CHRIS COLUMBUS (FILMMAKER)

'Christopher "Chris" Columbus' (born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 1958) is an American filmmaker.

Contents

Film career

Start in the industry

Return to prominence

Partial filmography

Personal life

References

External links

Film career

Start in the industry

Columbus grew up in (Champion, Ohio) and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio. After that he attended New York University's film school at the Tisch School of the Arts. There he was a schoolmate of Charlie Kaufman^[1].
After finishing film school, Columbus started in the industry as a screenwriter with Steven Spielberg's Amblin Productions, working on ''Gremlins'' (1984), ''The Goonies'' (1985) and ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (1985). He created and wrote the first episode of the animated series ''Galaxy High'' (1986-87).
Columbus made his directorial debut with the teen comedy ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987). He had huge success with the first ''Home Alone'' film (1990) starring Macaulay Culkin.

Return to prominence

In 1995, Columbus started his own production company named '1492 Pictures'. This name is intended as a play on Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus (1492 is the year of Columbus' arrival to the New World.)
His later directorial work includes the first two ''Harry Potter'' films, ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993), ''Bicentennial Man'' (1999), and ''Rent'' (2005), an adaptation of the popular Broadway musical.
Commercially, he has been hugely successful, despite the occasional flop, but like his one-time mentor, Steven Spielberg, he has met with critical accusations of excessive sentimentality and catering to children.
Chris Columbus had been rumored to direct the sixth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; but David Yates, the director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, has retained the position.
As of August 2006, Columbus optioned the film rights to Christopher Moore's best-selling novel ''A Dirty Job''.^[2]
Columbus lives in San Francisco, California.

Partial filmography

★ '' (2007) (Executive Producer)

★ ''Night at the Museum'' (2006) (producer)

★ ''Rent'' (2005) (Director)

★ ''Fantastic Four'' (2005) (Executive Producer)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' (2004) (producer)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002) (exec. producer, director)

★ ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (2001) (exec. producer, director)

★ ''Bicentennial Man'' (1999) (producer, director)

★ ''Stepmom''(1998) (producer, director, writer)

★ ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993) (director)

★ '' (1992) (director)

★ '' (1992) (writer)

★ ''Only the Lonely'' (1991) (director, writer)

★ ''Home Alone'' (1990) (director)

★ ''Heartbreak Hotel'' (1988) (director, writer)

★ ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987) (director)

★ ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (1985) (writer)

★ ''The Goonies'' (1985) (writer)

★ ''Gremlins'' (1984) (writer)

★ ''Reckless'' (1984) (writer)

Personal life

Columbus has been married to Monica Devereux since 1983. [2] They have four children together, Eleanor, Violet, Brendan, and Isabella.
His daughter Eleanor Columbus appeared as the character Susan Bones in the two ''Potter'' films he directed, making her the only American cast as a student. She also had a small cameo along with her father in ''.
His other children, Violet and Brendan, also appeared in even more minor, unnamed cameo roles in ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets''.

References

1. Box Office Prophets
2. [1]

External links

★

★ BBC Movies article about Chris Columbus

★ The New York Times biography of Chris Columbus

★ Elementary, My Dear Potter - Young Sherlock Holmes / Harry Potter article