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Leon Rippy (born October 30, 1949 in Rock Hill, South Carolina) is an American actor.

Life and career[link]

He has worked with Roland Emmerich on seven movies including: Moon 44 (1990), Eye of the Storm (1991), Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Patriot (2000), Eight Legged Freaks (2002) and also had a role in the 2004 film The Alamo.

Television appearances include a guest role on Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The Neutral Zone"), Quantum Leap, Walker, Texas Ranger, Leverage, Six Feet Under and as Tom Nuttall on the HBO series Deadwood. Rippy had a co-starring role in the TNT crime drama series, Saving Grace. He has also appeared in North and South as Sanders. He is currently appearing in Alcatraz as Dr. Beauregard.

External links[link]

• Leon Rippy at the Internet Movie Database
• Leon Rippy at HBO: Deadwood.
• Leon Rippy at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• About Saving Grace.

This article about an American film actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Holly Hunter
Born	(1958-03-20) March 20, 1958 (age 54) Conyers, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress / Producer
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Janusz Kamiński (1995–2001)
Partner	Gordon MacDonald (2001–present; 2 children)

Holly Hunter (born March 20, 1958) is an American actress. Hunter starred in The Piano for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. She has also been nominated for Oscars for her roles in Broadcast News, The Firm, and Thirteen. Hunter has also won two Emmy Awards with seven nominations and has won a Golden Globe Award with another six nominations.

Early life and career[link]

Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia, the daughter of Opal Marguerite (née Catledge), a housewife, and Charles Edwin Hunter, a farmer and sporting-goods manufacturer's representative.^[1] Hunter earned a degree in drama from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and for a while performed in the theatre scene there, playing ingenue roles at City Theatre, then named the City Players.^[2] She eventually moved to New York City and roomed with fellow actress Frances McDormand. Hunter, in 2008, described living in The Bronx "at the end of the D [subway] train, just off 205th Street, on Bainbridge Avenue and Hull Avenue. It was very Irish, and then you could go just a few blocks away and hit major Italian".^[3] A chance encounter with playwright Beth Henley, when the two were trapped alone in an elevator, led to Hunter's being cast in Henley's plays Crimes of the Heart (succeeding Mary Beth Hurt on Broadway), and Off-Broadway's The Miss Firecracker Contest. "It was like the beginning of 1982. It was on 49th Street between Broadway and Eighth [Avenue] [...] on the south side of the street", Hunter recalled in an interview. "[We were trapped] 10 minutes; not long. We actually had a nice conversation. It was just the two of us".^[3]

Stage and film[link]

Hunter at the 2010 Metropolitan Opera opening night of Das Rheingold.

Hunter made her screen debut in the 1981 horror movie The Burning. After moving to Los Angeles in 1982, Hunter appeared in TV movies before being cast in a supporting role in 1984's Swing Shift. That year, she had her first collaboration with the writing-directing-producing team of brothers Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, in Blood Simple, making an uncredited appearance as a voice on an answering-machine recording. More film and television work followed until 1987, when thanks to a starring role in the Coens' Raising Arizona and her Academy Award-nominated turn in Broadcast News, Hunter became a critically acclaimed star. She went on to the screen adaptation of Henley's Miss Firecracker; Steven Spielberg's Always, a romantic drama with Richard Dreyfuss; and the made-for-TV 1989 docudrama about the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.

Following her second collaboration with Dreyfuss, in Once Around, Hunter garnered critical attention for her work in two 1993 films, resulting in her being nominated for two Academy Awards the same year: Hunter's performance in The Firm won her a nomination as Best Supporting Actress, while her portrayal of a mute Scottish woman entangled in an adulterous affair with Harvey Keitel in Jane Campion's The Piano won her the Best Actress award.

Hunter went on to appear in films such as the comedy-drama Home for the Holidays and the thriller Copycat. She also appreared in David Cronenberg's Crash and as a sardonic angel in A Life Less Ordinary. The following year, she played a recently divorced New Yorker in Richard LaGravenese's Living Out Loud; starring alongside Danny DeVito, Queen Latifah, and Martin Donovan. Hunter rounded out the 1990s with a minor role in the independent drama Jesus' Son and as a housekeeper torn between a grieving widower and his son in Kiefer Sutherland's drama Woman Wanted.

