Steven Allan Spielberg was born into a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. His ancestors on both his paternal and maternal sides arrived in America from the territory of modern Ukraine. His father was an electrical engineer, his mother a pianist. They met and got married in the USA.
The family of the future celebrity spoke two languages - Russian and Yiddish. Steven Spielberg's father is 99 years old, and, according to the director, he remembers the Russian language perfectly. The hero of the day himself admits that he can confidently pronounce only one word in Russian: “Yes.”
While studying at school, Steven Spielberg was the only Jew in his class, and he often received punishment from his peers for belonging to this nationality. Therefore, the boy’s favorite pastime was watching TV at home. Parents were against this hobby. The director recalls that his father often covered the screen with a blanket and deliberately left a hair on it. However, the resourceful teenager carefully removed the “evidence” from the TV so that by the time his parents returned from work, he carefully put it back in its original place. Despite the odds, it was his father who gave Stephen his first portable movie camera.
Steven Spielberg (1984). Photo: East News
During his school years, Spielberg was nicknamed “the movie camera man.”
In his youth, Spielberg preferred to gain knowledge and skills in practice, rather than at the school bench. However, he had to enroll at the University of California in order not to go to fight in Vietnam. According to the director, he was very afraid of the draft board. However, this did not stop him from leaving university to start making films. And only 33 years after this event, Spielberg returned to the university and graduated from it. The director admitted that his own children pushed him to this act: they did not strive to get an education, citing their father’s biography and assuring others that success can be achieved without a diploma. And after the famous director finally became a certified specialist, the children followed his example and also received an education.
Steven Spielberg's height is 171 cm.
Steven Spielberg with his daughter (2011). Photo: East News
Today, Spielberg is the highest-grossing director and producer of all time. He is the winner of four Oscar awards: the first - for his contribution to the development of production in the United States, the second and third - for directing and producing the film "Schindler's List", the fourth - for the film "Saving Private Ryan". In total, Spielberg's films were nominated for an Oscar about 50 times.
Queen Elizabeth knighted Steven Spielberg "for his invaluable contribution to the development of the film industry."
Spielberg opened the doors to Hollywood for many actors, but few people know that it was he who opened the doors to big cinema for Whoopi Goldberg. Having played the main role in the film “The Color Purple Fields” (in Russia this film did not receive wide popularity, but in the USA it became very successful: just look at the 11 Oscar nominations), she immediately entered the category of sought-after and highly paid actresses. For this role, Goldberg received a Golden Globe award. The film is dedicated to discrimination against women in the southern states in the first half of the 20th century.
Steven Spielberg on the set of Jaws (1975). Photo: East News
The director is married for the second time. His first wife was actress Amy Virgin, who gave birth to Spielberg's son. The director married actress Kate Capshaw for the second time, who played the frivolous singer in his film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In 1993, two years after their wedding, Kate converted to Judaism, her husband's religion. In total, the Spielbergs raised seven children, including son Stephen and daughter Kate from previous marriages, three common children and two adopted children. Today the couple has four grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg is a godfather who played (at the age of seven) one of the main roles in his film E.T.
In order to work on the sci-fi film “Artificial Intelligence,” Spielberg refused to direct “Harry Potter.”
. Photo: East News
Steven Spielberg's net worth is estimated at $4 billion.
The director suffers from claustrophobia: he feels uncomfortable in airplanes, elevators and any other enclosed spaces. According to Steven Spielberg, one habit that helps him cope with stress is biting his nails. He has no other harmful addictions.
The surname Spielberg consists of two parts: spiel translates as “sharp”, berg - “mountain”. Thus, translated from German, this word means “sharp mountain.” Shpilberg's transcription is also adopted in Russian.
Steven Spielberg is a legend of world cinema, a talented and brilliant director, a successful producer, born on December 18, 1946 in the American state of Ohio, Cincinnati.
Childhood
Spielberg's family was unusual. His father, a talented engineer and mathematician, was at the forefront of the development of programming. The mother devoted herself entirely to the children, of whom there were four born in the family. She gave up her musical career without regret, although she was a very talented pianist.
In childhood
Stephen himself inherited the best qualities from his parents. From the mother - a love of beauty and pronounced creative abilities. From the father - perseverance and the ability to build a clear plan to achieve a goal and implement it. In addition, Stephen was the only boy in the family - he had three sisters, whom his father taught him to take care of from early childhood.
In the 50s, anti-Semitic sentiments were especially strong in the States, surviving since the Second World War. At school, Stephen was often the target of bullying and ridicule because of his Jewish roots. But, fortunately, the house was an oasis of peace and well-being for him - his mother and sisters surrounded him with love and care, and with his father he could talk about absolutely any topic.
