking with him about bigger projects.

His production company is 'Lightstorm Entertainment'.

One of the founders of visual effects company 'Digital Domain'.

While editing Titanic (1997) Cameron had a razor blade taped to the side of the editing computer with the instructions written underneath: "Use only if film sucks!"

Jokingly refers to Titanic (1997) as his 190 Million Dollar "Chick Flick".

First director to film both a $100 million (_Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)_) and a $200 million (Titanic (1997)) movie.

Cameron is in talks with RKK Energia and MirCorp to pay his way on board the Mir space station (or the ISS, should Mir be deorbited). He has been given the medical green light, and has already ridden aboard the Ilushin-76 jet used to train cosmonauts for space missions. [September 2000].

Daughter Claire, with wife Suzy Amis, born. [4 April 2001]

Has a stepdaughter, Lolita De Palma, from Gale Anne Hurd's marriage to Brian De Palma.

Has a stepson named Jasper, from Suzy Amis' marriage to Sam Robards.

Lost a plagiarism lawsuit brought by Harlan Ellison involving the movie The Terminator (1984). Newer prints of the film acknowledge Ellison.

Went to elementary school in Chippawa, Ontario.

His films frequently depict children in some kind of danger.

First wife Sharon Williams got just $1,200 from Cameron in their divorce settlement.

The eldest of five children.

Security is provided by Gavin De Becker, author of "The Gift of Fear."

He and Suzy Amis are owners of Childspot!, an early childhood center in Wichita, Kansas which is operated by Suzy's sister, Rebecca Amis.

Wrote a screenplay for Spider-Man (2002) movie, but was turned down by the studios, due to the fact that his version of Spider-Man was "too violent". Sam Raimi's version got the green light instead.

Married one of his producers and two of his actresses.

Has made 4 films involving water: The Abyss (1989), Titanic (1997), Expedition: Bismarck (2002) (TV), and Ghosts of the Abyss (2003). His _Untitled James Cameron Project (2007)_ will be his 5th movie involving water.

His practice of testing his DPs by darkening the film originated on Aliens (1986). Cameron wanted to use a particular type of film stock, but cinematographer Dick Bush ignored him and used a different type. The end result being that the footage shot ended up being unusably dark. After Bush was fired due to an unrelated incident and Adrian Biddle took over, Cameron found some of the film in a storage cupboard and had the camera operators use it instead of the film Biddle had told them to use. Biddle noticed what was going on after the first take, and compensated with extra lighting, hoping to hide his "mistake" from Cameron, who owned up at the end of the day. Cameron later did the same to Mikael Salomon on The Abyss (1989) and to Russell Carpenter on True Lies (1994).

He is a huge Japanese anime fan, and the releasing studios often uses his opinion about the film on the DVD and VHS covers.

On the 14 March 2004 episode of "Inside the Actors Studio" (1994), Kate Winslet claimed her nude portrait for Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic (1997) was drawn by Cameron. She also said the artist's hand shown in a close-up was Cameron's.

The mandibles of the Predator from Predator (1987) were his idea.

One of only two people to have both written and directed an Alien movie. The other is Paul W.S. Anderson.

Co-created the newly high-definition video system with cinematographer Vince Pace that was recently used to film Ghosts of the Abyss (2003).

Got the nickname "Iron Jim" because of his stern, stubborn ways as a director.

A magazine article written about him in the 1980s described how he had three desks set up in his house. At one desk, he was writing the script to The Terminator (1984), on another, he was finishing the script to Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and on the third, he was writing Aliens (1986).

Often uses a helicopter in his films.

When he wrote an early script treatment for Spider-Man (2002), he had the idea of organic web-shooters. This was later included in Sam Raimi's film.

Often employs composers Brad Fiedel and James Horner to score his films.

He has developed a new generation stereo imaging camera called "The Fusion Camera"

The titles of his two current theatrical documentaries contain the titles of two of his previous films; the title of his documentary "Ghosts of the Abyss" contains the title of his previous film "The Abyss", and the title of his other documentary "Aliens of the Deep" contains the title of another one of his previous films, "Aliens".

Member of the American Cinema Editors (ACE).

The October 1987 draft of the screenplay for Alien Nation (1988) credits a rewrite to James Cameron. He is not credited in the final film.

Drew the picture of Rose (Kate Winslet) in the movie, _Titanic_. The image was flipped so it would appear that Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) was drawing it with his right hand.

Was interested in remaking Planet of the Apes (1968), but his script was turned down. Another script was then developed and eventually made by Tim Burton in 2001.

Had daughter, Elizabeth Rose, with Suzi Amis born on 29 December 2006.

Considered directing "Solaris" (2002) but opted to produce instead. Job went to Steven Soderbergh.

The titles of his movies tend to begin with the letters "T" or "A". The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), True Lies (1994) and Titanic (1997) all begin with a "T". While Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989) begin with an "A" - and the upcoming Avatar (2009) also begins with an "A".