Steven Spielberg: biography, photos, books and films

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Stephen Spielberg is one of the richest and most influential filmmakers in Hollywood. The director of many complex and multifaceted films, he is considered a man who understands the pulse of America for what it really is. And of course, the biography of Steven Spielberg is of particular interest among fans of the famous director.

Early years

Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 18, 1946. He was the eldest and only son of four children. His father, Arnold, was an electrical engineer who worked in the new computer field of the day. His mother Leah was a concert pianist.

Stephen's mother and his three sisters were crazy about their brother and son, giving him a lot of attention and spoiling him. But at school he was not treated with the same condescension. He showed little enthusiasm for his studies, getting average grades at best.

The Spielbergs moved frequently because of their father's job. They lived in New Jersey, Phoenix, Arizona, andfinally moved to what would become known as Silicon Valley, near San Jose, California.

The biography of Steven Spielberg is summarized, but it conveys the whole path of his development and becoming a director.

Young director

The first movie Spielberg saw in theaters was The Greatest Show in the World, a thrilling 1952 circus epic directed by Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959).

As a child, Spielberg began using his family's home movie camera. He recorded campaigns and other family events, but soon this was not enough for him. He started making narrative films and tried to take pictures from different angles and with primitive special effects. By the time he was 12, Steven had actually directed the film from a script using a cast. He became more and more ambitious about filming and hasn't stopped making films ever since.

At the age of 13, Steven won an award for his film Escape to Nowhere, a 40-minute film based on a battle in East Africa.

When Spielberg was 16 years old, he made a feature-length sci-fi film he called Firelight. This film was over two hours long and had a complex plot about an encounter with aliens. His father rented a local cinema to show the film. He earned $500 in one night, returning some of the money spent on the shoot.

Student Life

Spielberg's poor grades in high school preventedhe was admitted to the University of Southern California (UCLA), but he was admitted to California State College, Long Beach and received a bachelor's degree in English in 1970. Since there was no official film program in the state of California, he often went to the cinema and saw all the films that were shown there. He also persuaded him to let him pass by walking past security guards at Universal Studios and watching big projects being made.

Spielberg continued to make films and prepared the short film Emblyn, which he later presented at the 1969 Atlanta Film Festival. He received an award at the Venice Film Festival and a seven-year contract with Universal. Studio executives were so impressed with the simple story of a boy and girl hitchhiking from the Mojave Desert to the ocean that they released it along with Love Story, the biggest hit of 1970. Today, Spielberg uses the Emblyn name for his own production company.

First successes

Spielberg started his career as a professional filming several episodes of television programs at Universal Studios. At this time, Steven Spielberg, whose biography is of interest to all his fans, took part in the creation of such series as Dr. Marcus Welby and Columbo.

The first film directed professionally was the special-for-television film The Duel (1971). It was about a deadly battle of wits between an ordinary person who drives a car and a crazy driver of an 18-wheel truck. "Duel" was considered one of the mostmajor films ever made for American television. It was released in cinemas in Europe and Japan as a feature film. It took sixteen days to make and only $350,000. The overseas release grossed over $5 million and won numerous awards.

After that, Spielberg began to receive many scripts for filming, but he was not impressed with them. Stephen left the mainstream studio for a year to develop his own project.

In my own way

Spielberg came up with Sugarland Express, a drama about a woman who convinces her husband to break out of prison in order to kidnap their child from foster parents. A spectacular car chase takes place after a couple steals a police cruiser. The film received positive reviews from critics, but was a commercial failure. Nevertheless, all this led to a breakthrough film in the career and biography of Steven Spielberg - Jaws (1975).

Despite this picture grossing 100% over its $3.5 million budget, Spielberg became Hollywood's favorite director as Jaws grossed over $60 million in its first month. The film was as popular with critics as it was with the public. Now Spielberg could do whatever he wanted.

Sci-fi and more

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) was perhaps the most personal film of the director's career. He entered the list of the best films of Steven Spielberg. The picture tells of the heroic efforts of the Americansmiddle class who want to make contact with aliens from another planet.