From an early age, Stephen's greatest passion was cinema. Moreover, he always dreamed of making films, and not just being an actor. His parents were so inspired by his dream that on his tenth birthday they gave him a small movie camera. This predetermined the entire life path of the future celebrity.
All day long he ran around with a camera and made amateur films. Basically, these were primitive horror films and bloody scenes, for which cherry or tomato juice was used. Stephen distributed the roles to all relatives, acquaintances, friends and his own sisters.
Often he received punishment for being too zealous in his pursuit of realism. One day he almost burned down the house by setting the curtains on fire to film a scene from his new short film about war events. Fortunately, the fire was put out in time. Nevertheless, very soon the boy managed to achieve his first recognition.
Few people can boast that at the age of 12 he received his first cinematic prize. Stephen won the Grand Prix of the youth festival, which took place in California, where the boy was studying at that time. Then the parents finally believed that their son had a brilliant future.
Carier start
Naturally, the boy, who observed the world through the viewfinder window and constantly came up with plots for new films, did not have a single chance to finish school normally. Parents were constantly indignant about this.
And his father even threatened several times to take his camera away for good if he did not receive a certificate. Somehow, Stephen finally passed his final exams, but his grades clearly left much to be desired.
Spielberg decided to enroll in the directing department of the California Film School, but for two years in a row his work was subjected to severe criticism, and he himself was given a harsh verdict - “mediocrity.” Nevertheless, he never thought of giving up his dream. He continued to rent, and earned money as a painter at a construction site.
Realizing that their son really needed support, his parents decided to help him in every possible way and financed the creation of a new masterpiece. The fantastic film “Heavenly Lights,” which took several months and only $600 to create, was filmed and edited at home.
Mom patiently hosted and fed the entire film crew at home, and my father helped design and assemble the sets.
The film was shown at a local cinema and was received quite warmly by the audience. This enabled Stephen to believe in his own abilities even more. On the advice of his father, he enters a technical college in order to acquire a basic specialty and be able to earn a decent living while his talent finds recognition.
There he made a film, which gave him a start in the world of professional cinema.
The short film “Emblin” was watched by one of the producers of the rapidly growing company Universal. He met the young director and offered him a trial contract for one episode in the series Night Gallery. The guy did an excellent job, and his next work was the series “Columbo”, which was extremely popular.
And in 1971, 23-year-old Spielberg shot his debut feature - the low-budget thriller "Duel", based on a true story experienced by the film's screenwriter. Created as a television version, the film turned out to be so successful that it was slightly modified and released on big screens.
Thus, viewers not only in America, but also in Europe were able to get acquainted with the work of the young director.
Spielberg's next work was a psychological drama, again based on the real-life 1969 story "The Sugarland Express." The successful cast, the precision and capacity of carefully thought-out episodes brought the film enormous success and favorable reviews from even the most influential film critics. This is how Spielberg received recognition of his undoubted talent.
Success
But the real triumph and world fame was brought to Spielberg by the thriller “Jaws,” filmed in 1975. The story of the confrontation between people and a giant man-eating shark, filmed with many special effects, has become a classic of world cinema and one of the highest-grossing films in history.
It brought huge profits to its creators even though the budget increased several times during the filming process.
During his work, Spielberg himself greatly benefited from the teenage skills he acquired while assembling his own sets. It was never possible to create a mechanical shark that would look believable on camera and could move normally in the water.
And then Spielberg decided to use Hitchcock's techniques, and only with the help of music and the play of light and shadows to make the viewer feel the presence of the animal. This made the film even more scary and expressive.
The variety of techniques used and very natural shooting were the key to the phenomenal success of the film. She received several prestigious awards, including three Oscars - for editing, music and sound. The film was nominated as best film, but it did not win this prize.
But for Spielberg it was already a resounding success. Subsequently, three more parts of the film were filmed, but they could not compete with the first series, although they brought the director substantial fees.
In 1979, Spielberg, who had been interested in the topic of alien intelligence since early childhood, managed to realize his childhood dream on the big screen and make the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which tells the story of encounters between earthlings and aliens.
While collecting material for the film, Stephen traveled almost all over America, talking with people who had lived through similar experiences. It formed the basis of the film, which turned out to be very impressive.
Spielberg returned to the alien theme twice more - in 1982, viewers saw a version of the friendly contact between a boy and an alien in the film “The Extra-Terrestrial,” where Henry Thomas Jr. played the main role.
And in 2005, the fantastic blockbuster “War of the Worlds” triumphantly walked across world screens with impressive special effects and a budget of $132 million. The box office grossed over half a billion dollars.
Among Spielberg's most famous films are films about the adventures of Indiana Jones, the fantastic saga about dinosaurs "Jurassic Park", he was directly involved in the creation of the mini-series "Back to the Future".
