Acclaimed Facts About Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg, is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as being viewed as one of the most popular directors and producers in film history. Enjoy these facts about Steven Spielberg.
1. Movies of summer
Spielberg was credited for starting the tradition of the summer blockbuster after his 1975’s mega hit Jaws cleared $100 million at the box office.
2. Blood Money
Schindler’s List was considered to be the most expensive black and white film ever made but Spielberg didn’t accept any payment for his work on this movie. He stated that any money accepted would be “blood money”, considering the Holocaust.
3. I can see it
He claims Richard Dreyfuss is his alter-ego.
4. From a young age
When he was a child, he snuck onto the lot of Universal Studios during a tour and befriended an editor who showed him a few things about filmmaking.
5. Breeds excellence
Steven is the godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth is known to call him ‘Uncle Morty’.
6. He’s done alright
According to Forbes’ “400 Richest People In America,” Spielberg’s fortune is an estimated $2.5 billion.
7. His Masterpieces
When asked what are the films he’s made he would like to be remembered for, he said E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler’s List (1993).
8. Don’t you say that!
According to his interview on the series Inside the Actors Studio, his favorite curse word is “Rats!”
9. Everybody lost here…
His longtime friend George Lucas originally wanted him to direct the third entry of the original Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983) and Spielberg was eager to do so, but Lucas was unsuccessful in getting him the job because of his dispute with the Director’s Guild at the time.
10. Serial winner
He has directed ten films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012) and Bridge of Spies (2015). Of these, Schindler’s List (1993) is the only one to have won the award.
11. Set the mood
According to friend and veteran film editor Michael Kahn, Spielberg will not watch a cut of his film without temp music. Temp music is music used in production that conveys the mood or atmosphere of the scene.
12. Friends in high places
Spielberg very close with George Lucas and Oprah Winfrey. He was also best friends with Robin Williams until he passed away.
13. And the winner is…
For an AFI survey, Spielberg designated Lawrence of Arabia as his favourite film.
14. Ghostwriting
When promoting A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), which he wrote, he was asked why he had not written a film in the 19 years since Poltergeist (1982). He replied that the gap was not that long because he actually does rewrites on most of the scripts that he directs.
15. Loves Bond…girls.
A lifelong fan of the 007 movies, Spielberg named Honor Blackman as his favorite Bond girl. Blackman played Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.
16. Through adversity
He struggled with dyslexia his whole life but was not diagnosed until very recently (around 2007).
17. Lego Maniac
Steven Spielberg was the first living person to have a playable Lego mini-figure modelled after him. It was sold with several sets as part of the Lego Studios product range in the early 2000s.
18. Multitasker
He is at his most productive and creative when working on more than one project at a time, be it as producer and/or director: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) + Poltergeist (1982) / Schindler’s List (1993) + Jurassic Park (1993) / War Horse (2011) + The Adventures of Tintin (2011), etc.
19. Get that scary couch outa here!
Steven confessed to host James Lipton that he has a phobia about “furniture with feet”.
20. The creed is strong with this one
Spielberg’s favorite indoor relaxation pursuits are watching golf on TV and playing the popular game “Assassin’s Creed”.
21. Knows how to excite
He directed six of the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies: Jaws (1975) at #2, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) at #10, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) at #31, Jurassic Park (1993) at #35, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) at #44 and Saving Private Ryan (1998) at #45.
22. Pull!
Spielberg is an excellent shot with a shotgun. Actor Shia LaBeouf once said about his shooting, “He’s an Olympic shot. The hand-eye co-ordination of that man is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. If he weren’t a great director, he could be one of our greatest snipers”.
23. Pitch in or pull out
Steven pulled out of his role as advisor to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, reacting to the Chinese government’s inaction over the genocide in Darfur (February 2008).
24. Helps out his friends
His dog Elmer starred in several of his films including Jaws (1975) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
25. The Dons
He, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola presented Martin Scorsese with his first ever award for Best Director, for The Departed (2006).
26. I like the part when it goes bang!
Steven owns one of the largest gun collections on the East Coast. He does shoot, but only privately.
27. It was destiny
Early in his career, while working for Universal Studios, he was asked to give a tour to a special guest who had just sold the film rights to one of his books to the studio. That guest was Michael Crichton, who later worked with Spielberg on Jurassic Park (1993).
28. For the best anyways
When Steven used product placement in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), he used Reese’s Pieces only because M & M’s parent company didn’t want their product associated with aliens and UFOs.
29. No questions please
To date, he has never provided a director’s commentary on any of his films DVDs.
30. No auditions necessary
He often casts new actors based on their performances in other works. Steven rarely does auditions for major roles.
31. Not a good guy
Stephen Spielberg admitted he “completely panicked” and had nightmares after learning that a man had been stalking him. Jonathan Norman was sentenced to 25 years to life, for stalking Spielberg and threatening to rape him.
Sources: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Originally published at https://www.beyondsciencetv.com on November 9, 2022.
