Steven Spielberg

By Carl Bylin & Gonzalo Lpez

Index
Life
Early life
Early career
Mainstream breakthrough
Since 1997

Achievements
Academy Awards
Golden Globe Awards

Filmography
Highest-grossing films

Curiosities

Early Life
Born December 18, 1946
Jewish parents Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg
He made amateur 8 mm adventure movies with his friends.
He charged admission, 25 cents, to his home movies while his
sister sold popcorn
Boy Scout in 1958 and received the photography merit badge
for his nine-minute 8 mm film The Last Gunfight
He moved to California with his father after his parents'
divorce
His applications to attend film school failed due to his C
grade average
He worked at Universal studios as an unpaid, seven-day-aweek intern and guest of the editing department
After he became famous he was awarded an honorary degree
in 1994
The vice-president of production for Universal's TV arm saw

Early career (1968-1975)

He directed several episodes of series like Night Gallery or The Name of the Game that impressed Universal Studios
and they signed him on a short contract
Universal signed him to do three movies: Duel, Something Evil and The Sugarland Express
He was offered the director's chair for Jaws which, although it was nearly shut down, became an enormous hit,
winning three Academy Awards
Spielberg became one of America's youngest multi-millionaires

Mainstream breakthrough (19751994)

He rejected to directed Jaws 2, King Kong and
Superman
Spielberg and actor Richard Dreyfuss made a
film about UFOs which gave him his first Best
Director nomination
He teamed up with George Lucas and
together they created the first of the Indiana
Jones films
He directed other movies like E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park,
Schindler's List, etc.

Since 1997
In 1994 Spielberg took a break from directing to spend more
time with his family and to build his new studio, DreamWorks
He released Amistad under DreamWorks Pictures, which has
issued all his films since Amistad until May 2008
He has worked with actors like Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks,
Leonardo DiCaprio and Harrison Ford and has directed movies
like Saving Private Ryan, A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, War of the
Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the
first film not to be released by DreamWorks Pictures since 1997
and has grossed over $785 million worldwide

Achievements
Academy Awards:
Yea
r

Category

Film

Result

200
7

Best film

Letters from Iwo Jima

Nomine
e

200
5

Best film

Munich

Nomine
e

200
5

Best
director

Munich

Nomine
e

199
8

Best film

Saving Private Ryan

Nomine
e

199
8

Best
director

Saving Private Ryan

Winner

199
3

Best film

Schindlers List

Winner

199
3

Best
director

Schindlers List

Winner

198

Prize in Irving Thalbergs Memory

Winner

Achievements
Golden Globe Awards:
Year

Category

Film

Result

200
9

Prize Cecil B. DeMille

Winner

2006

Best director

Munich

Nominee

2002

Best director

Artificial Intelligence

Nominee

199
9

Best film- Drama

Saving Private Ryan

Winner

199
9

Best director

Saving Private Ryan

Winner

1998

Best film- Drama

Amistad

Nominee

1998

Best director

Amistad

Nominee

199
4

Best director-

Schindlers List

Winner

199
4

Best film- Drama

Schindlers List

Winner

1986

Best director

The color Purple

Nominee

Filmography
First film directed in 1964: Firelight
He have participated in near 101 films, as
director, producer, writer or actor, and 8 more
films are expected to be produced by him in the
next 3 years

Jaws, the film which prompted Spielberg in his career

Filmography
Highest-grossing films:
Ran
k

Film

Lifetime Gross
(US$)

1.

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

435 million

2.

Jurassic Park

357 million

3.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the

Crystal Skull

317 million

4.

Jaws

260 million

5.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

242 million

6.

War of the Worlds

234 million

7.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

229 million

8.

Saving Private Ryan

216 million

9.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

197 million

Curiosities
If he is the producer or executive producer of a film which he
feels does not meet his standards, he will ask for his name to be
removed from the credits.
He's films have grossed domestically a total of more than $3.5
billion, with an average of $156 million per film
He generally supports U.S. Democratic Party candidates. He
has donated over $800,000 for the Democratic party and its
nominees
He is an avid video gamer, he owns a Wii, a PlayStation 3 and a
Xbox 360. He prefers first-person shooter games, as Call of Duty!