Emmy Award in 1989

Following a supporting role in the Coens' O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Hunter took top billing in the same year's television movie Harlan County War, an account of labor struggles among Kentucky coal-mine workers. Hunter would continue her small screen streak with a role in When Billie Beat Bobby, playing tennis pro Billie Jean King in the fact-based story of King's famed exhibition match with Bobby Riggs; and as narrator of Eco Challenge New Zealand before returning to film work with a minor role in the 2002 drama Moonlight Mile. The following year found Hunter in the redemption drama Levity. Also in 2003, Hunter had a supporting role in the film Thirteen for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination.

In 2004, Hunter starred alongside Brittany Murphy in the romantic satire Little Black Book, and the same year lent her voice to the animated film The Incredibles as the voice of Helen Parr, a.k.a. the superheroine Elastigirl. In 2005, Hunter starred alongside Robin Williams in the black comedy-drama The Big White.

Hunter became an executive producer, and helped develop a starring vehicle for herself with the TNT cable-network drama Saving Grace, which premiered in July 2007. For her acting, she received a Golden Globe Award nomination, two Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, and an Emmy Award nomination. On May 30, 2008, Hunter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award.^[4]

Personal life[link]

Holly Hunter was married to cinematographer Janusz Kamiński^[5] from 1995 until 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Hunter has been in a relationship with British actor Gordon MacDonald.^[6] In January 2006, Hunter's publicist announced that Hunter had given birth to the couple's twin boys.^[6]

In a 2009 interview, Hunter said to TV Guide that she does not discuss her children with the media.^[7]

Hunter is deaf in one ear, which sometimes leads to complications at work and some scenes have to be altered from the script for her to use her healthy ear.^[8]

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Holly Hunter

• Holly Hunter at the Internet Movie Database
• Holly Hunter at the Internet Broadway Database
• Holly Hunter at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• "What people don't know about Holly" (Interview), The Guardian, 22 November 2003

Malcolm McDowell
McDowell at the 2007 Jules Verne Adventure Film Special Awards Presentation
Born	Malcolm John Taylor (1943-06-13) 13 June 1943 (age 69) Horsforth, Yorkshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968–present
Spouse	Margot Bennett (1975–1980) Mary Steenburgen (1980–1990) Kelley Kuhr (1991–present)

Malcolm McDowell (born 13 June 1943) is an English actor, whose career spans more than four decades.

McDowell is known for his early roles in the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange, and Caligula. Since then, his versatility as an actor has led to varied roles in films and television series of different genres, including Tank Girl, Star Trek Generations, the TV serial Our Friends in the North, Entourage, Heroes, Metalocalypse, the animated movie Bolt, the 2007 remake of Halloween and its sequel, and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.^[1] He is also well known for his narration of the seminal 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles.

Early life[link]

McDowell was born Malcolm John Taylor in Horsforth, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now a part of the City of Leeds, the son of Edna (née McDowell), a hotelier, and Charles Taylor, a publican.^[2][3][4] His family later moved to Bridlington, since his father was in the Royal Air Force. McDowell trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).^[5]

Career[link]

McDowell began his professional life serving drinks in his parents' pub and then as a coffee salesman (the latter job providing inspiration for the movie O Lucky Man!). While enrolled in Cannock House School, he began taking acting classes, and eventually secured work as an extra with the Royal Shakespeare Company. McDowell made his screen debut as school rebel Mick Travis in If.... (1968) by British director Lindsay Anderson. This was followed by Figures in a Landscape (1970) and The Raging Moon (1971). His performance in If.... caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick, who cast McDowell as the lead in A Clockwork Orange, adapted from the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess. He won great acclaim (nominated for a Golden Globe and an award by the New York Film Critics Circle in the category of Best Actor) as Alex, a young hoodlum brainwashed by a dystopian British government of the near future.

