STEVEN SPIELBERG WRITER AND FILM DIRECTOR.
BIOGRAPHY
 
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE                 (born December                 18, 1946)                 is an Oscar                 winning Jewish                 American film                 director and producer.                 His German last name comes from the name of the Austrian                 city where his Hungarian ancestors lived in 17th century: Spielberg.                 He is noted in recent years for his willingness to tackle                 emotionally powerful issues, such as the horrors of the                 Holocaust in Schindler's                 List, slavery in Amistad,                 hardships of war in Saving                 Private Ryan, and terrorism in Munich.                 One consistent theme                 in his family friendly work is a childlike, even naï¿½ve, sense                 of wonderment and faith, as attested by works such as Close                 Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.                 the Extra-Terrestrial, Hook and A.I.,                 and the challenging role of a father-figure.
 
 
 
Arguably the most important figure to emerge from the                 creative ferment of Hollywood cinema in the 1970s, Steven                 Spielberg has changed the way movies are made and about what                 they are made. He is perhaps the Western world's most famous                 living filmmaker; three movies he directed ("E.T. the                 Extra-Terrestrial" 1981; "Jurassic Park" 1993; "Jaws" 1975) are among the top ten highest grossing                 films of all time. His former production company, Amblin                 Entertainment, was also responsible for such hits as "Gremlins" (1984), "Back to the Future" (1985) and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988). Spielberg                 has succeeded in combining the intimacy of a personal vision                 with the epic requirements of the modern commercial blockbuster,                 but his astonishing success invalidated his acceptance as an                 artist for many years. Marketplace issues aside, Spielberg                 certainly travels in august creative company: like Orson Welles,                 he has been celebrated and penalized for precocity; like Alfred                 Hitchcock, he has been alternately praised and damned as a                 master of emotional manipulation; and like Frank Capra, he has                 been criticized for shameless sentimentality. Spielberg's most                 important spiritual predecessor, however, is Walt Disney,                 another creative individual who made himself into a brand name                 while attending to the serious business of making "frivolous" entertainments.
 
Several Spielberg films have become landmarks in the                 development of special effects, both in their visual and aural                 aspects. This filmmaker, however, is no technocrat nor does he                 display a serious intellectual interest in science fiction.                 Spielberg utilizes elements of sci-fi and fantasy but tends to                 eschew heavy ideas in favor of sublime feelings, such as childlike awe and trust. Indeed, his work has decisively                 influenced the emphasis in late 20th Century sci-fi filmmaking                 on the sensibility of youth and they succeed in spite of blatant                 sentimentality through the director's masterful use of                 emotionally potent visual imagery. If nothing else, Spielberg                 possesses an uncanny knack for eliciting and manipulating                 audience response.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Spielberg did not attend a                 major university film program. Largely self-taught, at age 16,                 he fashioned his first film "Firelight", a two-hour                 science fiction movie, that a local movie house in Phoenix, AZ,                 consented to run for one evening. His short film, "Amblin'" (1969) impressed executives at the television unit of Universal                 Studios and Spielberg was hired, making his debut directing the                 formidable Joan Crawford in the TV-movie pilot for Rod Serling's "Night Gallery" (NBC, 1969). He went on to hone his                 craft helming episodes of such weekly series as "Columbo" and "Marcus Welby, M.D." as well as three TV-movies.                 One telefilm, "Duel" (ABC, 1972), about a salesman                 (Dennis Weaver) pursued by a giant diesel truck whose driver is                 never seen, was released theatrically in Europe, where it                 enjoyed both critical and commercial success.
 
Spielberg's first theatrical film, "The Sugarland                 Express" (1974) was based on the true story of a lumpen                 Texas woman and her escaped convict husband fighting to regain                 custody of their baby. The film anticipates the emphasis on                 family in Spielberg's subsequent work; his choreographed car                 chases and deft handling of suspense and comedy marked him as a                 director to watch. Poorly marketed, this entertaining and                 poignant feature failed at the box office. Spielberg's second, "Jaws", however, helped usher in the modern age of                 movie blockbusters. This troubled production--a neophyte                 director and a disgruntled crew with a malfunctioning automated                 shark--emerged as a classic adventure yarn that propelled                 Spielberg to the A-list of Hollywood directors.
 
ET                 (extra terrestrial) and Steven                 Spielberg
 
 
His transcendent follow-up, "Close Encounters of the                 Third Kind" (1977), revealed the first flowering of his                 cinematic interest in the world of childhood, an affinity shared                 with the late Francois Truffaut, who played the head scientist                 in the film. Though initially terrifying, the alien creatures in                 this revisionist work resemble strange and wondrous children,                 presenting a more benign representation than the monstrous                 conquerors of 50s sci-fi films. These beings offer the promise                 of life beyond the restrictions of middle-class conventions.                 When Richard Dreyfuss boards the mother ship for unknown                 adventures, it is the film's final grandiloquent embrace of the                 possible.
 
Riding high after two back-to-back blockbusters, Spielberg                 attempted a colossal big-budget comedy. "1941" (1979)                 was a loud, sprawling and wildly uneven film about paranoia in a                 small California town after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though                 it ultimately turned a profit, the film was perceived as a huge                 and indulgent flop. Spielberg next chose to work under the                 watchful eye of a tough producer, George Lucas, and fashioned                 what would turn out to be one of his signature films, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). The movie introduced                 the world to Indiana Jones (played by Harrison Ford), the                 celebrated archeologist and intrepid adventurer that became the                 most popular screen hero since James Bond and spawned two                 sequels. During the production, Spielberg was so wearied by the                 rigors of location shooting that he would relax by concocting a                 story for a little personal film to feature a couple of kids and                 a lost alien. This set the stage for "E.T. The                 Extra-Terrestrial"--the work for which Spielberg may well                 be best remembered. An instant classic, this emotionally                 overwhelming film transformed its maker's career.
 
In most Spielberg films, anything that threatens the family                 and its routine existence is evil. In "Jaws", the                 normally safe harbor of a public beach is threatened by a great                 white shark. The heroes of "The Sugarland Express" and                 the Indiana Jones trilogy are transported from normal life to a                 world of exciting adventure though, in the former, the                 consequences are tragic. As a young filmmaker, Spielberg seemed                 to prefer the child's world of harmless adventure (c.f., "E.T.")                 to the violence and hardships of the real world. Significantly,                 Spielberg presented WWII through the eyes of a youthful                 protagonist in "Empire of the Sun" (1987), a                 transitional work, and he oversaw an Oedipal fantasy as the                 producer of "Back to the Future", in which a son                 remakes his parents from nerds into successful yuppies.
 
