Apr 19, 20203 min read

Mix Up Star: STEVEN SPIELBERG

Updated: Sep 12, 2022

Age: 75

Birthday: December 18th

Steven Spielberg is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. A figure of the New Hollywood era, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spielberg is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards (including two Best Director wins), a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an AFI Life Achievement Award.

Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to California and studied film in college. After directing several episodes for television including Night Gallery and Columbo, he directed the television film Duel (1971) which gained acclaim from critics and audiences. He made his directorial film debut with The Sugarland Express (1974), and became a household name with the 1975 summer blockbuster Jaws. He then directed box office successes Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and the Indiana Jones series. Spielberg explored drama in The Color Purple (1985) and Empire of the Sun (1987).

After a brief hiatus, Spielberg directed the science fiction thriller Jurassic Park, the highest-grossing film ever at the time, and the Holocaust drama Schindler's List (both 1993), described as one of the greatest films ever made. In 1998, he directed the World War II epic Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg continued in the 2000s with science fiction, including A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), and War of the Worlds (2005). He also directed the children's adventure films The Adventures of Tintin (2011), The BFG (2016), and Ready Player One (2018), and the historical dramas Munich (2005), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), The Post (2017), and the musical West Side Story (2021).

Spielberg co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks, and has served as a producer for many television series and films. He is also known for his long collaboration with the composer John Williams, with whom he has worked for all but five of his feature films. Several of Spielberg's works are among the highest-grossing films of all time.

STEVEN SPIELBERG AWARD NOMINATIONS & WINS AS DIRECTOR

ACADEMY AWARDS (OSCARS) - Nominations: 8 Wins: 2

2022 - WEST SIDE STORY

2013 - LINCOLN

2006 - MUNICH

1999 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (WINNER)

1994 - SCHINDLER'S LIST (WINNER)

1983 - E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

1982 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

1978 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

GOLDEN GLOBES - Nominations: 13 Wins: 2

2022 - WEST SIDE STORY

2018 - THE POST

2013 - LINCOLN

2006 - MUNICH

2002 - A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

1999 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (WINNER)

1998 - AMISTAD

1994 - SCHINDLER'S LIST (WINNER)

1986 - THE COLOR PURPLE

1983 - E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

1982 - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

1978 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

1976 - JAWS

BAFTA - Nominations: 6 Wins: 1

2016 - BRIDGE OF SPIES

1999 - SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

1994 - SCHINDLER'S LIST (WINNER)

1983 - E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL

1979 - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

1976 - JAWS

How do you rate Steven Spielberg's Movies?

Here's Mix Up Theatre's Top 10 Steven Spielberg Movies...

Empire of the Sun (1987)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Minority Report (2002)
War of the Worlds (2005)
The BFG (2016)
The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
Lincoln (2012)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Ready Player One (2018)

WATCH STEVEN SPIELBERG FILMS THIS WEEK

ON TV

FILM: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Sunday 11th September, Channel 5, 3:10pm

Science-fiction drama starring Richard Dreyfuss. While investigating an extensive power failure in Indiana, Roy Neary encounters a UFO - a phenomenon also witnessed by Jillian Guiler and her young son. When he is unable to convince anyone of his sighting, Neary's strange behaviour starts to worry his family.