McDowell worked with Anderson again for O Lucky Man! (1973), which was based on his own idea, and Britannia Hospital (1982). McDowell regularly turned up on British television productions in the 1970s in adaptations of theatre classics, one example being with Laurence Olivier in The Collection (1976), as part of the series Laurence Olivier Presents. He starred in Aces High (1975) and co-starred in Voyage of the Damned (1976), and as Dornford Yates' gentleman hero Richard Chandos in She Fell Among Thieves (1977). He made his Hollywood debut as H. G. Wells in Time After Time (1979). He often portrayed antagonists in the late 1970s and 1980s, including the title character in Caligula (1979). He later remarked upon his career playing film villains: "I suppose I'm primarily known for that but in fact, that would only be half of my career if I was to tot it all up."^[6]

In his biography Anthony Burgess: A Life, author Roger Lewis commented on McDowell's later career; "his pretty-boy looks faded and he was condemned to playing villains in straight-to-video movies that turn up on Channel 5."^[7]

McDowell appeared in the 1983 action film Blue Thunder as F.E. Cochrane, and the 1982 remake of Cat People. In 1983, he starred in Get Crazy as Reggie Wanker, a parody of Mick Jagger. Also in 1983, McDowell starred as The Wolf (Reginald von Lupen) in Faerie Tale Theatre's rendition of "Little Red Riding Hood" (his wife at that time, Mary Steenburgen, played Little Red Riding Hood). In 1984, he narrated the documentary The Compleat Beatles. He is known in Star Trek circles as "the man who killed Captain Kirk"^{[citation needed]} in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations, in which he played the mad scientist Dr. Tolian Soran. McDowell appeared in several computer games, most notably as Admiral Tolwyn in the Wing Commander series of computer games. His appearance in Wing Commander III marked the series transition from 2D pre-rendered cutscenes to live-action cutscenes. His appearance in Wing Commander IV was during the final days of video game live action cutscenes.

In 1995, he co-starred with actress and artist Lori Petty in the action/science fiction/comedy film Tank Girl. Here, he played the villain Dr. Kesslee, the evil director of the global Water and Power Company, whose main goal in the story was to control the planet's entire water supply on a future desert-like, post-apocalyptic Earth.

McDowell appeared in a unique episode of the animated series South Park, which provided a comedic retelling of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations. In the episode, McDowell played the real-life narrator of the story in live action, introducing himself simply as "a British person", in a parody of Masterpiece Theatre, and its ex-host, Alistair Cooke.^[8]

McDowell played himself in Robert Altman's The Player, in which he chastises protagonist Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) for badmouthing him behind his back. He worked with Altman once again in 2003 for The Company as "Mr. A.", the fictional director of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. His character was based on real-life director Gerald Arpino. In the 2003 film, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, he played a straight married man who rapes a young drug dealer to "teach him a lesson". The film also starred Clive Owen as the victim's older brother.

McDowell at "The Genius of Stanley Kubrick" at the 2006 Traverse City Film Festival.

In 2006, McDowell portrayed radio mogul Jonas Slaughter on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The following year he portrayed the villainous Mr. Linderman on the first season of the NBC series Heroes, a role he reprised in the third season premiere. He starred in Jerry Was a Man, which appeared as an episode of Masters of Science Fiction on Sky.^[9] He portrayed Terrence McQuewick on Entourage and Julian Hodge on Monk.

McDowell appeared as Dr. Sam Loomis in Rob Zombie's remakes of Halloween and Halloween II (in 2007 and 2009, respectively).^[10] He also played Desmond LaRochette in Robert Whitlow's The List, and Irish patriarch Enda Doyle in Red Roses and Petrol (2008).^[11] His next film is the Canadian vampire comedy rock and roll movie Suck with actor/director Rob Stefaniuk and the upcoming Alex Wright film Two Wolves.^[12] In December 2009, he made an appearance in the music video "Snuff" by the band Slipknot.^[13] He appears, uncredited, as Lombardi, the curator, in the 2010 film, The Book of Eli. McDowell portrayed Satan in the upcoming Christian comedy thriller film Suing the Devil.^[14]

McDowell is set to appear in the upcoming films Vamps and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D as Leonard Wolf, an insane cult leader.

