Joel Silver
Joel Silver | |
---|---|
Born | South Orange, New Jersey, U.S. | July 14, 1952
Occupation | Film producer |
Years active | 1976–present |
Spouse(s) | Karyn Fields (m. 1999) |
Children | 2 |
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer.
Life and career[]
Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive.[1] His family is Jewish.[2] He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. During his time there, Silver, Buzzy Hellring and Jonny Hines created the rules for what he called "Ultimate Frisbee". He was later inducted into the USA Ultimate Hall of Fame as a result of this.[3] 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, as well as the first two films of the Predator series and 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. This was a prank Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis pulled on then-Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, as Eisner and Silver despised each other since their days at Paramount Pictures in the early 1980s, especially with the issues they faced making 48 Hrs.. Silver trimmed his beard off, paid his own expenses, and asked to not have his name in initial cast lists. Reportedly, when production wrapped, due to the fact that Silver was unrecognizable, Eisner questioned who played Raoul and was told it was Silver, at which point, Eisner shrugged and praised his performance.
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.
Silver is also known for his eccentric temper, inspiring characters based on him in movies such as Grand Canyon, True Romance and I'll Do Anything.[4] The character of Les Grossman (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie Tropic Thunder, is a parody of Silver.[5]
He also voiced "the police chief" in the Osmosis Jones film as an uncredited role.[6]
On June 24, 2019, Silver Pictures CEO Hal Sadoff announced that Silver had resigned from the company.[7] Two days later, The Hollywood Reporter cited unnamed sources claiming that Joel Silver's overspending, dearth of recent box-office hits, and an animosity between Silver and financier Daryl Katz led to Silver's departure.[8] No official reason has yet been given by the Katz Group, Silver Pictures, or Joel Silver himself.[9][8]
Frank Lloyd Wright houses and automobiles[]
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 its 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. Both restorations have been managed and supervised by the architect Eric Lloyd Wright (grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright).
Silver has also owned and restored two Lincoln Continental automobiles previously owned by Wright, one a 1940 convertible and the other a 1941 coupe. After the 1940 car was damaged, Wright had a body shop rebuild the car based on his own custom redesign. For a time both cars were displayed in the Storer House.[10][11]
Carmel Musgrove incident[]
On August 19, 2015, Silver's 28-year-old assistant Carmel Musgrove drowned in a lagoon while attending a celebration with Silver in Bora Bora, on the occasion of the marriage between Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. Later, in August 2017, Musgrove's family sued Silver and his assistant Martin Herold, arguing the latter had provided her with cocaine, which, along with alcohol consumption and exhaustion from work, they alleged had contributed to her death.[12][13]
Filmography[]
Film[]
Year | Film | Role |
---|---|---|
1978 | The End | Assistant to producer |
Hooper | Assistant to executive producer | |
1979 | The Warriors | Associate producer |
1980 | Xanadu | Co-producer |
1981 | The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper | Creative consultant |
1982 | 48 Hrs. | Producer |
Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again | Executive Producer | |
Streets of Fire | Executive Producer | |
1985 | Brewster's Millions | Producer |
Weird Science | Producer | |
Commando | Producer | |
1986 | Jumpin' Jack Flash | Producer |
1987 | Lethal Weapon | Producer |
Predator | Producer | |
1988 | Action Jackson | Producer |
Die Hard | Producer | |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Actor "Raoul J. Raoul" | |
1989 | Road House | Producer |
Lethal Weapon 2 | Producer | |
1990 | Die Hard 2 | Producer |
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane | Producer | |
Predator 2 | Producer | |
1991 | Hudson Hawk | Producer |
Ricochet | Producer | |
The Last Boy Scout | Producer | |
1992 | Lethal Weapon 3 | Producer |
1993 | Demolition Man | Producer |
1994 | Richie Rich | Producer |
1995 | Assassins | Producer |
Fair Game | Producer | |
Demon Knight | Executive Producer | |
1996 | Executive Decision | Producer |
Bordello of Blood | Executive Producer | |
1997 | Fathers' Day | Producer |
Conspiracy Theory | Producer | |
Double Tap | Producer | |
1998 | Lethal Weapon 4 | Producer |
1999 | The Matrix | Producer |
Made Men | Producer | |
House on Haunted Hill | Producer | |
2000 | Romeo Must Die | Producer |
Dungeons & Dragons | Executive Producer | |
Proximity | Executive Producer | |
2001 | Exit Wounds | Producer |
Swordfish | Producer | |
Thirteen Ghosts | Producer | |
Osmosis Jones | Voice actor "Police Chief" | |
2002 | Ghost Ship | Producer |
Ritual | Executive Producer | |
2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave | Producer |
