Wes Craven

Wes Craven

Craven in 2010
Born Wesley Earl Craven
August 2, 1939
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation Director, writer, producer, actor
Years active 1971–present
Known for Last House on the Left
The Hills Have Eyes
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The People Under the Stairs
Red Eye
Scream
Spouse(s) Bonnie Broecker
(1964–69)
Mimi Craven (1984–87)
Iya Labunka (2004–present)
Website
http://www.wescraven.com

Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven (born August 2, 1939) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor known for his work on horror films, particularly slasher films. He is the creator of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise featuring the Freddy Krueger character, directed the first installment and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, and also co-wrote A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors with Bruce Wagner. Craven also directed the entire Scream series featuring Ghostface. Some of his other films include The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, The Serpent and the Rainbow, The People Under the Stairs, Vampire in Brooklyn, Cursed, Red Eye, and My Soul to Take.

Early life

Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Caroline (née Miller) and Paul Craven.[1] He was raised in a strict Baptist family.[2] Craven earned an undergraduate degree in English and Psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master's degree in Philosophy and Writing from Johns Hopkins University.[3]

Career before film industry

Craven briefly taught English at Westminster College and was a humanities professor at Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) in Potsdam, New York. His first job in the film industry was as a sound editor for a post-production company in New York City.

Directing and writing career

Craven left the academic world for the more lucrative role of pornographic film director. In the documentary Inside Deep Throat, Craven says on camera he made "many hard core X-rated films" under pseudonyms. While his role in Deep Throat is undisclosed, most of his early known work involved writing, film editing or both. In 1972 Wes Craven directed his first feature film The Last House on the Left.

Craven's works tend to share a common exploration of the nature of reality. A Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, dealt with the consequences of dreams in real life. New Nightmare "brushes against" (but does not quite break) the fourth wall by having actress Heather Langenkamp play herself as she is haunted by the villain of the film in which she once starred. At one point in the film, we see on Wes Craven's word processor a script he has written, which includes the exact conversation he just had with Heather — as if the script was being written as the action unfolded. The Serpent and the Rainbow portrays a man who cannot distinguish between nightmarish visions and reality. In Scream, the characters frequently reference horror films similar to their situations, and at one point Billy Loomis tells his girlfriend that life is just a big movie. This concept was emphasized in the sequels, as copycat stalkers reenact the events of a new film about the Woodsboro killings occurring in Scream. Scream included a scene mentioning the well-known Richard Gere urban legend. Craven stated in interviews that he received calls from agents telling him that if he left that scene in, he would never work again.[4][5] He directed Scream 4.

Craven also frequently collaborates with Sean S. Cunningham. In Craven's debut feature, The Last House on the Left, Cunningham served as producer. Later, in Craven's most famous film, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Cunningham directed one of the chase scenes, although uncredited. Their infamous characters, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, appeared together in the 2003 slasher film Freddy vs. Jason with Cunningham acting as producer, while screenwriter Victor Miller is credited as "Character Creator". Later, in The Last House on the Left remake, both Cunningham and Craven share production credits.[6]

Although known for directing horror/thriller films, he has worked on two that were outside this genre: the 1999 film Music of the Heart, and as one of the 22 directors in the 2006 collaboration Paris, je t'aime.

Recently Craven has created Coming of Rage, a graphic novel, with 30 Days of Night comic book writer Steve Niles. The comic will be released by Liquid Comics in 2013 with a possible film adaption directed by Craven and produced by Live Free Or Die Hard producer Arnold Rifkin and Liquid Comics CEO Sharad Devarajan.

Awards and nominations

During his career, Wes Craven won nine cinematic awards and received three nominations.

In 1977, he won the 'Prize of the International Critics' Jury' in the "Sitges – Catalonian International Film Festival" for his film The Hills Have Eyes.

In 1985, his horror film A Nightmare on Elm Street won the 'Critic's Award' at the "Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival".

In 1992, the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film presented him the Pegasus Audience Award for the thriller The People Under the Stairs. His Fantasporto won the International Fantasy Film Award for Best Screenplay while the Best Film award went to his film Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the final A Nightmare on Elm Street film he directed. His Shocker was also nominated for Best Film in 1990.

The Gérardmer Film Festival granted him the Grand Prize in 1997 for Scream.

He was nominated for Best Director for Scream at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, in 1997.

In 2006, he was honored at Spike TV's Scream with the Mastermind Award (the tribute was presented to him by Neve Campbell).

Other work

Craven designed the Halloween 2008 logo for Google,[7] and was the second celebrity personality to take over the YouTube homepage on Halloween.[8]

Craven had a letter published in the July 19, 1968 edition of Life magazine, praising that periodical's coverage of contemporary rock music, in particular Frank Zappa.[9]

Personal life

Craven's first marriage to Bonnie Broecker produced two children, Jonathan Craven (born 1965) and Jessica Craven (born 1968). Jonathan is a writer and director with a few credits to his name. Jessica was a singer/songwriter in the group the Chapin Sisters. The marriage ended in 1970.