In general, science fiction films are the director’s strong point. But he is equally great at adventures, psychological thrillers, detective stories and dramas. To date, the director’s filmography includes more than fifty works.
Personal life
In his youth, Spielberg was so captivated by the world of cinema that he did not even think about a serious relationship. So his first real passion was actress Amy Virgin, whom he met shortly after completing work on Jaws at one of the social events. A passionate romance broke out, which lasted almost three years, but because of Amy's betrayal they broke up.
However, it is not easy to forget the first strong feelings, and a few years later they began to live together again, and soon a magnificent wedding took place, after which a son, Max Samuel, was born into the family. Alas, this time the relationship did not work out. 4 years after the appearance of the heir, they officially divorced.
This time it was Amy who accused her husband of cheating. The divorce proceedings lasted many months, but in the end Amy managed to win a fabulous compensation of $100 million.
The ex-wife's accusations were not unfounded. Indeed, since the mid-80s, Spielberg had a close relationship with the actress who starred in the second part about the adventures of Indiana Jones, Kate Capshaw. And a year after Spielberg’s divorce, she gave birth to his daughter Sasha. In 1991, Kate became the official wife of the famous director.
With Kate Capshaw
After marriage, two more children were born into the family, but there were seven in total. Kate had an eldest daughter and an adopted boy, Spielberg took his son from his first wife to himself, and in 1996 they jointly adopted a girl. Now this is a big friendly family, all the children in which have excellent relationships with each other and with their parents, and are connected in one way or another with the world of art.
Steven Allan Spielberg was born into a family of Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. His ancestors on both his paternal and maternal sides arrived in America from the territory of modern Ukraine. His father was an electrical engineer, his mother a pianist. They met and got married in the USA.
The family of the future celebrity spoke two languages - Russian and Yiddish. Steven Spielberg's father is 99 years old, and, according to the director, he remembers the Russian language perfectly. The hero of the day himself admits that he can confidently pronounce only one word in Russian: “Yes.”
While studying at school, Steven Spielberg was the only Jew in his class, and he often received punishment from his peers for belonging to this nationality. Therefore, the boy’s favorite pastime was watching TV at home. Parents were against this hobby. The director recalls that his father often covered the screen with a blanket and deliberately left a hair on it. However, the resourceful teenager carefully removed the “evidence” from the TV so that by the time his parents returned from work, he carefully put it back in its original place. Despite the odds, it was his father who gave Stephen his first portable movie camera.
Steven Spielberg (1984). Photo: East NewsDuring his school years, Spielberg was nicknamed “the movie camera man.”
In his youth, Spielberg preferred to gain knowledge and skills in practice, rather than at the school bench. However, he had to enroll at the University of California in order not to go to fight in Vietnam. According to the director, he was very afraid of the draft board. However, this did not stop him from leaving university to start making films. And only 33 years after this event, Spielberg returned to the university and graduated from it. The director admitted that his own children pushed him to this act: they did not strive to get an education, citing their father’s biography and assuring others that success can be achieved without a diploma. And after the famous director finally became a certified specialist, the children followed his example and also received an education.
Steven Spielberg's height is 171 cm.
Steven Spielberg with his daughter (2011). Photo: East NewsToday, Spielberg is the highest-grossing director and producer of all time. He is the winner of four Oscar awards: the first - for his contribution to the development of production in the United States, the second and third - for directing and producing the film "Schindler's List", the fourth - for the film "Saving Private Ryan". In total, Spielberg's films were nominated for an Oscar about 50 times.
Queen Elizabeth knighted Steven Spielberg "for his invaluable contribution to the development of the film industry."
Spielberg opened the doors to Hollywood for many actors, but few people know that it was he who opened the doors to big cinema for Whoopi Goldberg. Having played the main role in the film “The Color Purple Fields” (in Russia this film did not receive wide popularity, but in the USA it became very successful: just look at the 11 Oscar nominations), she immediately entered the category of sought-after and highly paid actresses. For this role, Goldberg received a Golden Globe award. The film is dedicated to discrimination against women in the southern states in the first half of the 20th century.
Steven Spielberg on the set of Jaws (1975). Photo: East NewsThe director is married for the second time. His first wife was actress Amy Virgin, who gave birth to Spielberg's son. The director married actress Kate Capshaw for the second time, who played the frivolous singer in his film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In 1993, two years after their wedding, Kate converted to Judaism, her husband's religion. In total, the Spielbergs raised seven children, including son Stephen and daughter Kate from previous marriages, three common children and two adopted children. Today the couple has four grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg is a godfather who played (at the age of seven) one of the main roles in his film E.T.
In order to work on the sci-fi film “Artificial Intelligence,” Spielberg refused to direct “Harry Potter.”
. Photo: East NewsSteven Spielberg's net worth is estimated at $4 billion.
