Steven Spielberg Biography

The death of Buddy Holly has gone down in history as the day the music died. The recent death of Charles Schultz, Creator of the Beloved Peanuts comic strip, has been suggested as the day the laughter died. Fortunately for hundreds of thousands of fans around the world, January 2000 will not go down as the time visual entertainment died. There are many however, that will remember it as the time that some higher authority pressed pause.

It came as quite a surprise when, on February 7^th, 2000, a brief statement was released by Marvin Levy, spokesman for Steven Spielberg, saying that an “irregularity” was discovered on Spielberg’s kidney during a routine exam. Surgery pursued and the kidney was removed, although Levy declined to clarify whether or not the kidney was cancerous. Another source close to Spielberg has said that “Steven is fine” and noted that no follow-up treatment will be needed.

Born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1946, and raised in the suburbs of Haddonfield New Jersey and Scottsdale Arizona, Spielberg always had a love and fascination for the movie industry. As a pre-teen, he charged admission to his home movies (which involved wrecks he staged with his Lionel train set) while his sister sold popcorn. At the age of 12, his first production was complete, including script and actors. Just one year later at the age of 13, Spielberg won a prize for a 40-minute war movie he titled Escape to Nowhere. In 1963, at the young age of 16, his 140-minute production of Firelight (which would later inspire Close Encounters) was shown in a local movie theater and brought in $100 profit.  

After being denied entrance into traditional film schools, Spielberg entered California State University in Long Beach to study English. Steven Spielberg’s professional movie career began the day that he decided to jump off a tour bus at Universal Studios Hollywood and wander around the back lots. Apparently he found an abandoned janitors closet and turned it into an office. After some time, the security guards had seen him so often that they would wave him through the gates, no questions asked. He would however, dress the part, looking quite professional in his Bar Mitzvah suit and tie (not a T-shirt and jeans) so he didn’t look so much like a kid. 

Once inside and settled, Spielberg started production on Amblin. This movie, only 24 minutes long, led to his becoming the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio (Universal). The movie had a $15,000 budget, provided by a friend whom was also trying to achieve his big break in the industry. Amblin won several film festival awards including a showing at the Atlanta Film Festival in 1969. Spielberg was then signed to a 7-year contract under the Television division. Just 4 years later, after directing a diversity of TV shows, he directed the suspense-filled made-for-TV film Duel which received critical and audience acclaim and was later released into theaters.