Steven Spielberg is the recipient of many accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and four Directors Guild of America Awards, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B DeMille Award in 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
141 Facts About Steven Spielberg
2.
Steven Spielberg moved to California and studied film in college.
3.
Steven Spielberg made his theatrical film debut with The Sugarland Express and became a household name with the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws.
4.
Steven Spielberg subsequently explored drama in The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun.
5.
In 1993, Steven Spielberg directed back-to-back box office hits with the science fiction thriller Jurassic Park, the highest-grossing film ever at the time, and the Holocaust drama Schindler's List, which has often been listed as one of the greatest films ever made.
6.
Steven Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for the latter and the 1998 World War II epic Saving Private Ryan.
7.
Steven Spielberg directed the adventure films The Adventures of Tintin and Ready Player One ; the historical dramas Amistad, Munich, War Horse, Lincoln, Bridge of Spies and The Post ; the musical West Side Story ; and the semi-autobiographical drama The Fabelmans.
8.
Steven Spielberg co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks, and he has served as a producer for many successful films and television series.
9.
Steven Spielberg has had a long collaboration with the composer John Williams, with whom he has worked for all but five of his feature films.
10.
Several of Steven Spielberg's works are considered among the greatest films in history, and some are among the highest-grossing films ever.
11.
In 2013, Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people, and in 2023, Steven Spielberg was the recipient of the first ever TIME100 Impact Award in the US.
12.
Steven Allan Spielberg was born on December 18,1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
13.
Steven Spielberg's mother, Leah, was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers.
14.
Steven Spielberg had a bar mitzvah ceremony when he was thirteen.
15.
Steven Spielberg's family was involved in the synagogue and had many Jewish friends.
16.
Steven Spielberg used his father's movie camera to make amateur features, and began taking the camera along on every Scout trip.
17.
At age 13, Steven Spielberg made a 40-minute war film, titled Escape to Nowhere, with a cast of school classmates.
18.
In Phoenix, Steven Spielberg watched films at the local theatre every Saturday.
19.
Steven Spielberg attended Arcadia High School in 1961 for three years.
20.
Steven Spielberg wrote and directed his first independent film in 1963, a 140-minute science fiction adventure called Firelight, which would later inspire Close Encounters of The Third Kind.
21.
Steven Spielberg moved to Los Angeles to stay with his father, while his three sisters and mother remained in Saratoga.
22.
Steven Spielberg was not interested in academics; he aspired to be only a filmmaker.
23.
Steven Spielberg applied to the University of Southern California's film school but was turned down because of his mediocre grades.
24.
Steven Spielberg then applied and enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, where he became a brother of Theta Chi Fraternity.
25.
Steven Spielberg returned to Long Beach in 2002 to complete his Bachelor of Arts in Film and Electronic Media.
26.
Steven Spielberg attempted to impress his colleagues with fancy camerawork, but executives ordered him to shoot it quickly.
27.
Steven Spielberg's contributions were not well received, thus Spielberg took a short break from the studio.
28.
When I began to work with Steven Spielberg, I understood everything.
29.
Hollywood doesn't always recognize talent, but Steven Spielberg's was not going to be overlooked.
30.
Steven Spielberg turned to writing screenplays with other writers, and then directing television episodes.
31.
Steven Spielberg earned good reviews and impressed producers; he was earning a steady income and relocated to Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles.
32.
In 1974, Steven Spielberg made his debut in a theatrical film, The Sugarland Express, about a married couple on the run, desperate to regain custody of their baby from foster parents.
33.
Steven Spielberg blamed Universal's inconsistent marketing for its poor box office results.
34.
One of the rare films both written and directed by himself, Close Encounters was very popular with film-goers, and Steven Spielberg received his first Best Director nomination from the Academy Awards.
35.
Steven Spielberg was self-conscious about doing comedy as he had no prior experience in the genre.
36.
The film was a success at the box office, and won five Academy Awards; Steven Spielberg received his second nomination for Best Director, and Best Picture.
37.
Steven Spielberg began to co-produce films, including 1982's Poltergeist, and directed the segment "Kick The Can" in The Twilight Zone.
38.
Steven Spielberg was not directing or present during the incident, and was cleared of any wrongdoing by the National Transportation Safety Board.
39.
Steven Spielberg shot the film mostly in sequence to keep the children spontaneous towards the climax.