In 1982, Craven married Millicent Eleanor Meyer. However, the two divorced. Craven has stated in interviews that the marriage dissolved after he discovered it "was no longer anything but a sham."[10]

In 2004, Craven married Iya Labunka. She frequently works as a producer on Craven's films.[11]

Craven is a birder. In 2010 he became a member of Audubon California's Board of Directors.[11]

Books

Year Title
1999 Fountain Society
2013 Coming of Rage

Filmography

Year Film Director (Executive)
Producer		 Writer Cinematographer Editor Actor Role Notes
1971 Together
No
1972 The Last House on the Left
No
No
No
1973 It Happened in Hollywood
No
No
 King's Litter Bearer Also second unit director
1975 The Carhops
No
Angela, the Fireworks Woman
No
No
No
No
 The Fireworks Man
1976 Thunder Buns
No
No
 Photographer
Honey Pie
No
Sweet Cakes
No
No
 Photographer
1977 Hot Cookies
No
The Hills Have Eyes
No
No
No
1978 Stranger in Our House
No
 TV movie
The Evolution of Snuff
No
Here Come the Tigers
No
1981 Deadly Blessing
No
No
Kent State
No
 TV movie
1982 Swamp Thing
No
No
1984 Invitation to Hell
No
 TV movie
A Nightmare on Elm Street
No
No
1985 Chiller
No
 TV movie
The Hills Have Eyes Part II
No
No
The Twilight Zone
No
 TV series, 5 episodes
1986 Deadly Friend
No
Casebusters
No
 Episode of anthology TV series Disneyland
1987 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
No
No
1988 The Serpent and the Rainbow
No
1989 The People Next Door
No
No
 TV series, Co-creator
Shocker
No
No
No
No
 The neighbor
1990 Night Visions
No
No
No
 TV movie
1991 The People Under the Stairs
No
No
No
1992 Nightmare Cafe
No
No
 TV series
1993 Laurel Canyon
No
Body Bags
No
 Pasty faced man in garage Cameo
1994 Wes Craven's New Nightmare
No
No
No
No
 Himself
1995 Vampire in Brooklyn
No
The Hills Have Eyes III
No
 AKA Mind Ripper
The Fear
No
 Dr. Arnold
1996 Scream
No
No
 "Fred" (school janitor) Cameo
1997 Scream 2
No
No
No
 Doctor
Wishmaster
No
1998 Hollyweird
No
 TV movie
Don't Look Down
No
No
Carnival of Souls
No
No
1999 Music of the Heart
No
2000 Scream 3
No
No
 Tourist Cameo
Dracula 2000
No
2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
No
 Himself Cameo
2002 They Shoot Divas, Don't They?
No
 TV movie
They
No
2003 Dracula II: Ascension
No
2004 Tales from the Crapper
No
 Himself
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
No
2005 Dracula III: Legacy
No
Cursed
No
Inside Deep Throat
No
 Himself
Feast
No
Red Eye
No
2006 Pulse
No
 Remake
The Hills Have Eyes
No
The Breed
No
Paris, je t'aime
No
No
No
 Vampire's Victim Segment: Père-Lachaise
2007 The Hills Have Eyes 2
No
No
 Remake
Agitation
No
The Tripper
No
 Top hat-wearing hippy Cameo
2008 Diary of the Dead
No
 Radio voice
2009 The Last House on the Left
No
 Remake
2010 My Soul to Take
No
No
No
2011 Scream 4
No
No
No
 Coroner at the Randalls Cameo
Deleted scene
2013 Castle
No
 Himself Cameo
Episode: Scared To Death

Highest-grossing films

This is a list of the top 10 highest-grossing films by Wes Craven, each has made at least $30 million.

Rank Title Lifetime gross (US$)
1 Scream 173,046,663
2 Scream 2 172,363,301
3 Scream 3 161,834,276
4 Scream 4 101,214,723
5 Red Eye 95,577,774
6 The Hills Have Eyes (2006 film) 69,623,713
7 The Hills Have Eyes 2 67,915,885
8 The Last House on the Left (2009 film) 45,286,228
9 A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors 44,793,222
10 The People Under the Stairs 31,347,154

References

  1. ↑ Wes Craven Biography (1939–) at filmreference.com
  2. ↑ The Horror of Being Wes Craven
  3. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth (1998). Wes Craven: The Art of Horror. Jefferson, South Carolina: McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-7864-0576-7. pp. 8–9.
  4. ↑ Movies Referenced in SCREAM
  5. ↑ Simels, Steve (September 5, 1997). "Slashed and Burned". Entertainment Weekly.
  6. ↑ "'Scream IV' Officially Greenlit with Wes Craven Attached".
  7. ↑ "Wes Craven Carves Google Logo".
  8. ↑ "Wes Craven Takes Over YouTube for Halloween!". Tubefilter News. August 31, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  9. ↑ "Letters To The Editors", Life, 19 July 1968, p.17. Reprinted at Google Books.
  10. ↑ Emery, Robert J. The Directors: Take Three, Volume 3, Allworth Press, 2003. ISBN 1581152450. Reprinted at Google Books.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Frost, G (28 May 2010). "Director Wes Craven joins Audubon California's Board of Directors". Audublog. Audubon California (National Audubon Society). Retrieved April 3, 2011.

External links

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