 
 
The Lucas collaborations--"Indiana Jones and the Temple                 of Doom" (1984), in particular--have aspects that some find                 embarrassingly racist, imperialist, and misogynistic. Even his                 affecting adaptation of Alice Walker's novel "The Color                 Purple" (1985), although dealing with racism, wife-beating                 and lesbianism, recreates the air of an old-fashioned Disney                 film. That Spielberg co-produced and co-wrote "Poltergeist" (1982) and took over directing the film                 when Tobe Hooper was incapacitated is significant, for it                 presents the dark underside of suburbia that is only hinted at                 in his own films.
 
There was a marked shift in Spielberg's artistic and                 commercial concerns beginning in the mid-80s, as he began                 devoting more time to producing. With the notable exception of                 the continuing Indiana Jones franchise, the projects he chose to                 direct were departures from his usual material. After "The                 Color Purple" and "Empire of the Sun", he                 directed Always" (1989), his first romantic feature in                 which he also dealt with issues of emotional commitment, loss,                 and mortality. Even "Indiana Jones and the Last                 Crusade" (1989) broke new ground, shifting the locale to                 Europe and the emphasis to Jones' family dynamics. While the                 action sequences were largely uninspired, the spiky father-son                 banter between Harrison Ford and Sean Connery was the film's                 highlight.
 
Through Amblin, Spielberg continued to oversee the production                 of a series of popular escapist fantasies, animated features and                 conventional genre films into the 90s. He even diversified into                 TV with the fantasy anthology series, "Amazing                 Stories" (NBC, 1985-87), which he executive produced and                 provided with many of its stories. Though lavishly produced and                 often dealing with Spielberg's characteristic themes, too many                 of the episodes were slight and unsatisfying, although at least                 one, "Family Dog," an animated outing with director                 Tim Burton, was spun off into its own 1993 series . He achieved                 far greater success with such children's animated series as "Tiny Toon Adventures" (syndicated, 1990-95) which                 attempted to resurrect the style and sensibility of classic                 Warner Brothers animation, the knowingly retro "Steven                 Spielberg Presents Animaniacs" (Fox, 1993-95; The WB,                 1995-1998 ) and its spin-off "Steven Spielberg Presents                 Pinky and the Brain" (The WB, 1995-1998); along with "Freakazoid" (1995-1997) and the short-lived "Toonsylvania" (1998).                 Spielberg's involvement with high-quality retro animation                 stemmed back to his stint producing the 1988 film "Who                 Framed Roger Rabbit?" which pioneered effects techonology                 that allowed live action characters to interact with animated                 chreations.
 
On the big screen, "Hook" (1991) was Spielberg's                 long-awaited return to fantasy material. A lavish yet quirky                 update of the Peter Pan story, the film displayed its maker's                 increased concern with the responsibilities of parenting, the                 therapeutic aspects of regression and preparing for death.                 Budgeted at over $60 million, the film garnered mixed reviews                 and decently impressive box office but--due to an unprecedented                 deal brokered by Creative Artists Agency wherein Spielberg and                 his stars, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Julia Roberts                 split a huge cut of worldwide revenues up front--failed to make                 much money for its studio.
 
 
 
The Spielberg of the 90s again made directing a top priority,                 lending his name to various Amblin products while leaving                 producing chores to others. "Jurassic Park", a $70                 million adaptation of Michael Crichton's dinosaur disaster                 novel, represented a return to the kind of muscular adventure                 that served Spielberg so well in the past. The film was a                 special effects breakthrough and boasted awesome action                 sequences though the characters were unusually shallow.                 Intriguingly, Spielberg did relatively little publicity for one                 of the most aggressively marketed films in history. He had                 juggled post-production work on "Jurassic Park" in                 Paris--with George Lucas reportedly lending a hand stateside - with filming his long-awaited WWII Holocaust drama, "Schindler's List" (1993) in Poland.
 
Filmed in black-and-white, without big stars and few slick                 stylistics, this bleak version of Thomas Keneally's Booker                 Prize-winning novel (based on a true story) marked a dramatic                 change-of-pace for this purveyor of warm WASP visions. For once,                 he went against his instincts and made an impressively                 restrained, documentarian drama of Jewish suffering that built                 to a shattering yet life-affirming conclusion. The resulting                 film earned Spielberg the most respectful notices of his career.                 Spielberg was now widely hailed as one of the masters of world                 cinema. (That the film, which earned seven Oscars including Best                 Picture and Best Director, also grossed over $100 million                 domestically didn't hurt either.)
 
As an encore, he returned to familiar ground with the                 inevitable sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (1997) which merely rehashed the story of the far superior                 original. Spielberg then tackled the tricky historical drama "Amistad" (also 1997), based on a true story of a                 mutiny on a slave ship that spawned a legal battle in the USA.                 Meticulously staged, the film was noted for its depiction of the                 Middle Passage, a harrowing portrayal of the conditions of                 slavery. The following year, Spielberg returned to WWII for one                 of his most acclaimed films, "Saving Private Ryan". A                 nearly three-hour fictionalized look at a unit sent to locate                 the sole survivor of four brothers serving in the military. the                 film earned praise for its no-holds-barred depiction of the                 battlefield, although the characters bordered on cliche. Critics                 anointed the picture one of the year's best on its release in                 July and it subsequently earned over $200 million at the box                 office and received 11 Academy Award nominations. Although                 favored to take home the Best Picture award, it didn't, but                 Spielberg was crowned with a Best Director statue.
 
In the fall of 1994, Spielberg, recording mogul David Geffen                 and former Disney production head Jeffrey Katzenberg formed a                 new multimedia entertainment company, christened DreamWorks SKG,                 which would produce live-action and animated features, TV                 programs, recordings and interactive computer software in a                 relatively cost efficient manner. According to Spielberg,                 DreamWorks would grant its filmmakers "moral rights" to protect the original versions of their films after release.                 The studio also decided to give its animators and screenwriters                 contracts that guarantee them a share of a given film's success                 in defiance of the standard creative bookkeeping for the                 industry. 
 