The Indiana Jones trilogy (1981-1989), The Alien (1982) and Purple Fields (1985) are examples of Steven Spielberg biography at its best and worst. The Indiana Jones films blended the old TV show love affair with a modern sensibility. However, high levels of gore and violence in the second season of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) led to the creation of a new rating code, PG-13, which alerts parents to the presence of violence, profanity, and nudity.

"Alien" (1982) literally captured the audience, and popular quotes from it scattered around the world. Another film directed by Steven Spielberg, Flowers in the Purple Fields (1985), received a mixed response. Spielberg was accused of patronizing African Americans and gentrifying rural southern poverty. But there were those who praised the film, because it received many awards and nominations.

Spielberg was a favorite among fellow directors such as George Lucas and John Landis. He supported the latter when he was implicated in the deaths of three actors from The Twilight Zone, a film that Spielberg also worked on. In 1991, Stephen directed the big-budget Peter Pan film Captain Hook. These Steven Spielberg films are on the director's best films list.

As Spielberg continued to direct and create, he became more and more powerful. He was able to make any film he wanted and seemed completely uninterested into please the public or the critics.

Continued success

One of Steven Spielberg's best 1993 films, Jurassic Park boasts the longest and most intense pre-release promotional campaign in film history. It was about a modern amusement park that used genetically engineered dinosaurs as its main attraction. The film was a box office success. Spielberg released a sequel titled Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World in 1997. After that, a continuation appeared in the form of three more parts of the film, released in 2001, 2015 and 2018.

Perhaps Spielberg's most poignant and emotional film was the critically acclaimed Schindler's List (1993), which was shot in black and white. It was a fictional account of real life incidents in which German businessman Oskar Schindler (1908-1974) saved thousands of Jews who worked in his factory during World War II (1939-45). The picture won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1993, while Spielberg won Best Director.

Steven Spielberg filmography

How many films did Steven make? All films by Steven Spielberg (the list of films is very impressive), in which he acted as a director:

• "Emblyn" (1968).
• "Duel" (1971).
• "Sugarland Express" (1974).
• "Jaws" (1975).
• "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (1977).
• "1947" (1979).
• "Seekers of the LostArk" (1981).
• "Alien" (1982).
• "The Twilight Zone" (1983).
• "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" (1984).
• "Purple Flowers of the Fields" (1985).
• "Empire of the Sun" (1987).
• "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989).
• "Captain Hook" (1991).
• "Jurassic Park" (1993).
• "Schindler's List" (1993).
• "Jurassic Park: The Lost World" (1997).
• "Saving Private Ryan" (1998).
• "Catch Me If You Can" (2002).
• "Terminal" (2004).
• "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005).
• War of the Worlds (2005).
• "Flags of Our Fathers" (2006).
• "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (2008).
• "The Adventures of Tintin" (2008).
• "Lincoln" (2011).
• "Spices and Passions" (2012).
• "Bridge of Spies" (2015).
• "The Big and Kind Giant" (2016).
• "Secret File" (2017).
• "Ready Player One" (2018).

Own studio

In 1981, he founded the American film and television company Amblin Entertainment.

Amblin has released many Spielberg films along with other directors, most of whom are friends of Steven.

In 1994 heco-founded DreamWorks SKG with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, a live-action and animated film studio located on the grounds of Universal Studious.

Spielberg managed to try himself not only as a director. He also noted himself as a producer and writer. Steven Spielberg's books are scripts for his films.

Awards and achievements

Spielberg has received numerous awards both in the United States and abroad, not only for his films, but also for his work in support of human rights and social justice. He continues to be one of the most influential directors and producers in the world. Among his awards are:

• "The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial" from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1986.
• For his work on Schindler's List in 1994, this director won two Oscars, one for best photography and one for best director.
• In 1994, the University of Southern California awarded Spielberg an honorary degree.
• In 1999, he won Best Director's Award for the war film Saving Private Ryan.
• In 2004, Spielberg received the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Veteran director Spielberg was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2005.



• In 2015, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President Barack Obama.

Personal life and legacy

The director was married to Amy Irving from 1985 to 1989. In marriage, they had a son, Max Samuel.

His current wife is Kate Capshaw, whom he met while filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They married in 1991 and have 5 children together, 3 biological and 2 adopted. The top photo shows Steven Spielberg with his family.