Childhood and first films

Steven Allan Spielberg was born on 18 December 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, Arnold, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. His mother Leahanni was a professional concert pianist, but mostly she looked after the four children and did not make a career. The family often moved because of his father's occupation. Soon they moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where Steven would attend Arcadia High School in Phoenix. There his love for movies began to blossom. Perhaps unnaturally quickly, if reports that Spielberg suffered from Asperger's Syndrome are to be believed. This is a mild form of autism that leads to obsessional interests - often with very positive results. When he was 12 his father presented him portative 8-mm camera and Seven started to make his first "adventure" movies with his friends. He even tried to make some horror movies in which used cherry juice instead of blood.

By 12, he'd made his first amateur film, an 8-minute Western called ‘The Last Gun’, which Steven financed with a tree-planting business. At the age of 13 the boy took a part in junior competition of amateur cinematographers at 1960s and 1970s

After this success he have thought he'd walk into film school, Spielberg was twice turned down for the prestigious film course at the University of Southern California and he entered California State University in Long Beach to study English. During holidays Steven made his first short film for theatrical release, the 24 minute long movie ‘Amblin’ in 1968, which scored him his big chance. ‘Amblin’ won several film festival awards and made him noticed – Steven Spielberg signed contract with Universal Studios at the age of 22, becoming the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio. Spielberg was directing a diversity of TV shows and series during next 4 years: ‘Night Gallery’ (1970), ‘Marcus Welby, M.D.’ (1969) and ‘Columbo: Murder by the Book’ (1971). In 1971 Spielberg directed the suspense-filled made-for-TV film ‘Duel’ which received critical and audience acclaim and was later released into theaters. In 1974 he made his debut theatrical feature film ‘The Sugarland Express’, about a married couple who are chased by police as the couple tries to regain custody of their baby. The film met with approval of critics.

1980s

After that Spielberg teamed with his friend George Lucas on an action adventure film 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' (1981) with Harrison Ford. Produced by Lucas, the first film of the Indiana Jones trilogy was one of the biggest hits of the decade and biggest film at the box office in 1981. It was recipient of numerous Oscar nominations including Best Director (Spielberg's second nomination) and Best Picture (the second Spielberg film to be nominated for Best Picture).

1990s

Spielberg was very active in the early 1990s.

In 1991, Spielberg made film ‘Hook’ about a middle-aged Peter, who returns to Neverland - the film made $119 million domestically.

In 1993, Spielberg proved himself as one of Hollywood’s elite, as ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Schindlers List’. Revolutionary special effects in ‘Jurassic Park’ were provided by George Lucas motion picture visual effects company 'Industrial Light and Magic' and made the film one of the top ten highest grossing films of all time. Film ‘Schindler's List’ was based on the true story of Oskar Schindler, a man who risked his own life to save 1,100 people from the Holocaust. Some critics maintained that ‘Schindler's List’ was the most accurate portrayal of the Holocaust, and in 1999 the American Film Institute listed it among the 10 Greatest Films ever Made. ‘Schindler's List’ earned Spielberg his first Academy Award for Best Director and also it won Best Picture Award.

He produced many animated series and cartoons: 'Tiny Toon Adventures' (1990), 'Animaniacs' (1993), 'Pinky and the Brain' (1995), 'Freakazoid!' (1995), 'Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain' (1998), 'Family Dog' (1993), 'Toonsylvania' (1998), ‘The Land Before Time’ (1988) , ‘We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story’ (1993), ‘Casper’ (1995); besides he produced many Roger Rabbit short cartoons, and many Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and Tiny Toons specials.

1994 Steven Spielberg helped found the production company DreamWorks. Epic film ‘Amistad’ (1997) was the first film directed by Spielberg under the new DreamWorks label. Dream Works has released all of his movies since ‘Amistad’. Spielberg was in top in the late 1990s. He produced such well-known films as ‘The Mask of Zorro’ (1998), ‘Men in Black’ (1997) and ‘Deep Impact’ (1998). In 1998 was released the World War II drama ‘Saving Private Ryan’ – one of the best films of his career for which Spielberg received his second Academy Award for his direction.

2000s

In 2001 he produced riend Stanley Kubrick a mini-series about World War II - 'Band of Brothers' (2001). Also in that year, Spielberg with his friend Stanley Kubrick directed 'Artificial Intelligence: AI' a movie with a message and a huge budget.

Later Steven Spielberg teamed up with Tom Cruise and made 'Minority Reports (2002). The film earned over 300 million dollars worldwide. Besides he was producing ‘Men in Black II’ (2002), producing and directing ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (2002), with Tom Hanks and Leonardo Di Caprio.

Spielberg collaborated again with Tom Hanks in a warm-hearted comedy The Terminal'The Terminal' (2004). It received mixed reviews but performed relatively well at the box office. In 2005, Spielberg did a modernized adaptation of 'War of the Worlds' (a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks)', featuring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning.

In 2005 was released film 'Munich' about the events following the 1972 Munich Massacre of Israeli atheletes at the Olympic Games. Munich received five Academy Awards nominations, including Spielberg's sixth Best Director nomination and fifth Best Picture nomination.

Throughout the years, Spielberg has been recognized not only by the Academy Awards, but various other nominations including Golden Globe and Directors Guild awards. He is also the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute and the prestigious Irving G. Thasberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 2005, Empire magazine ranked Spielberg number one on a list of the greatest film directors of all time.