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John Carpenter Biography

Birth Name:John Howard Carpenter

Birth Place:Carthage, New York, United States

Profession Composer, Writer, Director, Music department, Actor, Producer, Editor, Assistant director, Art department, Camera department

Fast Facts

Received the Lifetime Award from the Freak Show Horror Film Festival in 2010
Attended Western Kentucky University, transferred to the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, and then dropped out to make his first feature film
Quote: "(On declining to direct the sequel to "Halloween") "I didn't think there was a story after the first Halloween movie․ I didn't want to direct the same movie again, so I settled into my favorite role in the movie biz: sitting on my couch watching an NBA game and putting my hand out to collect a check․""
Quote: "Monsters in movies are us, always us, one way or the other․ They're us with hats on․ The zombies in George Romero's movies are us․ They're hungry․"
Quote: "I don't deny that commercial success means a lot to me․ The best reviews you can get are at the box office․"
Films he has turned down include "The Golden Child," "Top Gun," "Fatal Attraction," "Armed and Dangerous," "Zombieland" and "Mutant Chronicles․"
Uses synthesizer-based music soundtracks for most of his films and composes them himself

Awards

1971CINE Golden Eagle-Student Film: winner
1976Golden Scroll-Best Special Effects: winner
1976Hugo-Best Dramatic Presentation: nominated
1976Nebula Award-Best Dramatic Writing: nominated
1978Gold Hugo-Best Feature: nominated
1978Gold Hugo-Best Feature: nominated
1979Critics Award-: winner
1979Grand Prize-: nominated
1979New Generation Award-: winner
1980Critics Award-: winner
1980Grand Prize-: nominated
1982Saturn Award-Best Director: nominated
1982Jupiter Award-Best International Film: nominated
1983Jupiter Award-Best International Film: nominated
1984Grand Prize-: nominated
1987Saturn Award-Best Music: nominated
1988Saturn Award-Best Music: nominated
1988Critics Award-: winner
1988Grand Prize-: nominated
1989Grand Prize-: nominated
1989International Fantasy Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1990Saturn Award-Best Music: nominated
1991ACE-Writing a Movie or Miniseries: winner
1993International Fantasy Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1994International Fantasy Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1995Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1995International Fantasy Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1995Critics' Award-: winner
1995Best Film-: nominated
1996Chainsaw Award-Best Soundtrack: nominated
1999Saturn Award-Best Music: winner
1999Bram Stoker Award-Other Media: nominated
1999Chainsaw Award-Best Score: winner
2001Best Film-: nominated
2001Stinker Award-Most Intrusive Musical Score: nominated
2006Best Film-: nominated
2006Carnet Jove - Special Mention-: winner
2010The Greatest Films of All Time-Horror: winner
2018Fright Meter Award-Best Score: winner
2018Rondo Statuette-Best CD: winner
2019ASCAP Award-Top Box Office Films: winner
2021IFJA Award-Best Musical Score: nominated
2021OFTA Film Hall of Fame-Score: winner
2022ASCAP Award-Top Box Office Films: winner
2022Chainsaw Award-Best Score: winner
2022HMMA Award-Best Original Score - Horror Film: nominated
2023ASCAP Award-Top Box Office Films: winner
2023Chainsaw Award-Best Score: winner