In 2011 McwDowell was cast in the role of Stanton Infeld on the TNT original series Franklin & Bash.

Voice acting[link]

McDowell was the featured narrator in the documentary, The Compleat Beatles released in 1982.

Malcolm McDowell at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

McDowell has lent his voice to Lord Maliss in Happily Ever After, the Superman villain Metallo in Superman: The Animated Series, Mad Mod in Teen Titans, Merlyn in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, Arkady Duvall (son of Ra's Al Ghul) in Batman: The Animated Series and as the voice of a Death Star commander in a Robot Chicken episode parodying Star Wars. He is also a regular on the second season of the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse as Vater Orlaag and other characters. McDowell also voiced Dr. Calico in Disney's Bolt. McDowell also lent his voice to the henchman Reeses II in the animated series Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, a show laced with references to many movies including his own break-out role in A Clockwork Orange. He also has a similar voice style to the voice of Zippy in the Children's Programme 'Rainbow'. Some may Disagree.

In 2006–07, he contributed spoken word to two Pink Floyd tribute albums produced by Billy Sherwood: Back Against the Wall, and Return to the Dark Side of the Moon. In 2008, McDowell began a recurring role as Grandpa Fletcher on Phineas and Ferb. He also narrated the award-winning documentary Blue Gold: World Water Wars.

McDowell reprised his role of Metallo in the video game Superman: Shadow of Apokolips and an episode of Justice League Unlimited. He also provided his voice for the character President John Henry Eden in the video game Fallout 3, Rupert Pelham in the game WET, King Solomon in the Word of Promise Audio Bible, and the CEO of Stahl Arms in Killzone 3, Jorhan Stahl.^[15] He also voiced Daedalus in God of War III.

McDowell portrays the role of "Caiaphas" in "The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio New Testament which uses the RSV-CE translation.

McDowell is the host of "Fangoria's Dreadtime Stories", a monthly series of fully dramatised radio dramas with a mystery, horror, science fiction and dark humor theme. Written by top writers of today, including Dennis Etchison and Max Allan Collins, these stories are creepy, cutting edge and not for the faint of heart. The series is produced by Carl Amari, who also produces The Twilight Zone radio dramas. The executive producer is Thomas DeFeo (CEO of Fangoria magazine) with Chris Roe as the associate producer. Original music for each episode is by Chris Alexander, an established composer and Fangoria editor-in-chief. Each month, a new episode is available for free streaming worldwide at Fangoria's website www.fangoria.com. All episodes, current and past, are available for digital download. The radio drama scripts, which are used by McDowell and the supporting actors, are also available to print in PDF at the Fangoria website for free.

Personal life[link]

McDowell's first wife (1975–80) was extra Margot Bennett. His second wife (1980-90) was actress Mary Steenburgen, whom he met and fell in love with while filming Time After Time, with whom he has two children: Lily Amanda (b. 21 January 1981) and Charles Malcolm (b. 10 July 1983). They divorced in 1990. His third wife (1991-present) is Kelley Kuhr, 24 years his junior, with whom he has three children: Beckett Taylor (b. 29 January 2004), Finnian Anderson (b. 23 December 2006), and Seamus Hudson (born 7 January 2009). He is the maternal uncle of actor Alexander Siddig, who has appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Kingdom of Heaven, Syriana, 24, and the fourth season of the BBC series Primeval. He and his nephew both appeared in the movie Doomsday by director Neil Marshall. The McDowells currently reside in Ojai, California.

He became a grandfather in January 2012 when daughter Lilly McDowell Walton gave birth to a girl, Clementine Mae.