40.
Steven Spielberg later said that he was unhappy with the Temple of Doom because it did not have his "personal touches and love".
41.
Between 1984 and 1990, Steven Spielberg served as either producer or executive producer on nineteen feature films; these include: The Goonies, The Money Pit, Joe Versus the Volcano, *batteries not included, Back to the Future, Cape Fear, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
42.
Steven Spielberg produced the Don Bluth animations, An American Tail and The Land Before Time.
43.
The film received eleven Academy Award nominations, and Steven Spielberg won Best Director from the Directors Guild of America.
44.
Critical consensus was mixed at the time of release; criticism ranged from the "overwrought" plot, to Steven Spielberg's downplaying of "disease and starvation".
45.
Ian Alterman of The New York Times thought it was overlooked by audiences; Steven Spielberg recalled that Empire of the Sun was one of his most enjoyable films to make.
46.
Steven Spielberg cast Sean Connery in a supporting role as Henry Jones, Sr.
47.
In 1993, Steven Spielberg served as an executive producer for the NBC science fiction series seaQuest DSV; the show was not a hit.
48.
In 1993, Steven Spielberg returned to the adventure genre with Jurassic Park, based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton, and a screenplay by the latter and David Koepp.
49.
Also in 1993, Steven Spielberg directed Schindler's List, about Oskar Schindler, a businessman who helped save 1,100 Jews from the Holocaust.
50.
In 1994, Steven Spielberg took a break from directing to spend more time with his family, and setup his new film studio, DreamWorks, with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
51.
Steven Spielberg cited more creative control and distribution improvements as the main reasons for founding his own studio; he and his partners compared themselves to the founders of United Artists back in 1919.
52.
Besides film, Steven Spielberg helped design a Jurassic Park-themed attraction at Universal Orlando in Florida.
53.
Producer Debbie Allen, who had read the book Amistad I in 1978, thought Steven Spielberg would be perfect to direct.
54.
Halfway through filming, Steven Spielberg reminded the cast that they were making a tribute to thank "your grandparents and my dad, who fought in [the war]".
55.
Steven Spielberg tried to make it in the style that Kubrick would have done, though with mixed results according to some reviewers.
56.
Steven Spielberg worked with Tom Hanks again, along with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Stanley Tucci in 2004's The Terminal, a lighthearted comedy about an Eastern European man stranded in an airport.
57.
In 2005, Spielberg directed a modern adaptation of War of the Worlds, a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks, based on H G Wells' book of the same name; Spielberg had been a fan of the book and the 1953 film.
58.
Steven Spielberg used storyboards to help the actors react to computer imagery that they could not see, and used natural lighting and camerawork to avoid an "over stylized" science fiction picture.
59.
Steven Spielberg's Munich, is about the Israeli government's secret retaliation after eleven Israeli Olympic athletes were kidnapped and murdered in the 1972 Munich massacre.
60.
In June 2006, Steven Spielberg planned to make Interstellar, but abandoned the project, which was eventually directed by Christopher Nolan.
61.
Steven Spielberg worked with Clint Eastwood for the first time, co-producing 2006's Flags of Our Fathers, and Letters from Iwo Jima, with Robert Lorenz.
62.
Steven Spielberg served as executive producer for 2007's Disturbia, and the Transformers film series.
63.
Steven Spielberg returned to the Indiana Jones series in 2008 with the fourth installment, titled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
64.
In early 2009, Steven Spielberg shot the first film in a planned trilogy of motion capture films based on The Adventures of Tintin, written by Belgian artist Herge.
65.
Steven Spielberg followed up with War Horse, shot in England in the summer of 2010.
66.
The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo, published in 1982, and follows the long friendship between a British boy and his horse Joey before and during World War I Distributed by Walt Disney Studios, with whom DreamWorks made a distribution deal in 2009, War Horse was the first of four consecutive Spielberg films released by Disney.
67.
Steven Spielberg returned to the World War II theme, co-producing the 2010 miniseries The Pacific, with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman.
68.
Steven Spielberg directed the historical drama Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln, and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln.
69.
In 2016, Steven Spielberg made The BFG, an adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book, starring newcomer Ruby Barnhill, and Mark Rylance as the titular Big Friendly Giant.
70.
Steven Spielberg directed the science fiction Ready Player One, adapted from the novel of the same name by Ernest Cline.
