Joel Silver
| Joel Silver | |
|---|---|
 Silver at the Tribeca Film Festival in May 2008 for the premiere of Speed Racer, which he produced | |
| Born |
July 14, 1952 South Orange, New Jersey, United States |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Spouse(s) | Karyn Fields (1999–present; 1 child) |
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer, known for action films like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. He is owner of Silver Pictures and co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment.
Life and career
Silver grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive.[1] He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, where he is credited with inventing the sport of Ultimate (then known as "Ultimate Frisbee").[2] In 1970, he entered Lafayette College, where he formed the first collegiate Ultimate team. He finished his undergraduate studies at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Silver began his career at Lawrence Gordon Productions, where he eventually became president of motion pictures for the company. He earned his first screen credit as the associate producer on The Warriors and, with Gordon, produced 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire and Brewster's Millions. In 1985, he formed Silver Pictures and produced successful action films such as Commando (1985), the Lethal Weapon franchise, the first two films of the Die Hard series and the The Matrix franchise of action films.
Silver appears on-screen at the beginning of Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Raoul J. Raoul, the director of the animated short Something's Cookin.
Silver directed "Split Personality", (1992), an episode of the HBO horror anthology, Tales from the Crypt. He currently runs two production companies, Silver Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment co-owned by Robert Zemeckis.
Along with Jared Kass, Silver was co-creator of the sport of Ultimate.[3]
On July 10, 1999, Silver married his production assistant, Karyn Fields.
Frank Lloyd Wright houses
Silver is well known as an aficionado of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1984, he bought the Wright-designed Storer House in Hollywood and made considerable investments to restore it to the original condition. The Storer House's squarish relief ornament then became the company logo of Silver Pictures. Silver sold it in 2002 for $2.9 million. In 1986, he purchased the long-neglected C. Leigh Stevens Auldbrass Plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina, and has been restoring it since then.[4]
Filmography
- Max (1976) (producer)
- The Warriors (1979) (associate producer)
- Xanadu (1980) (co-producer)
- Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982) (executive producer)
- 48 Hrs. (1982) (producer)
- Streets of Fire (1984) (producer)
- Brewster's Millions (1985) (producer)
- Weird Science (1985) (producer)
- Commando (1985) (producer)
- Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) (producer)
- Lethal Weapon (1987) (producer)
- Predator (1987) (producer)
- Action Jackson (1988) (producer)
- Die Hard (1988) (producer)
- Road House (1989) (producer)
- Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) (producer)
- Die Hard 2 (1990) (producer)
- The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) (producer)
- Predator 2 (1990) (producer)
- Hudson Hawk (1991) (producer)
- Ricochet (1991) (producer)
- The Last Boy Scout (1991) (producer)
- Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) (producer)
- Demolition Man (1993) (producer)
- Richie Rich (1994) (producer)
- Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995) (executive producer)
- Assassins (1995) (producer)
- Fair Game (1995) (producer)
- Executive Decision (1996) (producer)
- Bordello of Blood (1996) (producer)
- Fathers' Day (1997) (producer)
- Conspiracy Theory (1997) (producer)
- Double Tap (1997) (producer)
- Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) (producer)
- The Matrix (1999) (producer)
- Made Men (1999) (producer)
- House on Haunted Hill (1999) (producer)
- Romeo Must Die (2000) (producer)
- Dungeons & Dragons (2000) (producer)
- Ritual (2001) (producer)
- Exit Wounds (2001) (producer)
- Proximity (2001) (producer)
- Swordfish (2001) (producer)
- Thirteen Ghosts (2001) (producer)
- Ghost Ship (2002) (producer)
- Cradle 2 the Grave (2003) (producer)
- The Animatrix (2003) (producer)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003) (producer)
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003) (producer)
- Gothika (2003) (producer)
- House of Wax (2005) (producer)
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) (producer)
- V for Vendetta (2005) (producer)
- The Reaping (2007) (producer)
- The Invasion (2007) (producer)
- The Brave One (2007) (producer)
- Fred Claus (2007) (producer)
- Moonlight (2007) (Executive Producer)
- Speed Racer (2008) (producer)
- RocknRolla (2008) (producer)
- The Hills Run Red (2009) (producer)
- Orphan (2009) (producer)
- Whiteout (2009) (producer)
- Ninja Assassin (2009) (producer)
- Sherlock Holmes (2009) (producer)
- The Book of Eli (2010) (producer)
- The Losers (2010) (producer)
- Splice (2010) (executive producer)
- Unknown (2011) (producer)
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) (producer)
- The Apparition (2012) (producer)
- Dragon Eyes (2012) (producer)
- Bullet to the Head (2013) (producer)
- Enemies Closer (2013) (executive producer)
- Getaway (2013) (producer)
- Non-Stop (2014) (producer)
- The Loft (2014) (producer)
- Veronica Mars (2014) (executive producer)
References
- ↑ http://www.filmreference.com/film/52/Joel-Silver.html
- ↑ Collegiate Ultimate Frisbee Began at Lafayette
- ↑ Interview with Joel Silver and Jared Kass Ultimate History
- ↑ Lee, Matt; Lee, Ted (November 30, 2003), "Auldbrass Wasn't Rebuilt in a Day", New York Times
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joel Silver. |
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