Filmography, Voice-overs and TV work[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Malcolm McDowell

References[link]

External links[link]

• Malcolm McDowell at the Internet Movie Database
• Malcolm McDowell at AllRovi
• Malcolm McDowell at TV Tropes
• Malcolm McDowell at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Malcolm McDowell at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• N.P. Thompson's interview with Malcolm McDowell for Slant/The House Next Door
• An in-depth interview with Malcolm McDowell covering his entire career from HoboTrashcan.com
• Interactive video talk by McDowell on the British "Free Cinema" movement of the 50s, made for the British Film Institute
• "What if..." – The Guardian, 24 April 2004. In-depth profile and interview.
• "O Lucky Man! Malcolm McDowell's journey from coffee salesman to movie star" – The Times, 17 May 2008
• "Audiobook read by Malcolm McDowell" – The Bobbything, 2010

Michael Paré
Paré at a 2008 film screening
Born	Michael Kevin Paré (1958-10-09) October 9, 1958 (age 53) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981 – present

Michael Kevin Paré^[1] (born October 9, 1958) is an American actor.

Early life[link]

Paré was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Joan, a homemaker, and Francis Paré, who owned print shops.^[1] He has six sisters and three brothers. Paré's father was of French-Canadian ancestry^[2] and his mother of Irish ancestry.^{[citation needed]} His father died from leukemia when Paré was five, leaving his mother to raise the large family of children. Paré was working as a chef in New York when he met an agent, Yvette Bikoff, who convinced him to try acting.

Acting career[link]

His first starring role was as Tony Villicana on the television series The Greatest American Hero. His most well-known film roles were as Eddie Wilson in Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) and its sequel Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989), as well as Streets of Fire (1984) and The Philadelphia Experiment (1984). Other films included Moon 44 (1990), Village of the Damned (1995), Bad Moon (1996), Hope Floats (1998), and The Virgin Suicides (1999).

On television, Paré starred with Michael Beck in the CBS police drama Houston Knights from 1987–1988, as well as the short-lived 2001 science fiction television series Starhunter.

Personal life[link]

He has starred in television commercials in Japan. He has married three times. His first wife, from 1980 to 1982 was film producer Lisa Katselas Paré. He was married to Marisa Roebuck from 1986 to 1988, and in 1992 married his present wife, Marjolein, a former fashion model.

Filmography[link]

• Crazy Times (1981) as Harry
• The Greatest American Hero (1981–1983) as Tony Villicana
• Eddie and the Cruisers (1983) as Eddie Wilson
• Undercover (1984) as Max
• Streets of Fire (1984) as Tom Cody
• The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) as David Herdeg
• Space Rage (1985) as Grange
• Instant Justice (1986) as Scott Youngblood
• The Women's Club (1987) as Patrick
• World Gone Wild (1988) as George Landon
• Houston Knights (1987–1988) as Sgt. Joey La Fiamma
• Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! (1989) as Eddie Wilson / Joe West
• Dragonfight (1990) as Moorpark
• Moon 44 (1990) as Felix Stone
• Il sole buio (1990) as Ruggero Brickman
• The Closer (1990) as Larry Freed
• Empire City (1991) as Joey Andre
• Killing Streets (1991) as Chris/Craig Brandt
• The Last Hour (1991) as Jeff
• Into the Sun (1992) as Capt. Paul Watkins
• Blink of an Eye (1992) as Sam Browning
• Sunset Heat (1992) as Eric Wright
• Point of Impact (1993) as Jack Davis
• Deadly Heroes (1993) as Brad Cartowski
• Warriors (1994) as Colin Neal
• Carver's Gate (1995) as Carver
• Lunarcop (1995) as Joe Brody
• Village of the Damned (1995) as Frank McGowan
• Triplecross (1995) as Teddy 'T.C' Cooper
• The Dangerous (1995) as Random
• Raging Angels (1995) as Colin
• The Colony (1996) as Alec Harken
• Coyote Run (1996) as Pershing Quinn
• Bad Moon (1996) as Uncle Ted
• Merchant of Death (1997) as Jim Randell
• 2103: The Deadly Wake (1997) as Tarkis
• Strip Search (1997) as Robby Durrell
• Falling Fire (1997) as Daryl Boden
• Hope Floats (1998) as Bill Pruitt
• Back to Even (1998) as Boyle
• October 22 (1998) as Gary
• The Virgin Suicides (1999) as Adult Trip Fontaine
• Men of Means (1999) as Rico 'Bullet' Burke
• Peril (2000) as Vincent
• Sanctimony (2000) as Jim Renart
• Space Fury (2000) as Konrad
• A Month of Sundays (2001) as Tomas McCabe
• Red Serpent (2002) as Steve Nichols
• Blackwoods (2002) as Sheriff Harding
• Heart of America (2002) as Will Prat
• Fate (2003) as Detective Cody Martin
• Starhunter (2000–2003) as Dante Montana
• Cold Case (2004) as Randy Price
• Gargoyle (2004) as Ty "Griff" Griffin
• Crash Landing (2005) as Captain Williams
• Komodo vs. Cobra (2005) as Mike A. Stoddard
• BloodRayne (2005) as Iancu
• Furnace (2006) as Detective Michael Turner
• Saurian (2006) as Jace Randall
• South Beach (2006) as Charlie Evans
• Seed (2007) as Detective Matt Bishop
• Polycarp (2007) as Detective Barry Harper
• Postal (2007) as Panhandler
• BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007) as Pat Garrett
• Dark World (2008) as Harry
• Ninja Cheerleaders (2008) as Victor Lazzaro
• 1968 Tunnel Rats (2008) as Sergeant Vic Hollowborn
• 100 Feet (2008) as Mike Watson
• Road to Hell (2008) as Tom Cody
• Alone in the Dark II (2008) as Willson
• Far Cry (2008) as Paul Summers
• The Perfect Sleep (2009) as Officer Pavlovich
• 1968: Tunnel Rats - Behind the Scenes (2009) as Sergeant Vic Hollowborn
• Direct Contact (2009) as Clive Connelly
• Rampage (2009) as Sheriff Melvoy
• Cool Dog (2009) as Dean Warner
• Job (2010) as Detective Remar
• Amphibious 3D (2010) as Jack Bowman
• Room and Board
• Blubberella
• Bloodrayne: The Third Reich as Ekart Brand
• The Lincoln Lawyer as Detective Kurlen
• House (2011 TV show)
• Gone as Lt. Ray Bozeman
• Leverage (2012) as FBI Special Agent Dennis Powell (Season 4: Episode 17)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michael Paré

