Steven Spielberg

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION 

Steven Spielberg was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 18, 1946.

His parents were pianist Leah Adler (1920–2017) and engineer Arnold Spielberg (born 1917).

Steven Spielberg's father, Arnold Spielberg, built a his own ham radio from scraps when he was 15, and became an early computer pioneer in the 1950s.

He was raised in Haddon Township, New Jersey.

Steven Spielberg in 2017 By Gage Skidmore

When he was 12, Steven used his toy train to make a home movie of a train wreck.

Spielberg studied at Saratoga High School, but was denied entry into the University of Southern California's elite film directing program three times because of his unimpressive grades in high school. He was eventually accepted into California State University, but dropped out in 1968, the year he made a 26 minute film entitled ambling.

CAREER 

Steven Spielberg directed a sci-fi film called Firelight when he was 17-years-old. The budget was $500, and it was shown at a local cinema, with 500 people coming, and tickets costing a dollar each. However, one person paid $2, so the movie made $1, making it Spielberg's first commercial profit.

In 1968 Spielberg made a 22-minute short film Amblin, while still at college, which was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival. This led to a long-term contract with Universal Studios. He subsequently dropped out of college to begin professionally directing TV productions with Universal.

Steven Spielberg was only 28 when he made his big breakthrough with the blockbuster Jaws in 1975.

The shark animatronic in Jaws was nicknamed "Bruce," after Steven Spielberg's lawyer.

The mechanical shark, attached to the tower. Wikipedia

George Lucas made Steven Spielberg a bet that Close Encounters of the Third Kind would be more successful than Star Wars and agreed to give each other 2.5% of their film's net points. By 2014, it was reported that this deal made Spielberg an estimated $40 million.

Steven Spielberg wanted to direct a James Bond film in the early 1980s, but he was allegedly turned down by the franchise's owners as they thought he may want too much cash. When he told his friend George Lucas, Lucas said he had a film, "just like James Bond but even better." It was a story about an archaeologist named Indiana.

During breaks in filming Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Spielberg wrote the script for another film, E.T.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom led to the creation of the PG-13 rating; Steven Spielberg wrote to the MPAA suggesting a rating between PG and R after parents complained about the PG rating given to Temple of Doom. Three months later, Red Dawn became the first release rated PG-13.

Steven Spielberg waited 10 years after being given the story Schindler's List to make the film, as he didn't feel mature enough at the time.

He refused payment for his work directing the Oscar-winning Schindler's List calling it "Blood Money." 

When Spielberg showed John Williams the a cut of Schindler's List, the composer became so moved that he could barely speak and had to step out for a few minutes. When he returned, he told Spielberg the film deserved a better composer to which Spielberg replied, "I know, but they're all dead."

Steven Spielberg directed Saving Private Ryan as a tribute to his father, Arnold Spielberg, who served in the U.S. Army and in World War II.

For the brutal Omaha Beach scene in Saving Private Ryan Spielberg hired several dozen army amputees with prosthetic limbs so that he could have their arms and legs blown off in a more realistic fashion. More than $11 million was spent and 1,000 extras used for the infamous scene.

To determine what the year 2054 would be like, Steven Spielberg hired 23 futurists to create the universe of Minority Report.

The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide, making him the highest-grossing director in history.

Spielberg co-founded the studio DreamWorks SKG with partners David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

His company Amblin Entertainment is named after his first film Amblin'.

Spielberg returned to college in 2002 after a 33-year hiatus to finish his film degree. His final assignment was to submit a sample of filmmaking proficiency, he submitted Schindler's List.

Spielberg has several honorary degrees and three Oscars - two for Schindler's List and another for Saving Private Ryan.

PERSONAL LIFE 

Steven Spielberg resented his father for divorcing his mother which influenced his early works of ET and Close Encounters. But later Steven found out his mom cheated on his dad and so he made father/son reconciliation a theme in Catch Me If You Can and Lincoln.

Spielberg in 2012 By Romain DUBOIS

Fievel, the main character in An American Tail, is named after Steven Spielberg's grandfather.

In November 1985, Spielberg married actress Amy Irving. After three and a half years of marriage, however, many of the same competing stresses of their careers caused them to divorce in 1989.

Amy Irving, received a divorce settlement of $100 million after a judge invalidated a prenuptial agreement Spielberg had written on a napkin.

Steven Spielberg married Kate Capshaw on October 12, 1991. They met on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in which Capshaw played the female lead, Willie Scott. Spielberg and Capshaw share seven children. 

Spielberg and Capshaw are also known for their philanthropic work. They have donated millions of dollars to various charities, including the Shoah Foundation, the Starlight Children's Foundation, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Los Angeles.

Capshaw in June 1984 By Towpilot - Own work

Steven Spielberg is the Godfather of both Gwyneth Paltrow and Drew Barrymore.

Spielberg's cocker spaniel Elmer appears in The Sugarland Express, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, 1941, and Jaws, which is more of his films than any actor.

On the 1996 opening day of the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood, Steven Spielberg boarded the ride but requested that he be let off before the 86 foot (26 m) drop.

Spielberg has always struggled with dyslexia, but wasn't diagnosed until 2007.

He doesn't drink coffee. Spielberg told Empire, "I've never had a cup of coffee in my life, but I have at least a dozen cups of mint tea a day."

Source Daily Express