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Steven Spielberg Biography

Birth Name:
Steven Allan Spielberg
Birth Place:
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Profession
Director, producer, writer

Fast Facts

  • Was given an inexpensive Kodak movie camera when he was 12, which spurred his imagination; liked to create and film train wrecks on his toy railroad
  • Directed a high-school production of Peter Pan
  • As an adult, he directed the lavish 1991 Peter Pan update, Hook, starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts
  • Wanted John Wayne to play Gen
  • Stilwell in 1941 (1979), but the Duke lost interest when he learned the film's story (about the hysteria that followed Pearl Harbor) included two American planes being shot down
  • (The part eventually went to Robert Stack
  • ) Created the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) with producer George Lucas and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan over five days
  • His own boyhood fears, including a tree outside his window, formed the basis of Poltergeist (1982), which he wrote and produced
  • Inspired by the experience of directing Schindler's List (1993), he created the Shoah Foundation to preserve an archive of eyewitness and survivor accounts of the Holocaust
  • Co-founded DreamWorks Studios with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen in 1994
  • Collaborated with Tom Hanks and produced HBO's award-winning WWII miniseries Band of Brothers (2001) and The Pacific (2010)
  • Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015

Awards

  • 2023Golden Globe-Best Motion Picture - Drama: winner
  • 2023Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: winner
  • 2022Golden Globe-Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy: winner
  • 2022Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2022Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 2022Oscar-Best Writing (Original Screenplay): nominated
  • 2021Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2021Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 2018Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 2018Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: nominated
  • 2017Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2016Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: nominated
  • 2016BAFTA Film Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2016BAFTA Film Awards-Best Film: nominated
  • 2016David di Donatello Awards-Best Foreign Film: winner
  • 2016Emmy-Outstanding Television Movie: nominated
  • 2015Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2015Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2013Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 2013BAFTA Film Awards-Best Film: nominated
  • 2013David di Donatello Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 2013Critics' Choice Movie Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2013Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: nominated
  • 2012BAFTA Film Awards-Best Animated Film: nominated
  • 2012Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 2012Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2012Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: nominated
  • 2012Producers Guild Awards-Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Pictures: winner
  • 2012Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 2012Critics' Choice Movie Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2012Robert Awards-American Film of the Year: nominated
  • 2011Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2010Emmy-Outstanding Miniseries: winner
  • 2006Emmy-Outstanding Miniseries: nominated
  • 2006Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 2006Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2006Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: nominated
  • 2005Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 2005Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 2005Kansas City Film Critics Association-Best Director: nominated
  • 2005Online Film Critics Association-Best Director: nominated
  • 2005Chicago Film Critics Association-Best Director: nominated
  • 2005Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 2003Emmy-Outstanding Miniseries: winner
  • 2003César Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 2003Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: winner
  • 2003Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: winner
  • 2002Emmy-Outstanding Miniseries: winner
  • 2002Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 2002Emmy-Outstanding Non-Fiction Special (Informational): nominated
  • 1999BAFTA Film Awards-Best Film: nominated
  • 1999BAFTA Film Awards-The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction: nominated
  • 1999Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: winner
  • 1999César Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 1999Critics' Choice Awards-Best Director: winner
  • 1999Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: winner
  • 1998Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1998Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 1998Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: winner
  • 1998Los Angeles Film Critics Association-Best Director: winner
  • 1998Toronto Film Critics Association-Best Director: winner
  • 1998Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: winner
  • 1997Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1995Emmy-Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less): nominated
  • 1995Emmy-Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less): nominated
  • 1995César Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 1994BAFTA Film Awards-Best Film: winner
  • 1994BAFTA Film Awards-The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction: winner
  • 1994Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: winner
  • 1994Australian Film Institute Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 1994Producers Guild Awards-Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures: winner
  • 1993Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: winner
  • 1993Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: winner
  • 1993National Society of Film Critics-Best Director: winner
  • 1993Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: winner
  • 1987National Board of Review-Best Director: winner
  • 1987Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1986Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1985Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 1985Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: winner
  • 1983BAFTA Film Awards-Best Film: nominated
  • 1983BAFTA Film Awards-Best Direction: nominated
  • 1983Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1983César Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 1982Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 1982Oscar-Best Motion Picture of the Year: nominated
  • 1982Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1982Los Angeles Film Critics Association-Best Director: winner
  • 1982César Awards-Best Foreign Film: nominated
  • 1982Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1981Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 1981Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1979BAFTA Film Awards-Best Direction: nominated
  • 1979BAFTA Film Awards-Best Screenplay: nominated
  • 1978Golden Globe-Best Screenplay - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1978Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1978Writers Guild Awards-Original Drama: nominated
  • 1977Oscar-Best Achievement in Directing: nominated
  • 1977Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1976BAFTA Film Awards-Best Direction: nominated
  • 1976Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
  • 1975Directors Guild of America Awards-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film: nominated
  • 1975Writers Guild Awards-Original Comedy: nominated
  • 1974Cannes Film Festival-Best Screenplay: winner

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