Steven Spielberg is one of the most renowned movie directors alive. In his own right, he has won many awards and has been recognised for his innate ability for capturing awe-inspiring stories while offering a career-changing platform for young talent. "I like coming onto each movie with my experience not being what is going to keep me out of trouble," he said. In my mind, that proves that preparation and 'knowing what you're doing' a lot of the time can be overrated.
In short, he is a movie legend and here's why.
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Image credit: PA
Spielberg's third feature film is the now classic 'Jaws' (1975). It was a box-office hit but the making of it took its toll on the man himself. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, he admitted that Hollywood's Universal Studios' sets helped him deal with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that he suffered from after making the horror film. "I used to sit on the Orca [the fishing boat in the movie] a couple of years after I made the movie," Spielberg said. "I would work through my own trauma in the process, because it was traumatic. I would just sit in that boat alone for hours, just working through it, and I would shake. My hands would shake."
Image credit: Jaws (1975)/Universal Studios
The disastrous shoot of 'Jaws' has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. It famously went over budget and over schedule, while the mechanical shark kept malfunctioning. And while the experience was tough, it led to nothing but good things for Spielberg. The movie became the highest grossing film of all time until 'Star Wars' beat it two years later.
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Eighteen years after the success of 'Jaws', he won his first Oscars trophy for his work on 'Schindler's List' (1993).
(1994 Oscars) Video credit: YouTube/Oscars
Spielberg is also responsible for plucking out many talents as well as the jaw-dropping films he has produced over the years. A six-year-old Drew Barrymore once lied to him when trying to impress the man for a role she wanted. The young actress told the director that she was in a rock band (a drummer, of course) and that she was a cook.
She met him on the movie set of 'Poltergeist'. The director, Tobe Hooper, wasn't there that day, but Spielberg, who was the producer of the film, was filling in for him. After trying to sell him a load of lies, he rejected her for the part, but asked her to audition for another movie. It was called 'This Boy's Life', which later became 'E.T.'.
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Image credit: ET (1982)/Universal Studios
As well as casting fresh talent, he is also loyal and will recast those who have impressed him most. Remarkably, his dog Elmer was cast more times than any human actor in his movies. The cocker spaniel appeared in many of his films - including 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', 'The Sugarland Express', '1941', and 'Jaws'.
"Movies really helped me, kind of saved me from shame, from guilt, from putting it on myself ... when it wasn't my burden." said Spielberg. "I think making movies was my great escape, it was how I could get away from all that."
Always at work at the cutting edge of technology, he has puzzled together some of the greatest movies - past and present - across all genres, and has been at the forefront of ushering the film industry into many new eras. Avoiding using gimmicks for the sake of it, Spielberg tries to integrate new technology without diluting the quality of filming. "I'm certainly hoping that 3D gets to the point where people do not notice it because once they stop noticing it it just becomes another tool and an aid to help tell a story," he said at Comic-Con in 2011. "3D needs a trained eye. It can't be done by everybody."
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Image credit: The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)/Paramount Pictures
For many years Spielberg suffered from an undiagnosed learning disability, which made it difficult for him to learn to read. This made him an easy bullying target by classmates when he was growing up. His difficulties reading were often incorrectly attributed to laziness, and the director was not diagnosed as having dyslexia until he was 60 years old.
Only real men cry. Spielberg admitted that he is in touch with his emotions and is not shy to admit that he cries when a piece of acting moves him. During filming of 'Lincoln' (2012), the multi Oscar award-winning director had to leave set more than a few times because he could not control the emotions that came over him when Daniel Day-Lewis delivered many of his monologues. "An emotional director is not always a good thing," he explained to Oprah Winfrey.
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On top of his success, Spielberg has openly shared his love for video games. Call of Duty and Half Life are said to be among his favourites.
Today marks Spielberg's 70th birthday. After a mere glance of his impressive CV that has seen him sweep up three Oscars, three Golden Globes, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four BAFTAs, it's clear to see that he has a lot to celebrate about.
Featured image credit: PA