• Michael Paré at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Paré at the TCM Movie Database
• Michael Paré at AllRovi
• Michael Paré on Myspace
• Official Michael Paré Site
• Official Michael Paré Blog
• Michael Paré Media Forum

Roland Emmerich
Roland Emmerich in Berlin (2007)
Born	(1955-11-10) November 10, 1955 (age 56) Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Occupation	Film director, producer and screenwriter
Years active	1984–present

Roland Emmerich (German: [ˈÊ?oË?lant ˈɛmÉ™Ê?ɪç]) (born November 10, 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films, most of which are Hollywood productions filmed in English, have grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, more than those of any other European directors. His films have grossed just over $1 billion in the United States, making him the country's 14th-highest grossing director of all time.^[1][2][3] He began his work in the film industry by directing the film The Noah's Ark Principle as part of his university thesis and also co-founded Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 with his sister. He is a collector of art and an active campaigner for the lesbian and gay community, himself being openly gay.^[4] He is also a campaigner for an awareness of global warming and equal rights.

Emmerich has directed many successful films such as Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), The Patriot (2000), The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009). Although many of his films have been successful in the box office, his films usually have the tendency of being panned by critics such as Universal Soldier (1992), Godzilla (1998) and 10,000 BC (2008) ^[5].

Early life and career[link]

Emmerich was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and grew up in the nearby town of Sindelfingen.^[6] As a youth, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America on vacations financed by his father, Hans, the wealthy founder of a garden machinery production company.^[7] In 1977, he began attending University of Television and Film Munich with the intention of studying to become a production designer.^[7][8] After watching Star Wars, he instead decided to enroll in the school's film director program.^[7][9] Required to create a short film as his final thesis in 1981, he wrote and directed the full-length feature The Noah's Ark Principle, which was eventually screened as the opening film of the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.^[8]

In 1985, he founded Centropolis Film Productions (now Centropolis Entertainment) in partnership with his sister, producer Ute Emmerich, and directed his major film debut, a fantasy feature named Joey.^[7] He subsequently directed the 1987 comedy Hollywood-Monster and the 1990 science-fiction film Moon 44. Theatrically, these were only released in and nearby his native country, although Emmerich filmed them in English and went against conventional German styles in an attempt to appeal to a larger market.^[7][10] This subsequently resulted in Moon 44 being released direct-to-video in the U.S. in early 1991. Joey and Hollywood-Monster eventually also saw home video releases in the U.S. (as Making Contact and Ghost Chase, respectively) once Emmerich achieved more prominence in America.

