Steven Spielberg

American film producer and director, the winner of an Academy Award on 3/21/1994 for his direction of the Best Picture of the year, "Schindler's List." On 3/21/1999, he won the Oscar as Best Director for his "Saving Private Ryan." Spielberg grew up in Cincinnati, hearing war stories from Hungarian Holocaust survivors who were tutored by his grandmother. The family moved often and the boy often found himself an outcast, the only Jewish kid in school. He recalls the jibes and jokes about anti-Semitism and at one time, wished he were not Jewish. As a means of expression, he started tinkering with film production when he was eight with his dad's 8mm camera. By the time he was 20, he became a professional director for Columbia Pictures. His parents marriage was unhappy and they divorced when Steven was 19. The most successful man of the '80s and the most successful director in history, he achieved notoriety and wealth with such film greats as "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T." "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the blockbuster, "Jurassic Park." Spielberg also produced several films as well as dabbling in TV production; with interests that ranged from cartoons to serious adult themes. He has seldom made a false step from the time of his ambitious first feature film, "The Sugarland Express," 1974, and is acknowledged as a giant amongst the Hollywood elite, given notable respect for his many achievements. Spielberg married Amy Irving on November 27, 1985; they divorced in 1989 after having had one son, Max; the marriage was terminated with a settlement of over $100 million. He then started a relationship with Kate Capshaw; they married on 10/12/1991. As of 1998, they had seven children including Max and one of Kate's plus several adopted kids. They live in a huge Spanish-style home in Pacific Palisades, CA. With a personal fortune of some $2 billion, he is a quiet philanthropist, contributing generously to his favorite projects. In 1998, Spielberg put out such hits as "Deep Impact" and "Private Ryan," which together have grossed nearly half a billion dollars. Spielberg was in the news against his wishes, 2/07/2000, as a day that he was released back home after a discrete operation to remove a kidney due to "irregularities." Everyone is being very speculative about the causes and no one from the Spielberg camp had any comment. Spielberg became a Knight of the British Empire, one of the highest honors bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II and a special tribute for an American, on 1/29/2001, Washington, DC. Link to Wikipedia biography