71.
Steven Spielberg's direction was praised along with the action scenes and visual effects, but many critics thought the film was too long and overused 1980s nostalgia.
72.
In 2019, Steven Spielberg filmed West Side Story, an adaptation of the musical of the same name.
73.
Steven Spielberg received nominations from the Golden Globe Awards, Directors Guild of America, and Critics' Choice Movie Awards.
74.
In March 2022, Steven Spielberg revealed that West Side Story would be the last musical he will direct.
75.
Steven Spielberg's 2022 film The Fabelmans is a fictionalized account of his own adolescence, which he wrote with Tony Kushner.
76.
On January 18,2023, Steven Spielberg told press at a red carpet event for The Fabelmans that he was executive producing a documentary about John Williams, directed by Laurent Bouzereau with production companies Amblin Television, Imagine Documentaries, and Nedland Media.
77.
The announcement came days after Williams told Steven Spielberg he was not retiring.
78.
In February 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that Steven Spielberg was developing an original film centered around the character Frank Bullitt, a fictional San Francisco police officer originally portrayed by Steve McQueen in the 1968 film Bullitt.
79.
Steven Spielberg had planned to direct Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but he was replaced by James Mangold.
80.
Steven Spielberg said that he will remain "hands on" as a producer, along with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.
81.
In May 2009, Steven Spielberg bought the rights to the life story of Martin Luther King Jr.
82.
In 2015, it was announced that Steven Spielberg was attached to direct an adaptation of American photojournalist Lynsey Addario's memoir It's What I Do, with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role.
83.
In March 2013, Steven Spielberg announced that he was developing a miniseries based on the life of Napoleon.
84.
Steven Spielberg was set to film an adaptation of David Kertzer's The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara in early 2017, for release at the end of that year, but production has been postponed.
85.
Mark Rylance, in his fourth collaboration with Steven Spielberg, was announced to star in the role of Pope Pius IX.
86.
Steven Spielberg saw more than 2,000 children to play the role of Edgardo Mortara.
87.
Rajamouli in February 2023, Steven Spielberg said that he will not rule out the possibility of a sequel to The Fabelmans, but confirmed that there are currently no immediate plans.
88.
Between 1984 and 1990, Steven Spielberg served as either producer or executive producer on nineteen feature films; these include: The Goonies, The Money Pit, Joe Versus the Volcano, *batteries not included, Back to the Future, Cape Fear, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
89.
Steven Spielberg produced the Don Bluth animations, An American Tail and The Land Before Time.
90.
Steven Spielberg cited more creative control and distribution improvements as the main reasons for founding his own studio; he and his partners compared themselves to the founders of United Artists back in 1919.
91.
Steven Spielberg has been an avid gamer since 1974; in 2005, Steven Spielberg collaborated with Electronic Arts on several games including one for the Wii called Boom Blox, and its sequel Boom Blox Bash Party.
92.
Steven Spielberg is the creator of EA's Medal of Honor series.
93.
In 1996, Steven Spielberg helped create and design of LucasArts' adventure game The Dig.
94.
Steven Spielberg collaborated with software publishers Knowledge Adventure on the game Steven Spielberg's Director's Chair, which was released in 1996; Spielberg appears in the game to direct the player.
95.
Steven Spielberg played many of LucasArts adventure games, including the first Monkey Island games.
96.
Steven Spielberg owns a Wii, a PlayStation 3, a PSP, and an Xbox 360, and enjoys playing first-person shooters such as the Medal of Honor series and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
97.
Steven Spielberg dislikes the use of cutscenes in games, and thinks that natural storytelling is a challenge for game developers.
98.
Steven Spielberg has cited Frank Capra's It's A Wonderful Life as an influence on "family, community and suburbia".
99.
Steven Spielberg enjoyed the work of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, John Ford, Stanley Kubrick and John Frankenheimer.
100.
Steven Spielberg prefers to shoot quickly, with large amounts of coverage, so that he will have many options in the editing room.
101.
Steven Spielberg described himself as like an "alien" during childhood, and this interest came from his father, a science fiction fan.
102.
Steven Spielberg has worked consistently with production designer Rick Carter, and writer David Koepp.
103.
The producer Kathleen Kennedy is one of Steven Spielberg's longest serving collaborators.
104.