Spielberg was to oversee the design of the studio's                 planned physical plant, laid out like a college campus on the                 old Howard Hughes aircraft site near the wetlands of Playa                 Vista, California--however, after much back-and-forth the Playa                 Vista plan was scrapped and DreamWorks ended up being housed on                 the Universal lot, co-existing with Spielberg's Amblin                 Entertainment facilities. The game plan was that Spielberg would                 oversee the production of live-action features, Katzenberg would                 direct the state-of-the-art animation division, and Geffen would                 head SKG's independent recording label.
 
Jaws                 - Captain Quint draws the shark
 
 
The fledgling studio's first small screen efforts met with                 limited success; only the Michael J Fox vehicle "Spin                 City" (ABC, 1996- ) was a hit. Other efforts like "Champs" (ABC, 1996), a male-bonding comedy, and the                 overly-familiar police drama "High Incident" (ABC,                 1996-97) came and went quickly. Even DreamWorks' first major                 feature "The Peacemaker" (1997), a nuclear war                 thriller, enjoyed only a modest box office, but the studio                 eventually came into its own with hits such as "Saving                 Private Ryan," "Shrek," "The Ring," "Gladiator," "Galaxy Quest," "American                 Beauty," "A Beautiful Mind," "Meet the                 Parents" and "Minority Report," which company                 produced and/or co-produced with other studios.
 
Spielberg was also not without success on televison, being                 one of the executive producer of the long-running smash hit                 medical drama "ER" (1994- ) created by Chrichton, and                 the hugely-rated Sci-Fi channel miniseries "Taken" (2002) and the similarly popular Western-oriented TNT mini "Into the West" (2005). His most impressive                 accomplishment on the small screen was the HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers" (2001), based on historian Stephen                 Ambrose's book about Easy Company, the 506th Regiment of the                 101st Airborne Division, U.S. Army. Spielberg produced the                 powerful 10-episode series with Tom Hanks, and "band of                 Brothers" earned a multitude of Emmys along with critical                 and popular acclaim.
But moviemaking with himself behind the camera remained the                 director's primary passion, and he continued to explore the                 boundaries of his talents within a commercial context. 
 
Although                 he was unable to fully integrate his own crowd-pleasing                 filmmaking sensibilities with the more bleak and philosophical                 viewpoint of one of his idol, director Stanley Kubrick, when he                 elected to make "A.I. Artificial Intellegence" (2001),                 a Pinocchio-like sci-fi fable Kubrick had mused over for over a                 decade, the film was a noble failure, with several arresting                 moments, eye-popping visuals and fine performances from Haley                 Joel Osment and Jude Law. But Spielberg returned to top                 blockbuster form when he adapted Phillip K. Dick's sci-fi                 novella "Minority Report" (2002) and tapped Tom                 Cruise, one of the biggest movie stars on the planet at the                 time, to star. A fast-paced, intense and compelling thriller, "Minority Report" was Spielberg's leanest and meanest                 film in years, despite its abundant sci-fi trappings, and showed                 that the director still stood head-and-shoulders above the new                 wave of video-game style directors of similar action-adventure                 fare. The director followed that artistic and commercial triumph                 with yet another impressive achievement that same year, helming "Catch Me If You Can," the true-life story of con man                 Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), the youngest person                 ever to make the FBI's Most Wanted list. Not only did Spielberg                 flawlessly recreate-on both a realistic and nostalgic level-the                 1960s setting and coax DiCaprio's most charming and mature                 performance to date, he cannily cast his close collaborator                 Hanks against type as the downtrodden, schleppy FBI agent who                 doggedly pursues the con artist.
 
The director re-teamed with Hanks a third time for a                 seemingly unlikely project, "The Terminal" (2004), in                 which Hanks plays an Eastern European immigrant who, due to a                 political regime change and passport snafu, is forced to reside                 in a New York City airport terminal until his documentation                 glitch is resolved. Although the film had its share of wonderful                 moments, overall it was one of the director's more                 artificial-feeling efforts. Much more effective was Spielberg's                 riveting remake of the H.G. Wells sci-fi classic "War of                 the Worlds" (2005), adding a contemporary spin on the                 familiar tale while also culling inspiration from some of the                 best elements of earlier incarnations, including Wells' novel,                 Orson Welles' radio broadcast and the 1950s film version, bouyed                 by a spectacular array of special effects. The director                 re-teamed with Tom Cruise, casting the actor as a working class                 deadbeat dad who must step up and protect his two children                 during a horrific alien invasion (The film was nearly                 overwhelmed by the controversial morass of publicity that                 surrounded the seemingly erratic behavior of Cruise in the weeks                 prior to the release).
 
Spielberg's success has allowed him to pursue numerous                 philanthropic and cultural pursuits. He refused to accept any                 earnings from "Schindler's List" calling it "blood money".  He channeled those millions into the                 Righteous Persons Foundation, which has granted money to a range                 of projects that impact on modern Jewish life. He also served as                 chairman for the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History                 Foundation, an ambitious project devoted to filming interviews                 with Holocaust survivors. Back in the entertainment world,                 Spielberg lent his name and clout to several organizations                 devoted to film preservation and artists' rights. In addition,                 the director also made a habit of buying back Oscars that were                 put on the auction block by the heirs of now-deceased recipients                 such as Clark Gable, and returning the trophies to the Academy                 of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, free of charge. The once                 awkward outsider has become the ultimate insider, generally                 considered as one of the most powerful individuals in Hollywood.
 
