Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg (/ˈspiːlbɜːrɡ/; 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 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).

Spielberg directed the historical war epics Schindler's List (1993)—which has often been listed as one of the greatest films ever made—and Saving Private Ryan (1998), both of which won him the Academy Award for Best Director with the former also earning him Best Picture. He has also directed the science fiction films Jurassic Park (1993)—which became the highest-grossing film at the time—A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Minority Report (2002), War of the Worlds (2005), Ready Player One (2018) and Disclosure Day (2026); the historical dramas Amistad (1997), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015) and The Post (2017); the comedies Catch Me If You Can (2002) and The Terminal (2004); the animated film The Adventures of Tintin (2011); the musical West Side Story (2021); and the family drama The Fabelmans (2022).

Spielberg co-founded Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures, and he has served as a producer for many successful films and television series, among them Poltergeist (1982), Gremlins (1984), Back to the Future (1985), An American Tail (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Animaniacs (1993), Pinky and the Brain (1995), Twister (1996), Band of Brothers (2001) and Transformers (2007). Several of Spielberg's works are considered among the greatest films in history, and some are among the highest-grossing ever. Seven of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In 2013, Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people, and in 2023, Spielberg was the recipient of the first ever Time 100 Impact Award in the US.