Steven Spielberg – 10 interesting facts

Steven Spielberg – when you think of brilliant directors, this one particular name comes to mind. Take the Google test – when you type Steven Spielberg into Google, you get about 22 600 000 results (0.44 seconds). He is one of the most well-known directors of all time and with good reason.

His movies inspire and tell beautiful stories that one can’t forget. Just think of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Lincoln, Munich, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List.

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and business magnate. Spielberg is consistently considered as one of the leading pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as being viewed as one of the most popular and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. In a career spanning more than four decades, Spielberg’s films have covered many themes and genres.

Spielberg’s early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing humanistic issues such as the Holocaust, the transatlantic slave trade, war, and terrorism. He is one of the co-founders of DreamWorks Studios.

Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg’s films—Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993)— achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg’s wealth at $3 billion. (source: Wikipedia)

10 Interesting facts about Steven Spielberg

1. Frequently uses a piano as an element in key scenes Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Minority Report (2002).
2. Frequently casts Tom Hanks, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Frank Welkerand Tom Cruise.
3. Godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.
4. In Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the humans and aliens use music and computers to communicate. Spielberg’s father was a computer scientist and his mother was a musician. This fact was only recently pointed out to him on Inside the Actors Studio (1994) by host James Lipton and he was unsurprisingly delighted when he realised the connection.
5. Has worked with four actors from the Hannibal Lecter film series, in reverse order to the order in which the Lecter films came out. The first one he worked with was Ralph Fiennesin Schindler’s List (1993), who went on to play Francis Dollarhyde in Red Dragon (2002). His next film was The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), with Julianne Moore, who played Clarice Starling in the third Lecter film, Hannibal (2001). After this, he made Amistad (1997), with Anthony Hopkins, who began playing Hannibal Lecter in the second film, The Silence of the Lambs (1991). After this he made Saving Private Ryan (1998), which featured Dennis Farina, who played Jack Crawford in the original Lecter film, Manhunter (1986).
6. His iconic character “E.T.” from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is ranked #26 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
7. Is a fan of Doctor Who (1963).
8. 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  + Poltergeist (1982) / Schindler’s List  + Jurassic Park (1993) / War Horse + The Adventures of Tintin (2011), etc.
9. He struggled with dyslexia his whole life but was not diagnosed until very recently (approx. 2007).
10. Has worked with several actors from the Star Wars films. Harrison Ford and William Hootkins appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan also wrote two Star Wars films. Julian Glover and Michael Sheard appeared in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Samuel L. Jackson appeared in Jurassic Park (1993). Liam Neeson appeared in Schindler’s List (1993). Ian Abercrombie (voice of Palpatine/Darth Sidious on the Clone Wars cartoon) appeared in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Christopher Lee appeared in 1941 (1979). Max von Sydow appeared in Minority Report (2002). Artificial Intelligence (2001) featured Rena Owen and Brendan Gleeson, whose son Domhnall Gleeson appears in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015). E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) was written by Harrison Ford‘s then-girlfriend Melissa Mathison, and Eve Mavrakis, wife of Ewan McGregor, worked on Empire of the Sun (1987).

 Steven Spielberg filmography