Robert Zemeckis Birthday May 14

Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future movie series, as well as the Oscar-winning live-action/cartoon epic, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), though in the 1990s he diversified into more dramatic fare, including 1994′s Forrest Gump, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.

His films are characterized by an interest in state-of-the-art special effects, including the early use of match moving in Back to the Future Part II (1989) and the pioneering performance capture techniques seen in The Polar Express (2004), Beowulf (2007) and A Christmas Carol (2009). Though Zemeckis has often been pigeonholed as a director interested only in effects, his work has been defended by several critics, including David Thomson, who wrote that “No other contemporary director has used special effects to more dramatic and narrative purpose.”

Trivia:

Sits on USC School of Cinema-Television’s Board of Councilors.

Attended University of Southern California, School of Cinema. Former classmates included George Lucas, John Milius and others.

First television script that he and Bob Gale sold in Hollywood was for “Kolchak: The Night Stalker: Chopper (#1.15)” (1975).

His first wife, Mary Ellen Trainor, appeared in four of his films: Romancing the Stone (1984) (as Joan Wilder’s kidnapped sister, Elaine), Back to the Future Part II (1989) (as Officer Reese), Death Becomes Her (1992) (as Vivian Adams), and Forrest Gump (1994) (as Jenny’s babysitter).

Announced through his company ImageMovers in August 2002 that he will direct a film adaptation of the popular horror/fantasy comic book “Route 666.” The comic, published by CrossGen Comics, centers on a young woman who is besieged by demons and other strange creatures during the Cold War.

Father, with Mary Ellen Trainor, of Alexander Zemeckis.

Owns two production companies – ImageMovers and DarkCastle Entertainment (which he co-owns with Joel Silver).

Is of Lithuanian Heritage.

Is a good friend of director Peter Jackson. The two of them have used four of the same actors: Michael J. Fox, who appeared in the Back to the Future trilogy, played the lead role in Jackson’s The Frighteners (1996), which Zemeckis produced; Peter Dobson, who also appeared in The Frighteners, also played Elvis Presley in Forrest Gump (1994), although Kurt Russell provided the voice; Elijah Wood made his film debut in Back to the Future Part II (1989), then went on to play Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy; Miranda Otto, who played a distraught neighbor in What Lies Beneath (2000), played Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

Three of the actors he has worked with have acted on camera for one of his films and provided a character voice in another film. Kurt Russell, who appeared in Used Cars (1980), provided the voice of Elvis Presley in Forrest Gump (1994). He has also played Elvis in a made-for-TV film for John Carpenter. Charles Fleischer, who voiced Roger Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), also played a mechanic in the past and future sequences of Back to the Future Part II (1989). Kathleen Turner, the voice of Jessica Rabbit, played the lead role in Romancing the Stone (1984).

Shares the same birthday as George Lucas.

Interviewed in “Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America,” ed. by Jeremy Kagan, Scarecrow Press, 2006.

Was initially signed to direct Cocoon (1985) but changed his mind when Michael Douglas hired him to direct Romancing the Stone (1984).

2007 – Ranked #18 on EW’s The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.

Has in his archives a letter of rejection from every studio rejecting Back to the Future (1985), because they thought it was too soft for the type of teen movie at the time, except for Disney who thought it was too racy.

He is rated an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) private pilot.

Has an affinity for Italy. His mother was born in Italy, he and his second wife Leslie Zemeckis were married in Italy, and they have a vacation home (a villa) in Tuscany, Italy.

Lives in Santa Barbara, California with his second wife, Leslie Zemeckis, and their two children [2010].

Filed under: Birthdays

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