Steven Spielberg
(Director)

Born in Cincinnati on December 18, 1946, Spielberg moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., with his family when he was still a child. The son of an electrical engineer father and a concert pianist mother, he had an early fascination with cinema and at 13 he won a local contest for his 40-minute film Escape to Nowhere. Despite a prodigious output at a young age, Spielberg was unable to get into USC's film school and opted instead to major in English Literature at California State University at Long Beach.

In 1969 Spielberg was offered a seven-year contract with Universal Studios' television division, where he made Duel (1971). His success on that film lead to his first feature, 1974's The Sugarland Express; the film earned Spielberg the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. Spielberg followed with Jaws in 1975, which earned him his place in American film history. His filmography reads like the American Film Institute's top 100 list-Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park are just a few of the mega-hits Spielberg directed.

In 1993 Spielberg took a sharp turn towards more adult, political material with the haunting Schindler's List. The film brought him his first Best Director and Best Picture Oscars®. Spielberg continued to make his excellent brand of Saturday-matinee film (The Lost World) along with more thoughtful, serious fare (Amistad and Saving Private Ryan).

Spielberg met his second wife, Kate Capshaw, when she auditioned for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She won a part in the movie, and the two were married in 1991. Each already had one child from a previous marriage; now the couple has a total of seven children, two of them adopted. By all accounts, the family is a rarity in Hollywood: a happy, cohesive clan.