Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema and is the highest-grossing film director of all time, with his films having earned almost $11 billion worldwide. Among other accolades, he has received three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, four BAFTA Awards, twelve Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, an honorary knighthood in 2001, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2009, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015, and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. According to Forbes, he is one of the world's wealthiest celebrities, with a net worth of at least $5.3 billion. He is one of 22 people to achieve EGOT status.

Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Growing up in Haddonfield, New Jersey and Phoenix, Arizona, he developed an interest in filmmaking from a young age. He subsequently moved to California and studied film in college. Starting his career in television, Spielberg made his directorial debut with Duel (1971). His theatrical debut was The Sugarland Express (1974), which began his decades-long collaboration with composer John Williams. He became a household name with Jaws (1975) and earned further critical and commercial success with Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and the original Indiana Jones trilogy (1981–1989). He explored drama in The Color Purple (1985) and Empire of the Sun (1987).