Daughter: Destry Allyn Spielberg. born on Dec. 1, 1996;                     mother, Kate Capshaw
Daughter: Mikaela George Spielberg. born on Feb. 28, 1996;                     adopted with Capshaw
Daughter: Sasha Spielberg. born in June 1990; mother, Kate                     Capshaw
Father: Arnold Spielberg. lost relatives in the Holocaust;                     involved in the early development of computers; born c.                     1918; divorced from Spielberg's mother; remarried on April                     6, 1997
Grandmother: taught English to European Jews who survived                     the Holocaust
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
Sister: Anne Spielberg. born on December 25, 1949;                     co-wrote and co-produced "Big" (1988)
Sister: Nancy Spielberg. born in 1956
Sister: Sue Spielberg. born in 1953
Son: Max Spielberg. born in June 1985; mother, Amy Irving;                     Spielberg and Irving share custody
Son: Sawyer Spielberg. born on March 10, 1992; mother,                     Kate Capshaw
Son: Theo Spielberg. born c. 1988; African-American;                     adopted by Capshaw before her marriage to Spielberg; adopted                     by Spielberg
Step-daughter: Jessica Capshaw. born in 1976; Kate                     Capshaw's daughter by a previous marriage
Step-father: Bernie Adler. married to Spielberg's mother
Step-mother: Bernice Colner. married Arnold Spielberg on                     April 6, 1997
 
Significant Others
Wife: Amy Irving. had on-again, off-again relationship                     from the late 1970s; married on November 27, 1985 in Santa                     Fe, New Mexico; divorced in 1989
Wife: Kate Capshaw. married on October 12, 1991 at                     Spielberg's East Hampton, Long Island, New York estate;                     converted from Episcopalianism to Judaism c. 1993 after more                     than a year of study with an Orthodox rabbi
Companion: Holly Hunter. had relation ship c. 1989
Companion: Margot Kidder. had realtionship in the early                     1970s
Companion: Sarah Miles. had relationship in the early                     1970s; Miles reportedly became pregnant and chose to have an                     abortion
 
The director
 
Spielberg is the most                 financially                 successful motion picture director of all time. He has directed                 and/or produced an astounding number of major box-office hits,                 giving him enormous influence in Hollywood.                 As of 2004,                 he has been listed in Premiere and other magazines                 as the most "powerful" and influential figure in the                 motion picture industry.  In 2005, Empire magazine created a list of the 50 greatest film directors of all                 time. Spielberg was number one on the list.
 
Currently, he has won two                 Academy                 Awards for Best                 Director, one for Schindler's                 List and another for Saving                 Private Ryan. He is seen as a figure who has the                 influence, financial resources, and acceptance of Hollywood                 studio authorities to make any movie he wants to make, be                 it a mainstream action-adventure movie (Jurassic                 Park) or a three-hour-long black                 and white drama about the Holocaust historical subject                 (Schindler's                 List).
 
His beginnings
 
Spielberg was born in                 Cincinnati,                 Ohio but raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield,                 New Jersey and Scottsdale,                 Arizona. He is known by film historians as one of the famous "film-school                 generation" (also known as "the movie brats" or "the New Hollywood") of the 1970s:                 along with fellow filmmakers (and personal friends) George                 Lucas, Francis                 Ford Coppola, Martin                 Scorsese, John                 Milius, and Brian                 De Palma, Spielberg grew up making movies. He was making                 amateur 8mm "adventure" movies with his friends as a teenager                 (scenes from these amateur films have been included on the DVD                 edition of Saving                 Private Ryan), and he made his first short                 film for theatrical release, Amblin', in 1968                 at the age of twenty one. (Spielberg's own production company, Amblin                 Entertainment, was named after this short                 film.) 
 
His maiden directorial work was a segment of the                 pilot film to Rod                 Serling's Night                 Gallery. While working on this segment its star Joan                 Crawford collared a production executive and said, "Keep an eye on this kid, he's going places." After                 directing episodes of various TV shows, including an early Columbo TV movie, Spielberg directed his first well-known feature with a                 1971                 TV "movie-of-the-week" entitled Duel (later released to theatres overseas and eventually in the                 U.S.). This film, about a truck mysteriously terrorizing an                 average citizen, has become a cult                 classic, having been released on video several times over                 the years. Much of his early success was due to Sidney                 Sheinberg who is credited with discovering him; Spielberg                 also received an honorary degree from Brown                 University in 1999.
 
Move to theatrical films
 
Spielberg's debut theatrical feature film, The                 Sugarland Express (takes place and filmed on location in Sugar                 Land, Texas and is about a husband and wife attempting to                 escape the law), won him critical praise and enough studio                 backing to be chosen as the director of a summer movie that                 would secure him a place in the history of motion pictures. Jaws,                 a horror                 film based on the Peter                 Benchley novel about a killer shark that attacks people off                 the coast of a small island. Jaws won three Academy                 Awards (for editing, original score and sound), and grossed                 over USD$100                 million at the box office, setting the domestic record for box                 office gross.
 
In                 1976,                 Spielberg was asked by Alexander                 Salkind to direct Superman,                 but decided instead to expand on a pet project he had had in                 mind since his youth: a film about UFOs,                 which became Close                 Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).                 The film remains a cult sci-fi classic among its fans.
 
The success Spielberg was beginning to enjoy, as well as his                 eventual tendency to make films with wide mainstream and                 commercial appeal, also subjected him to disdain in critical                 circles by film reviewers. For example, Spielberg's next film                 was 1941,                 a big-budgeted World                 War II comedy farce set in L.A.                 days after the attack on Pearl                 Harbor, with the two top stars from Saturday                 Night Live, Dan                 Aykroyd and John                 Belushi, along with other all-stars. Although the film did                 make a small profit, it is considered by some to be Spielberg's                 first flop, although today it is also considered a cult                 classic. An expanded version has been shown on network                 television and later on Laserdisc                 and DVD.
 
Indiana Jones
 
But what some would consider Spielberg's greatest film work                 was still to come, beginning in the 1980s.                 In 1981,                 Spielberg teamed up for the first time with his friend George                 Lucas to make Raiders                 of the Lost Ark, his homage to the cliffhanger serials                 of the Golden                 Age of Hollywood, with Harrison                 Ford (whom Lucas directed in Star                 Wars) as the dashing hero Indiana                 Jones. Raiders itself spawned two sequels, also                 directed by Spielberg and executive produced by Lucas.
 
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
 
One year later, Spielberg returned to his alien visitors                 motif with E.T.                 the Extra-Terrestrial, a Disney-inspired                 story of a boy and the alien whom he befriends (and is trying to                 get back "home" to outer space). E.T. went on                 to become the top-grossing film of all time for many years.
 
When E.T. was released, Spielberg, a                 Porsche                 928 aficionado, had his car's moon-roof button re-designed                 with the movie's logo as both a gag for passengers, and a                 tribute to the movie's success. Despite their enormous appeal,                 few film scholars and critics place such Spielberg films as Raiders or E.T. in the same class as The                 Godfather, Citizen                 Kane, or many other classics of the cinema.
 
