Steven Allan Spielberg
At San Diego Conic-Con Int'l, portrait by Gerald Geronimo (22 July 2011)
Born: 18 December 1946, Cincinnati, Ohio
Spielberg's Jewish parents were Leah Adler, a restaurateur and concert pianist and Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer. He grew up in Haddon Heights, New Jersey and Scottsdale, Arizona. It was in Scottsdale that he joined the Boy Scouts, earning a photography merit badge with an 8mm short called The Last Gunfight. Years later he resigned from a national advisory position with the Boy Scouts over their discrimination against homosexuals. His parents divorced and he moved to Saratoga, California with his father, graduating from high school there in 1965. He applied to USC's film school three times, but his "C" grade average sent him to California State University at Long Beach instead. He was able to wrangle an internship at Universal Studios and didn't bother to attend classes. In 1994 USC granted him an honorary degree, in 1996 he became a trustee, but he kept plugging away on correspondence classes and earned his B.A. in Film Production and Electronic Arts in 2002. In lieu of the required senior film, the school accepted a print of Schindler's List. He donned the normal cap and gown for graduation and the band struck up the theme music from Indiana Jones when it was his time to cross the stage. Spielberg may be this generations most powerful story teller, and neck and neck with George Lucas for the wealthiest. Four of his movies set all-time box-office records. He directed one Oscar-winning movie (Schindler's List), he took the Oscar for Best Director twice (Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan), has directed nine actors in Oscar-nominated roles, and bought three Oscars at auction to protect them from exploitation. Germany gave him the Federal Cross of Merit for his accurate depiction of history in Schindler's List, French president Jacques Chirac presented him with the Légion d'honneur, and Queen Elizabeth made him an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire but because he isn't a British subject he is not allowed to call himself Sir Steven. Along with a host of film and entertainment industry awards and Kennedy Center honors in 2004, he has received honorary degrees from several universities. He regards E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Schindler's List as his best work.
Biography from Wikipedia and IMDB
Additional quotes from Wikiquote. Wikiquote entries are often "sourced" and may include items longer than those included here, particularly for poets, lyricists, and dramatists.
Steven Spielberg quotes:
Quotes found : 42 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
Click here to find books by Steven Spielberg at Amazon.com
- A lot of the films I've made probably could have worked just as well 50 years ago, and that's just because I have a lot of old-fashion values. permalink
Steven Spielberg - After a scary movie about the world almost ending, we can walk into the sunlight and say, "Wow, everything's still here. I'm OK!" We like to tease ourselves. Human beings have a need to get close to the edge, and when filmmakers or writers can take them to the edge, it feels like a dream where you're falling, but you wake up just before you hit the ground. permalink
Steven Spielberg - All I have to do is pose for a picture and I'm getting married to the person standing next to me. permalink
Steven Spielberg - All of us every single year, we're a different person. I don't think we're the same person all our lives. permalink
Steven Spielberg - All those horrible, traumatic years I spent as a kid became what I draw from creatively today. permalink
Steven Spielberg - Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at four films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's a Wonderful Life, and The Searchers. permalink
Steven Spielberg - Every time I go to a movie, it's magic, no matter what the movie's about. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I don't think any movie or any book or any work of art can solve the stalemate in the Middle East today. But it's certainly worth a try. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I dream for a living. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I felt, for the first time in my career, that I was directing a stage production more than a motion picture. Part of directing is psychotherapy. You're sitting there with a lot of very talented patients, and you're hoping your movie doesn't blow up in your face in anarchy. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I hate that people think it's wrong to say you're inspired by Jaws or by Raiders Of The Lost Ark. You're allowed to be. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I interviewed survivors, I went to Poland, saw the cities and spent time with the people and spoke to the Jews who had come back to Poland after the war and talked about why they had come back. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I like the smell of film. I just like knowing there's film going through the camera. permalink
Steven Spielberg - I never felt comfortable with myself, because I was never part of the majority. I always felt awkward and shy and on the outside of the momentum of my friends' lives. permalink
Steven Spielberg
Quotes found : 42 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 3) 1 2 3 Next
Please report any problems on this page! If you see any typos, incorrect attributions, deformed characters, or any other problem with this page, we want to fix it as soon
as possible. Please click here to report errors.
Note: Do not use titles in author searches, we don't use them, including president, senator, prime minister, king, queen, saint, pope, or doctor, or abbreviations thereof. See explanation here.