The director suffers from claustrophobia: he feels uncomfortable in airplanes, elevators and any other enclosed spaces. According to Steven Spielberg, one habit that helps him cope with stress is biting his nails. He has no other harmful addictions.
The surname Spielberg consists of two parts: spiel translates as “sharp”, berg - “mountain”. Thus, translated from German, this word means “sharp mountain.” Shpilberg's transcription is also adopted in Russian.
Name: Steven Spielberg
Age: 71 years old
Place of Birth: Cincinnati, USA
Height: 171 cm Weight: 70 kg
Activity: film director, screenwriter, producer
Family status: married
Steven Spielberg: biography
The full name of this talented director, who created the highest-grossing films, is Steven Allan Spielberg. The rental of his masterpieces amounted to almost 8.5 billion dollars. He won an Oscar three times.
Steven Spielberg: childhood, family
The brilliant producer and screenwriter was born into a poor Jewish family in Ohio. Father and mother raised four children. The head of the family is an engineer; my mother accompanied concerts and played piano.
But soon the career of a pianist was forgotten for the sake of the children. But the creative seed from the mother firmly sprouted in the children. Therefore, two of them (Anne and Stephen) connected their biographies with creativity. Sister Ann became an actress, and Steve himself became a famous box-office director.
The family moved in search of a better life; in Scottsdale the boy went to school, where he encountered bullying against Jews. Parents have long noticed that their son was attracted to cinema. No matter how difficult it was, Steven received an eight mm camera from his mom and dad. There was an opportunity to practice filming your own amateur short films.Steven Spielberg: films
The boy began by filming horror films in which blood was replaced with cherry juice. The sisters were “actresses” for their brother and portrayed aliens. And Stephen shot a film about the war with the sound effects of firecrackers and burning curtains. The teenager turned 12 when he took part in his first film festival. One of his works was recognized as the best.
A few years later, the parents invested their money in the filming of the film “Heavenly Lights” about an alien intelligence that abducted people to show them in its menagerie. The film lasted two hours, Stephen involved local schoolchildren in the creation of the film. We did everything with our own hands, our parents helped. The film was shown in the city cinema. This is how Spielberg’s cinematic biography began.
Since the age of 19, Stephen has tried twice to pass exams for film school. The young man was denied admission, and the admissions committee issued a conclusion: “mediocrity.” The guy began to study at a technical college, continuing to do his favorite thing. His film "Emblin", which lasted 26 minutes, attracted the attention of the Universal film company. Spielberg was offered a contract.
At first, TV series were filmed, but soon the talented young man tried his hand at creating his first disaster film. The producers gave me the opportunity to make a full-length film and were not mistaken, because the audience liked this work. And the next film, Jaws, made Steven Spielberg famous.Popularity of Steven Spielberg
Recognition of the director and real fame awaited new films. These films were the box office films “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T.” Both films grossed a thousand million dollars. Spielberg felt a new surge of strength and created a satire film, an adventure film, an action film and others. Since 1984, the director created his own film company, Amblin Entertainment. Many films are known to viewers all over the world, and the sensational films about the Jurassic period demonstrated the incredible imagination and imagination of the director.
Famous actors such as Liam Neeson and Tom Hanks work with Spielberg. Russian viewers are familiar not only with the titles, but also with the films themselves: “Catch Me If You Can”, “Terminal”, “War of the Worlds”, “Bridge of Spies”. Stephen has not lost his diversity of talent since childhood, so he sometimes tries himself as an actor, writes scripts for his films, and is a producer of several projects.Steven Spielberg: biography of personal life
There is no consistency in the biography of Spielberg's personal relationships. He had an affair with actress Amy Virgin for three years. The woman left him, but then the couple decided to get back together and even got married. A son was born, but after some time the couple became participants in a high-profile divorce proceeding. The wife sued her husband for a hundred million dollars.
Two years later, Stephen walked actress Kate Capshaw down the aisle. Now the couple has a daughter, Sasha, a son, Sawyer, and a daughter, Destri. In addition to them, the famous director’s family raised Kate’s daughter from her first marriage, Jessica, Stephen’s son from his wife Amy Virgin, and Theo, a boy adopted by the couple. They later adopted Michaela. Children are drawn to creativity in different ways: through video games, as actresses and actors, musicians and models.
Spielberg continues to create popular films, only now they have become family films or about people of the future. The list of future works will include Spielberg's favorite genre - a dramatic thriller with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The director did not change his beloved Indiana Jones; it is planned to film the fifth part of the sequel.
Steven Spielberg has many significant awards. One he is very proud of. He was awarded the title of honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II herself. He is an honorary member of the American Society for his ethical treatment of aliens. The director created the computer game Medal of Honor.