E.T. originated as a sci-fi suspense thriller called Night                 Skies. Night Skies also gave birth to Poltergeist,                 a film that Spielberg co-wrote , co-produced (and some people                 who worked on the film claim directed) and was released only a                 week before E.T.  Spielberg also negotiated an unusually lucrative                 video                 game licensing deal with Atari                 for an E.T.                 video game. This was a famously expensive failure which                 contributed to the video                 game crash of 1983.
 
The Color Purple
 
In                 1985,                 Spielberg made The                 Color Purple, an adaptation of Alice                 Walker's Pulitzer                 Prize-winning novel. Many critics were unsure of whether or                 not Spielberg could handle such serious material, as his output                 to that point had been viewed as "lighter" entertainment. Indeed, this proved to be Spielberg's trial by                 fire in presenting the story of a generation of oppressed                 African-American women (Whoopi                 Goldberg and Oprah                 Winfrey) during depression-era America. Danny                 Glover played the abusive patriarch. The film was widely                 received and hailed by critics as Spielberg's successful foray                 into the dramatic genre.
 
Empire of the Sun
 
1987 was a time when the Chinese economy was beginning to                 boom, and as the Chinese gates began to open to the world,                 Spielberg took advantage by shooting the first American movie in                 Shanghai since the 1930s. The result was an adaptation of J.G.                 Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire                 of the Sun, which told the story of a young boy named                 Jim (Christian                 Bale) who is separated from his parents during the sacking                 of Shanghai in 1938, and is forced to survive through the rest                 of the war. Spielberg wanted to convey a heartfelt message of                 innocence being shattered as a result of war, as audiences saw                 the transformation of Jim from sheltered [taipan]] to a                 struggling and resourceful war refugee. The film garnered                 numerous praise form critics, was nominated for several Oscars,                 but did not attract the kind of box-office power that                 Spielberg's films usually get.
 
Hook
 
Spielberg had tried numerous times to film a live-action                 version of Peter                 Pan without success. He eventually decided to create his                 own take on the Pan legend in 1991. Hook focused on a middle-aged Pan (played by Robin                 Williams), who returns to Neverland                 to face the title character (Captain                 Hook, played by Dustin                 Hoffman). However, by the time the film began shooting,                 innumerable rewrites and creative changes made by the numerous                 major Hollywood players attached to project resulted in a film                 regarded by most critics as hit-and-miss at best. The film was                 made for $70 million (at that time a huge amount) and made $119                 million domestically, but it was not as successful as some had                 hoped.
 
Jurassic Park
 
In                 1993,                 Spielberg decided to once again tackle the adventure genre, as                 he directed the movie version of Michael                 Crichton's novel Jurassic Park, about killer dinosaurs                 rampaging through a tropical island resort.                 The adaptation muted somewhat the novel's message about the                 consequences of mankind tampering with nature, instead focusing                 on the adventure aspects of the story. With the aid of                 revolutionary special effects provided by friend George Lucas' Industrial                 Light and Magic, the film became an instant classic. It                 would eventually overtake E.T. as the all-time top                 grossing film - a position it held for several years (until James                 Cameron's Titanic).
 
Schindler's List
 
It was in that same year that Jurassic Park was                 released that Spielberg finally received the critical acclaim he                 had long sought for making Schindler's                 List (based on the true story of Oskar                 Schindler, a man who sacrificed himself to save 1,100 people                 from the wrath of the                 Holocaust). The screenplay, adapted from Thomas                 Keneally's novel, was originally in the hands of fellow                 director Martin                 Scorsese, but Spielberg negotiated with Scorsese to trade                 scripts (at the time, Spielberg held the script for a remake of Cape                 Fear). Schindler's                 List earned Spielberg his first Academy                 Award for Best                 Director (it also won Best                 Picture). While the film made a killing in the box-office,                 Spielberg claimed not to have partaken in the profits, and                 instead used the money to set up the Shoah Foundation. Critics                 maintain that Schindler's                 List is the most accurate portrayal of the Holocaust,                 and in 1999 the AFI                 listed it among the 10 Greatest Films ever Made.
 
The Lost World
 
After dabbling in projects such as The                 Flintstones, Spielberg found himself back in the                 director's chair in 1997, 4 years after Schindler's                 List. This time, he was helming the sequel to 1993's                 gigantic Jurassic                 Park, Michael                 Crichton's The                 Lost World. The film was critically panned, but did                 manage to generate nearly $230 million in domestic box-office,                 giving it the third-highest total for 1997 behind Titanic and Men                 in Black.
 
Indiana                 Jones and the Last Crusade
 
Amistad
 
Spielberg, together with former Disney animation exec                 Jeffrey                 Katzenberg and media mogul David                 Geffen, decided to form a new studio company called                 Dreamworks SKG. Its first feature release was The                 Peacemaker and Antz,                 both of which did moderately well at the box-office. Spielberg's first project with his new studio, Amistad,                 was based on a true story about African slaves who rebelled                 against their captors. The film received lavish praises from the                 critics, but was noted for its violent massacre scenes. It did                 not do well at the box-office however, and is considered one of                 Spielberg's flops.
 
Saving Private Ryan
 
Another of Spielberg's critically acclaimed films, the World                 War II drama Saving                 Private Ryan, was released in 1998.                 The film follows a platoon of soldiers led by Capt. Miller (Tom                 Hanks), from the landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy to the                 heart of French resistance, in order to retrieve a missing                 private (Matt                 Damon), whose brothers were lost to the war. Spielberg                 considered it one of his finest works, yet in a highly                 publicized "showdown", it lost the Best Picture Oscar                 at the 1999                 Academy Awards to Shakespeare                 in Love. However, Spielberg would win his second Academy                 Award for his direction in the war epic.
 
Later on, Spielberg and Hanks, overwhelmed with the greatness                 of the film's subject, decided to team together to produce a TV                 mini-series based on Stephen                 Ambrose's historical novel, Band                 of Brothers. The ten-part HBO                 mini-series follows the trials and accomplishments of the 101st                 Airborne, or Easy                 Company, also starting from the landing in Normandy, to the                 Battle of the Bulge, to the capture of Hitler's                 Eagle's Nest in Germany itself. The series was hailed as the                 greatest TV event of all time, winning a slew of awards both at                 the Golden                 Globes and the Emmys.
 
Into a new century (2000-2005)
 
A.I.
 
