Steven Spielberg
USC film school rejected him twice; he shot his first features for a Boy Scout badge.
- Born
- 1946 · Cincinnati, Ohio, US
- Roots
- Jewish American
- Family
- Middle class
- Electrical-engineer father, pianist mother; frequent moves, antisemitic bullying at school, and a divorce that echoes through his films.
- Education
- Rejected twice by USC film school; attended Cal State Long Beach
- Started with
- A Boy Scout badge
- Made his first 8mm film for a Scout photography badge; his sisters sold tickets and popcorn to home screenings.
- Affiliations & societies
- None documented.
- Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.
The pathway
- 1968 · age 21Amblin'
The 26-minute short gets him a seven-year Universal contract — reported as the youngest ever signed by a major studio.
- 1971 · age 24Duel
A TV movie so taut it gets a theatrical release in Europe.
- 1975 · age 28Jaws
The mechanical shark keeps breaking, forcing suspense by absence; the result invents the summer blockbuster.
- 1982 · age 35E.T.
The highest-grossing film ever, until his own Jurassic Park.
- 1993 · age 46Schindler's List
Refuses a salary, calling it blood money; the profits seed the Shoah Foundation's 55,000 survivor testimonies.
- 1994 · age 47DreamWorks
Co-founds the first new major studio in decades.
Sources
Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.