Hollywood director[link]

1990s[link]

Producer Mario Kassar invited Emmerich to come to the United States to direct a futuristic action film entitled Isobar.^[11] Dean Devlin, who appeared in Moon 44, soon joined Emmerich as his writing and producing partner, and served in this capacity until 2000.^[10] Emmerich subsequently refused the offer to direct after producers rejected Devlin's re-write of the script, and the Isobar project was eventually scrapped.^[11] Instead, Emmerich was hired to replace director Andrew Davis for the action movie Universal Soldier. The film was released in 1992, and has since been followed by two direct-to-video sequels, a theatrical sequel, and another sequel released in 2010.

Emmerich next helmed the 1994 science-fiction film Stargate. At the time, it set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for a film released in the month of October.^[12] It became more commercially successful than most film industry insiders had anticipated,^[10][13] and spawned a highly popular media franchise.

Emmerich then directed Independence Day, an alien invasion feature, released in 1996, that became the first film to gross $100 million in less than a week^[14][15] and went on to become one of the most financially successful films of all time,^[16] at one point having been the second-highest grossing film in terms of worldwide box office.^[17] Emmerich and Devlin then created the television series The Visitor, which aired on the Fox Network during 1997–1998 before being cancelled after one season.

His next film, Godzilla, opened in 1998. An extensive advertising and marketing campaign generated significant hype during the months leading up to the film's release. The film was a box office success but was met with mostly negative reviews from critics and near-universally negative reactions from fans.

2000s[link]

Taking a short break from science-fiction, Emmerich next directed the American Revolutionary War epic The Patriot. Only the second film (Universal Soldier being the other) Emmerich has directed in which he did not contribute to the screenplay, the film received generally favorable critical and commercial response,^[18] and is Emmerich's best-reviewed film to date.^[19][20] After teaming up with new screenwriting partner Harald Kloser, Emmerich returned once again to directing a visual effects-laden adventure with 2004's blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, another disaster film about a rapidly oncoming Ice Age brought upon by the effects of global warming. Soon afterward, he founded Reelmachine, another film production company based in Germany.

In 2008, Emmerich directed 10,000 BC, a film about the journeys of a prehistoric tribe of mammoth hunters. It was a box office hit, but consistently regarded by professional critics as one of the worst movies of the year.^[21] He was slated to direct a remake of the 1966 science-fiction film Fantastic Voyage,^[22] but the project slipped back into development hell. In 2009 he directed 2012,^[23] an apocalyptic disaster film inspired by the theory that the ancient Mayans prophesied the world's ending on December 21, 2012.^[24] Emmerich usually finishes production of a large-scale movie both in a time frame shorter and on a budget lower than what is typically requested by other directors.^[8][10]

His next film, Anonymous, released on 28 October 2011, is based on the premise that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford is the real author of the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare.^[25] According to Emmerich, "It’s an historical thriller because it’s about who will succeed Queen Elizabeth and the struggle of the people who want to have a hand in it. It’s the Tudors on one side and the Cecils on the other, and in between [the two] is the Queen. Through that story we tell how the plays written by the Earl of Oxford ended up labelled 'William Shakespeare.'"^[26] The release date for Anonymous coincided with the completion of the 13th Baktun, the date which marks the empirical base for Emmerich's film 2012, as this is celebrated by the surviving indigenous Maya, specifically the Quiché people.