In                 2001,                 Spielberg filmed fellow director and friend Stanley                 Kubrick's final project, A.I.:                 Artificial Intelligence, a project planned by the two                 directors for many years but which Kubrick was unable to begin                 during his lifetime. The futuristic story of a humanoid android                 longing for love, A.I. featured groundbreaking visual                 effects, but unfortunately was not the blockbuster film                 Spielberg had hoped for. It starred William                 Hurt, Jude                 Law, Frances                 O'Connor, and child actor Haley                 Joel Osment as the android boy David. The film polarized                 both critics and audiences, many stating that the film was                 overly long and a pretentious impression of Kubrick, while a                 small minority of critics believed it to be a masterpiece. The                 film failed to recoup its budget at the US box-office.
 
Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can
 
Following                 A.I.,                 Spielberg came upon the sci-fi short story written by Philip K. Dick about the future of crime-fighting using                 precognitive vision. In 2002, Spielberg and actor Tom                 Cruise headlined Minority                 Report, which features Cruise as a D.C. police captain                 who has been foreseen to murder a man he has not even met. The                 film was a futuristic homage to film                 noir, with its intelligent premise, thrilling chase scenes,                 and whodunnit structure. Shortly after the release of Minority                 Report, Spielberg and Co. immediately went to work on Catch                 Me If You Can, a story of the daring adventures of a                 youthful con artist. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the                 lead role, with Saving                 Private Ryan star Tom                 Hanks as the FBI agent out to catch him. The movie marked a                 turn of genre for Spielberg, who was at this point seen to be                 branching out to different kinds of film genres aside from the                 usual sci-fi fare he was known for. Both films did well in the                 box-office.
 
War of the Worlds
 
A modernized adaptation of War                 of the Worlds, featuring Tom                 Cruise, was released in the U.S. on June                 29, 2005.                 As with past Spielberg films, Industrial                 Light and Magic (ILM) provided the special effects.
 
In his films E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third                 Kind, Spielberg portrayed alien visitors as potentially                 friendly for human beings willing to connect with them. War                 of the Worlds marked a departure from those optimistic                 themes; more violent alien invaders visit havoc upon the earth.
 
Spielberg                 - Time Magazine Dec 05
 
Munich
 
On the same day as the release of War of the Worlds,                 Spielberg began shooting Munich,                 a film allegedly about the events following the 1972 Munich                 Massacre. The film is based on Vengeance: The True Story                 of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, a book by Canadian                 journalist George                 Jonas, the first husband of Barbara                 Amiel, (now married to Conrad                 Black).
 
The Jonas book, although promoted as non-fiction,                 has been largely discredited by journalists. It was previously                 adapted into the 1986 made-for-TV                 movie Sword of Gideon.  The screenplay for Munich was written by                 Pulitzer                 Prize-winning playwright Tony                 Kushner. The movie is said to be an examination of the                 murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich                 Olympics by the Black                 September organization, followed by the event's aftermath in                 which Israel's intelligence agency hunted down and killed the                 perpetrators. The protagonist, Avner, is believed to be the                 invention of Jonas' source, Yuval Aviv.
 
According to Jonas and Aviv, the Israeli team suffered                 misgivings about their assignment, two were killed, and the                 others were abandoned or treated badly by Mossad.                 None of these claims have been verified by other sources.
 
Upcoming projects
 
Also in the works are an                 Abraham                 Lincoln bio-pic                 starring Liam                 Neeson as the 16th President                 of the United States, and a 4th Indiana Jones film. Both are                 scheduled for release in 2007.
He is also serving as the executive producer of Memoirs                 of a Geisha, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Arthur                 Golden, a film he was previously attached to as director.
 Spielberg is also an executive producer on the critically                 acclaimed 2005 TV miniseries Into                 the West. He is also co-executive producing the new Transformers live action film with Brian                 Goldmer, an employee of Hasbro.
 
In October,                 2005,                 Spielberg announced that he had been signed by Electronic                 Arts to direct three video                 game projects.
 
Jurassic                     Park III (2001) $72,000,000
Schindler's                     List (1993)                     $0 (Asked not to be paid)
Jurassic                     Park (1993) $250,000,000 (gross and profit                     participations)
Raiders                     of the Lost Ark (1981)                     $10,500,000 + % of gross
 
Side projects
 
Spielberg has produced (without directing) a considerable                 number of films, and can be credited with launching the career                 of Robert                 Zemeckis. He is also a lover of animated cartoons,                 and has produced several hit cartoons (and a few flops),                 including Tiny                 Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Pinky                 and the Brain and Freakazoid.
 
He was also, for a short time, the executive producer of the                 long-running medical drama ER which currently airs on NBC.
 
In 1989 he brought the concept of                 The                 Dig to LucasArts.                 He contributed with the project from that time to 1995 when the                 game was released.
 
He is one of the co-founders of                 DreamWorks                 Pictures (DreamWorks SKG, with Jeffrey                 Katzenberg and David                 Geffen providing the other letters in the company name),                 which has released all of his movies since Amistad in                 1997.
 
Following the critical and box office success of Schindler's                 List in 1993,                 Spielberg founded and continues to finance the Shoah Project,                 a non-profit                 organization with the goal of providing an archive for the                 filmed testimony of as many survivors of the                 Holocaust as possible, so that their stories will not be                 lost in the future.
 
He directed a few sequences and created some designs for                 George                 Lucas's Star                 Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
 
Personal life
 
Spielberg has been married to actress                 Kate                 Capshaw, whom he met when he cast her in Indiana Jones                 and the Temple Of Doom since 12                 October 1991.                 He has seven childrenï¿½four biological: Max Spielberg (by                 actress Amy                 Irving, whom he married on 27                 November 1985),                 Sasha, Sawyer, and Destry (by Capshaw); two adopted (Theo and                 Mikaela); and one stepdaughter (Jessica                 Capshaw). Both Max and Sasha were born out of wedlock, but                 Spielberg legitimated each child by marrying Irving and Capshaw.                 Irving received a whopping US $100 million settlement from                 Spielberg in their 1989 divorce.  As an adult, Spielberg was diagnosed with                 Asperger's                 syndrome, explaining in part some of his social tendencies                 and childhood obsessiveness about filmmaking.
 