The Matrix Reloaded | Producer | |
The Matrix Revolutions | Producer | |
Gothika | Producer | |
The Animatrix (Direct-to-video) | Executive Producer | |
2005 | House of Wax | Producer |
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | Producer | |
V for Vendetta | Producer | |
2007 | The Reaping | Producer |
The Invasion | Producer | |
The Brave One | Producer | |
Fred Claus | Producer | |
Return to House on Haunted Hill (Direct-to-video) | Executive Producer | |
2008 | Speed Racer | Producer |
RocknRolla | Producer | |
2009 | Orphan | Producer |
Whiteout | Producer | |
Ninja Assassin | Producer | |
Sherlock Holmes | Producer | |
The Hills Run Red (Direct-to-video) | Executive Producer | |
Splice | Executive Producer | |
2010 | The Book of Eli | Producer |
The Losers | Producer | |
2011 | Unknown | Producer |
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Producer | |
2012 | Dragon Eyes | Producer |
Stash House | Producer | |
The Apparition | Producer | |
The Factory | Producer | |
Transit | Executive Producer | |
Project X | Executive Producer | |
The Philly Kid | Executive Producer | |
El Gringo | Executive Producer | |
Bullet to the Head | Executive Producer | |
2013 | Getaway | Executive Producer |
Enemies Closer | Executive Producer | |
2014 | Non-Stop | Producer |
Veronica Mars | Executive Producer | |
2016 | The Nice Guys | Producer |
Collide | Producer | |
2017 | Superfly | Producer |
2018 | Suburbicon | Executive Producer |
Television[]
Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Kraft Television Theatre | Actor "Insp. Davis" | |
1976 | The Bette Midler Show | Assistant to the producer | Television special |
1983 | The Renegades | Production executive | |
1990 | Parker Kane | Executive producer | Television film |
1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Actor "Crypt Keeper's Chainsaw Victim" |
|
1992 | Two-Fisted Tales | Executive producer | Television film |
1993–94 | Tales from the Cryptkeeper | Executive producer | |
1995 | The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies | Documentary | |
W.E.I.R.D. World | Executive producer | Television film | |
1989–96 | Tales from the Crypt | Executive producer | |
1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Director | |
1996–97 | Secrets of the Cryptkeeper's Haunted House | Executive producer | |
1997 | Perversions of Science | Executive producer | |
1999 | Tales from the Cryptkeeper | Special thanks | |
1999–2000 | The Strip | Executive producer | |
Action | Executive producer | ||
2000 | Freedom | Executive producer | |
2001 | Jane Doe | Executive producer | Television film |
2003 | Newton | Executive producer | Television film |
Future Tense | Executive producer | Television film | |
2004 | Next Action Star | Executive producer | |
Bet Your Life | Executive producer | Television film | |
Prodigy | Executive producer | Television film | |
2005 | The Studio | Executive producer | |
2004–07 | Veronica Mars | Executive producer | |
2007–08 | Moonlight | Executive producer | |
2007 | Entourage | Actor "Himself" | |
2010 | The Odds | Executive producer | Television film |
2011 | Hail Mary | Executive producer | Television film |
2014 | My Friends Call Me Johnny | Executive producer | |
TBA | Twist | Executive producer |
References[]
- ^ "Joel Silver Biography (1952–)". www.filmreference.com.
- ^ James, Clive (2009). The Blaze of Obscurity. Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd. ISBN 9780330515252.
- ^ "Founders (Class of 2005)". USA Ultimate. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ Wells, Jeffrey (February 21, 1993). "Enough Already: Joel Silver, Model Mogul". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
- ^ "The Most Tolerable Works of Tom Cruise: A Retrospective". IndieWire. June 25, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
- ^ Steve Weintraub (November 24, 2009). "2nd Joel Silver Interview NINJA ASSASSIN. Plus Info on Dark Castle Projects, Remakes, SHERLOCK HOLMES, More". Collider.
- ^ https://deadline.com/2019/06/joel-silver-out-silver-pictures-hal-sadoff-ceo-running-company-1202637468/
- ^ Jump up to: a b ""He Felt Strangled": Joel Silver's Lavish Spending, Lack of Hits Angered Producing Partners Ahead of Exit". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (June 25, 2019). "Joel Silver Exits Silver Pictures, Hal Sadoff to Run Company". TheWrap. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
- ^ Shea, Terry (May 29, 2017). "Art of the design - 1940 Lincoln Continental". Hemmings Motor News. American City Business Journals Inc. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
- ^ Lee, Matt; Lee, Ted (November 30, 2003), "Auldbrass Wasn't Rebuilt in a Day", New York Times
- ^ "Producer Joel Silver sued over death of assistant". uk.movies.yahoo.com.
- ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (August 18, 2017). "Joel Silver Sued for Wrongful Death by Family of Assistant Who Drowned in 2015". TheWrap. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joel Silver. |
- 1952 births
- American entertainment industry businesspeople
- American film producers
- Lafayette College alumni
- Living people
- American Jews
- People from South Orange, New Jersey
- Tisch School of the Arts alumni
- Ultimate (sport) players
- People from Yemassee, South Carolina