Criticisms[link]

Reviewers often criticize that Emmerich's films rely too heavily on visual effects, and suffer from cliché dialogue, flimsy and formulaic narrative, numerous scientific and historical inaccuracies, illogical plot development, and lack of character depth.^[27][28][29] Emmerich contends that he is not discouraged by such negative criticism, and that he aims to provide enjoyable "popcorn" entertainment to movie-going audiences.^[30] Stating that he is "a filmmaker, not a scientist", he creates his own fiction based on actual science or history to make the messages he sends "more exciting".^[31]

In response to accusations of insensitivity for including scenes of New York City being destroyed in The Day After Tomorrow, less than three years after the September 11th attacks, Emmerich claims that it was necessary to depict the event as a means to showcase the increased unity people now have when facing a disaster, because of 9/11.^[30][31][32] When accused of resorting too often to scenes of cities being subjected to epic disasters, Emmerich says that it is a justified way of increasing awareness about both global warming, and the lack of a government preparation plan for a global doomsday scenario in the cases of The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 respectively.^[31][33]

Acknowledging what he was told were flaws with Godzilla, Emmerich admitted he regretted having agreed to direct it. He stated that his lack of interest in the previous Godzilla movies, the short time he promised it would take for him to complete the film, and the studio's refusal to screen it for test audiences were all factors that may have negatively affected the quality of the final product,^[32] and cited the former reason as to why he turned down an offer to direct Spider-Man as he could not imagine himself as getting enthusiastic about the project because he was never intrigued by comic books and superhero-related fiction.^[32] However, Emmerich still defends Godzilla, noting that the film was highly profitable^[32] and claiming that, of all his movies, people tell him Godzilla is the one they and their kids watch the most repeatedly.^[31]

Personal life and advocacy[link]

Emmerich owns homes in Los Angeles, Manhattan, London and Stuttgart.^{[7][32][34][35][36]} Emmerich likes to decorate his homes in a self-described "outlandish" manner,^[36] adorning them with rare Hollywood memorabilia, murals and portraits of dictators and Communist figures, and World War II-Militaria.^[7][35]

Emmerich's extensive collection of artwork includes a painting of Jesus Christ wearing a Katharine Hamnett-styled t-shirt during his crucifixion,^[36] prints of Alison Jackson's works of a Princess Diana lookalike making obscene gestures and engaging in sex acts,^[34][37] a wax sculpture of Pope John Paul II laughing as he reads his own obituary,^[34][37] and a Photoshopped image of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a homoerotic pose.^[36] Emmerich, who is openly gay,^[4] and a financial supporter of U.S. progressive politics,^[38] states that the decorations and pieces aren't declarations of any beliefs,^[36] but rather reflections of his "predilection for art with a political edge".^[37]

Emmerich has claimed that he witnessed overt racism when producers and studio executives were opposed to allowing him to cast Will Smith for the lead in Independence Day, and reluctant to allow him to portray an interracial couple in The Day After Tomorrow.^[39] He has also claimed that he has encountered homophobia from the same groups, and is vocal in his opposition of such behavior.^[39] He has stated that sometimes he does "[not like working in] the movie business", describing it as a sometimes "very cold, brutal business", but his motivation to keep directing is that he genuinely "like[s] making movies".^[7]

In 2006, he pledged $150,000 to the Legacy Project, a campaign dedicated to gay and lesbian film preservation. Emmerich made the donation on behalf of Outfest, making it the largest gift in the festival's history.^[40] In 2007, on behalf of the LGBT community, he held a fundraiser at his Los Angeles home for Democratic Party presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.^[35]

Emmerich is in favor of the campaign for stunt performers to receive recognition at the Academy Awards, and has worked to raise awareness over the issue of global warming.^[30][41] A chain-smoker who has been known to smoke as many as four packs of cigarettes a day,^[42] Emmerich has often included in his films characters who are trying to quit smoking, and/or warn against the dangers of tobacco use. Along with several other celebrities, he is a producer of The 1 Second Film, a non-profit project intended to raise money for women's rights in the developing world.^[43]

Filmography[link]

In addition to film, Emmerich also co-created and produced the short-lived television series The Visitor, and, in 2001, directed a one-minute commercial entitled "Infinite Possibilities" for DaimlerChrysler.^[44]

Films[link]

TV series[link]

Rotten Tomatoes Ratings[link]

References[link]