Criticism
 
Perhaps the most prominent critic of Steven Spielberg is                 American artist and actor Crispin                 Glover. In a 2005 essay titled What Is It? Glover                 says that Spielberg has ï¿½wafted his putrid stench upon our                 culture, a culture he helped homogenize and propagandize.ï¿½                 Among Gloverï¿½s accusations are that Spielberg purchased the                 Rosebud sled used in Orson                 Wellesï¿½ 1941                 film Citizen                 Kane for $50,000 but refused to hire Welles to write a                 screenplay in the later years of his life, that he received                 money from the United States government to promote his personal                 religious and cultural beliefs, that his films do not take                 risks, that he exploited tragedy for personal gain in the films Schindlerï¿½s                 List and Saving Private Ryan, and that he, as a                 co-owner of DreamWorks, considered building a studio on the last                 remaining wetland                 in Southern California.
Another prominent criticism by several movie-goers(both                 professional and public) is that Spielberg's films lean towards                 sentimentalism at the expense of the theme of the film. An                 instance often cited by science fiction fans is the ending of A.I.:                 Artificial Intelligence which they believed was too 'happy'.                 This being a collaboration with Stanley                 Kubrick whose films such as Dr.                 Strangelove and A                 Clockwork Orange are often tinged with pessimism drew a                 heated debate as to whether or not Kubrick would have liked it                 or not. However, both Kubrick's long-time assistant Jan Harlan                 and the film's original story writer Ian Watson have said that                 the ending is exactly what Kubrick intended. A related criticism                 is that Spielberg's films lack depth and do not take risks, the                 most prominent person with this viewpoint is anti-mainstream                 film theorist Ray                 Carney.
However this criticism is rejected by several knowledgable                 film-makers and film critics who attribute it to either jealousy                 of Spielberg's success or inability to look past his name.                 Reknowned critic Roger                 Ebert once stated that 'If only people could look past his                 popularity they would see how talented he really is.' Some of                 Spielberg's most famous fans include film legends Ingmar                 Bergman and Francois                 Truffaut.
Spielberg's unabashed support for Israel                 has also put him in the hot seat. In 2002,                 a rumor circulated that Spielberg was planning a film about                 Palestinian suffering during the Israeli/Palestinian feud. The                 director's spokesman, Marvin Levy, called the report "an                 obvious, vicious hoax." Spielberg is, however, currently in                 production on Munich, a highly controversial project                 which deals with the Israeli retaliation to the massacre of the                 Israeli Olympic athletes during the 1972                 Munich                 Games. In order to deflect claims of bias, the filmmaker has                 consulted various sources in creating the film.
 
 
Trivia
While the films that Steven Spielberg directed have won                     numerous awards, no actor or actress has won an Academy                     Award for a performance for one of his films.
Spielberg had a cameo role as the                     Cook                     County assessor in the last minutes of the 1980                     film The                     Blues Brothers.
In 1982                     Ben                     Kingsley won Best Actor and Richard                     Attenborough won Best Director for the film Gandhi,                     which beat Steven Spielberg's film E.T. for Best                     Picture. Eleven years later, in 1993, Steven Spielberg cast                     Richard Attenborough as John Hammond in Jurassic                     Park (his first performance in 13 years) and Ben                     Kingsley in Schindler's                     List. Steven Spielberg won Best Director and Best                     Picture Oscars that year.
Spielberg, an                     Eagle                     Scout, designed the requirements for the Boy Scout Cinematography                     merit                     badge.
While attending college, Spielberg was a member of                     Theta                     Chi Fraternity. Fraternity rumor states that many of his                     films have very low-key symbols referring to the ritual of                     the fraternity.
The                     asteroid 25930                     Spielberg is named in his honour.
Supports the                     U.S.                     Democratic Party.
Attended                     Arcadia                     High School in Scottsdale,                     AZ and graduated from Saratoga                     High School in Saratoga, California                     in 1965.
 
Steven                 Spielberg - Director/Producer
 
In the                     Warner                     Bros. animated series Tiny                     Toon Adventures and Animaniacs (both of which were executive-produced by Spielberg),                     Spielberg was a semi-recuring character. In some episodes,                     Spielberg voiced himself, and in others, veteran voice-over                     artist Frank                     Welker did Spielberg's voice.
On attending Saratoga High School, he said that it was the "worst experience" of his life and "hell                     on Earth". 
He first enrolled at California State University in Long                     Beach in 1965, quit in 1969 to take a television director                     contract at Universal Studios, and much later, as a                     returning student, was awarded a B.A. in Film Production and                     Electronic Arts with an option in Film/Video Production in                     2002.
Attempted at admission to the                     University                     of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television                     three separate times, and the prominent school later awarded                     Spielberg an honorary degree in 1994.                     Two years later, Spielberg became a Trustee of the                     University and has since tirelessly devoted himself to                     supporting USC.
The                     A&E                     Network is expected to announce that it will produce a                     two-hour drama about the relationship between filmmakers George                     Lucas and Steven Spielberg. According to Daily                     Variety, the biopic,                     tentatively titled Celluloid                     Titans, is being executive                     produced by Jody Brockway.
For his work on the Survivors of the Shoah Visual                     History Foundation since 1994, he was awarded with the Great                     Cross of Merit with Star, the German                     version of the Great Officer's Cross, in September                     1998 for "a very noticeable contribution to the issue                     of the Holocaust".
Spielberg is expected to make a cameo appearance in an                     episode of the second season of Extras,                     the BBC comedy TV series written and directed by Ricky                     Gervais and Stephen                     Merchant (previously responsible for The                     Office).
Steven Spielberg is recreated as a                     LEGO                     minifigure in the LEGO Studios series of sets.
His mother, the former Leah Adler, owns a                     Kosher restaurant                     in Los                     Angeles, California.
In the 2005 edition of Forbes' "400 Richest People in                     America", his net worth is estimated at $2.7 billion, a                     $100 million improvement over 2004 (due mostly to his share                     of the DreamWorks Animation public stock offering). He, and                     good friend George Lucas (net worth: $3.5 billion) are the                     only filmmakers on the list.
Every Spielberg-directed film since and including Jaws,                     with the exception of The                     Color Purple, has been scored by John                     Williams. See also List                     of noted film producer and composer collaborations.
 
Urban legends
 
Spielberg started a fanciful story of how he broke into                 Hollywood                 by sneakily squatting in an unoccupied office on the Universal                 Studios lot. In fact, he had an unpaid summer job on the                 lot.
 