Steven Spielberg first worked with Spielberg in 1998's Saving Private Ryan, for which he received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor.
105.
Kaminski's first collaboration with Steven Spielberg started with the holocaust drama film Schindler's List for which Kaminski received the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.
106.
Steven Spielberg met actress Amy Irving in 1976 when she auditioned for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
107.
Steven Spielberg met actress Kate Capshaw when he cast her in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
108.
Steven Spielberg said he rediscovered "the honor of being a Jew" when they married.
109.
Steven Spielberg spent a year studying, did the "mikveh," the whole thing.
110.
Steven Spielberg chose to do a full conversion before we were married in 1991, and she married me after becoming a Jew.
111.
In 2001, Steven Spielberg was stalked by conspiracy theorist and former social worker Diana Napolis.
112.
Steven Spielberg accused him, and actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, of installing a mind-control device in her brain, and being part of a satanic cult.
113.
Steven Spielberg was released on probation with a condition that she have no contact with either Spielberg or Hewitt.
114.
In 2013, Steven Spielberg purchased the 282-foot mega-yacht The Seven Seas for US$182 million.
115.
Steven Spielberg has put it up for sale and has made it available for charter.
116.
Steven Spielberg has ordered a new 300-foot yacht at a reported US$250 million.
117.
In 2022, Steven Spielberg was diagnosed with COVID-19 at age 75.
118.
In December 2022, Steven Spielberg was a guest on Desert Island Discs for BBC Radio 4, choosing for his luxury item an H-8 Bolex Camera.
119.
Steven Spielberg has donated over $800,000 to the Democratic party and its nominees.
120.
Steven Spielberg has been a close friend of former president Bill Clinton and worked with the president for the USA Millennium celebrations.
121.
Steven Spielberg directed an 18-minute film for the project, scored by John Williams and entitled The American Journey.
122.
Steven Spielberg resigned as a member of the national advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America in 2001 because he disagreed with the organization's anti-homosexuality stance.
123.
In February 2008, Steven Spielberg resigned as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics in response to the Chinese government's inaction over the War in Darfur.
124.
Prolific in film since the 1960s, Steven Spielberg has directed 34 feature films, and co-produced many works.
125.
Steven Spielberg received nine nominations for Best Director, and won twice.
126.
Steven Spielberg's third was in Best Picture, for Schindler's List.
127.
In 1989, Steven Spielberg was presented with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.
128.
Steven Spielberg was awarded the Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1999, in recognition for Saving Private Ryan.
129.
Steven Spielberg was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, located on 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.
130.
On July 15,2006, Steven Spielberg was awarded the Gold Hugo Lifetime Achievement Award at the Summer Gala of the Chicago International Film Festival, and was awarded a Kennedy Center honor on December 3.
131.
The tribute to Steven Spielberg featured a biographical short film narrated by Liam Neeson, and a performance of the finale to Leonard Bernstein's Candide, conducted by John Williams.
132.
In June 2008, Steven Spielberg received Arizona State University's Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence.
133.
In October 2009, Steven Spielberg received the Philadelphia Liberty Medal; the prize was presented by former US President Bill Clinton.
134.
On November 19,2013, Steven Spielberg was honored by the National Archives and Records Administration with a Records of Achievement Award.
135.
Steven Spielberg was given two facsimiles of the 13th Amendment; the first which passed in 1861 but was not ratified, and the second signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to abolish slavery.
136.
On November 24,2015, Steven Spielberg was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama at the White House.
137.
In July 2016, Steven Spielberg was awarded a gold Blue Peter badge by the BBC children's television programme Blue Peter.
138.
Steven Spielberg has honorary degrees from the University of Southern California, 1994; Brown University, 1999; Yale University, 2002; Boston University, 2009; and Harvard University, 2016.
139.
Steven Spielberg's films have influenced directors JJ Abrams, Paul Thomas Anderson, Neill Blomkamp, Roland Emmerich, Peter Jackson, Kal Ng, Robert Rodriguez, John Sayles, Ridley Scott, John Singleton, Kevin Smith, Don Hertzfeldt and Gareth Edwards.
140.
Critics of Steven Spielberg have argued that his films are commonly sentimental and moralistic.
141.
Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard opined that Steven Spielberg was partly responsible for the lack of artistic merit in mainstream cinema, and accused Steven Spielberg of using Schindler's List to profit from a tragedy.