Close                 Encounters of the Third Kind
 
 
Milestones
Directed Tom Cruise in "War of the                     Worlds," which chronicles a Martian invasion of Earth (2004)
1960 Won first contest with 40-minute war film, "Escape to Nowhere" at age 13
1962 Made first amateur 8mm feature film, "Firelight" at age 16; father hired local theater                     to screen film
1968 Professional debut with 24-minute short, "Amblin'" (shown at Atlanta Film Festival)
1968 Signed to seven-year contract as TV director with                     Universal-MCA
1969 TV directing debut with the "Eyes" episode                     of the anthology series "Night Gallery"; segment                     starred Joan Crawford
1971 First feature-length film for TV, "Duel" (ABC)
1973 Wrote story for feature film, "Ace Eli and                     Rodger of the Skies"
1974 Feature directorial debut, "The Sugarland                     Express"
1975 Breakthrough feature film, the summer blockbuster "Jaws"; also first collaboration with actor                     Richard Dreyfuss; film brought in 100 days over schedule                     (and comparably over budget); reportedly the first director                     to do so
1977 Reteamed with Dreyfuss on the sci-fi classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"; received                     first Best Director Oscar nomination
1978 First feature as executive producer, Robert                     Zemeckis's "I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
1979 Had rare flop with the large-scale comedy "1941"
1980 Made a cameo appearance as the Cook County Clerk at                     the end of John Landis's "The Blues Brothers"
1981 First collaboration with executive producer George                     Lucas; first collaboration with actor Harrison Ford, "Raiders of the Lost Ark"; garnnered second Best                     Director Academy Award nomination
1982 First film as producer, "Poltergeist",                     helmed by Tobe Hooper
1982 Helmed the blockbuster "E.T. the                     Extra-Terrestrial"; also served as one of the                     producers; became the top-grossing movie of all time pulling                     in $399 million in its initial release; earned third Best                     Director Oscar nomination as well as a Best Picture nod;                     re-released on 20th anniversary in March 2002 with minor                     changes and enhanced digital effects
1983 Helmed the "Kick the Can" segment of "Twilight Zone - The Movie"
1984 Directed the sequel "Indiana Jones and the                     Temple of Doom"
1984 Formed production company, Amblin Entertainment
1985 First TV series as executive producer, "Amazing                     Stories" (NBC)
1985 Produced and directed "The Color Purple",                     adapted from Alice Walker's novel; movie received 11 Academy                     Award nominations including Best Picture, but not one for                     Best Director
1986 Executive produced first animated feature, "An                     American Tail"
1987 Made the underrated WWII drama "Empire of the                     Sun", which featured a young Christian Bale in his                     debut
1989 Directed the second sequel "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
1989 Served as a founding member and VP of the Artists                     Rights Foundation
1989 Stumbled a bit with the romance "Always", a                     remake of the 1943 feature "A Guy Named Joe";                     third film with Richard Dreyfuss
1989 TV acting debut as himself in a segment of "The                     Tracey Ullman Show" (Fox)
1991 Helmed the lavish "Peter Pan" update "Hook" starring Robin Williams as a grown-up Peter                     and Dustin Hoffman as the title character
1992 Signed a one-year deal to produce "seaQuest DSV" a 22-episode series, a joint effort between Universal and                     Amblin Entertainment
1992 With wife Kate Capshaw, co-hosted "Shattered                     Lullabies", a documentary on high infant mortality                     rates in the USA, broadcast on Lifetime as an episode of "Your Family Matters"
1993 Co-produced and directed his most critically                     acclaimed feature, "Schindler's List"; first                     feature shot in black-and-white; won Best Director Oscar as                     well as the Best Picture award
1993 Directed his most commercially successful feature, "Jurassic Park"; film outgrossed "E.T." to become the top movie of all time (to that date)
1994 Announced, along with mogul David Geffen and former                     Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, the formation of                     DreamWorks SKG, a multimedia entertainment company for the                     production of live-action and animated features, TV                     programming, music and interactive software
1994 Formed the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History                     Foundation to videotape the testimonies of Holocaust                     survivors
1994 Invested in a CD-ROM company Knowledge Adventure;                     participated in the creation of five titles
1995 Announced that DreamWorks SKG would grant their                     filmmakers "moral rights" to protect the original                     versions of their films after release
1996 "Champs", an ABC sitcom from executive                     producer Gary David Goldberg, became the first DreamWorks TV                     series (only lasted for a month)
1996 Received story credit on the premiere episode of "High Incident", an ABC cop drama, the first                     hour-long dramatic series from DreamWorks; reportedly was                     highly involved with production, even personally choosing                     each cast member, and operating a camera during portions of                     the pilot
1997 "Amistad", a film based on a real-life                     19th-century legal case involving slaves who staged a mutiny                     on the ship carrying them to North America, was subject of                     some controversy; author Barbara Chase-Riboud claimed that                     the film's script was based in part on her book; subsequent                     threats of lawsuits and articles tainted film's release
1997 Helmed the sequel "The Lost World: Jurassic                     Park"
1998 Bounced back with the acclaimed WWII story "Saving Private Ryan", starring Tom Hanks; earned                     second Best Director Academy Award
2001 Returned to filmmaking with "A.I. Artificial                     Intelligence", based on a story by the late Stanley                     Kubrick; also wrote screenplay
2001 With Hanks, produced the HBO WWII miniseries "Band of Brothers"
2002 Directed the sci-fi thriller "Minority                     Report", starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell
2002 Executive produced the hit Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Taken"
2002 Reunited with Tom Hanks who co-starred as an FBI                     agent pursuing the first teenager ever to make the Ten Most                     Wanted list in "Catch Me If You Can", starring                     Leonardo DiCaprio
2002 Served as a co-executive producer on Woody Allen's "Hollywood Ending"
2002 Was an executive producer of "The Tuxedo",                     starring Jackie Chan
2002 With the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History                     Foundation, served as presenter of "Broken                     Silence", a series of five documentaries about                     Holocaust survivors; aired on Cinemax
2003 Received star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame (January                     10, 2003)
2004 Again paired with Tom Hanks for "The                     Terminal" also starred Catherine Zeta-Jones
2005 Executive produced "Into the West," (TNT) a                     saga which spans 65 years of U.S. history from 1825 to 1890
Made first 8mm (3 1/2 min.) Film while in grade school;                     set up a tree-planting business to pay for film and                     equipment while in teens