Trivia
- Steven appears in the following music videos: Michael Jackson's Liberian Girl.
Cyndi Lauper's Goonies are Good Enough. - Having previously come out in support of Senator Clinton in the Democratic nominee race, Steven then agreed to support Barack Obama by holding a fundraising event for his presidential campaign.
- Steven was listed at #10 in Forbes magazine's Celebrity 100 of 2007.
- American actress Mia Farrow has strongly criticised director Steven Spielberg and four corporate sponsors for aiding China's staging of the Olympic Games in 2008.
- Spielberg once screened Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with the film's director, the English David Lean. There Spielberg received from Lean a, as he put it, live director's commentary. Learning from a true master is one of the best moments in Spielberg's life according to Steven himself. Spielberg said that the commentary helped him make better pictures and that the commentary influenced every film he has made since.
- English director David Lean originally wanted to direct Empire of the Sun (1987), but passed it onto Steven Spielberg, because of advancing years.
- In his movie Jurassic Park, he chose to have the sick triceratops instead of the sick stegosaurus, in Micheal Crichton's book, because he had an experience with one as a kid.
- Steven Spielberg joined the long list of celebrities lampooned by South Park. It happened in South Park episode 88 entitled Free Hat.
- No actor or actress has won an Academy Award for a performance in one of his films.
- Jean-Luc Godard holds Spielberg responsible for the lack of artistic merit in mainstream cinema.
- Crispin Glover has critisized Steven for considering building a studio on the last remaining wetland in Southern California.
- Spielberg purchased the Rosebud sled used in Orson Welles’ 1941 film Citizen Kane for $50,000.
- He was friends with fellow director Stanley Kubrick. In 2001 Spielberg finished Kubrick's last project; A.I.:Artificial Intelligence.
- Sidney Sheinberg is credited with discovering Steven.
- Steven has been awarded the following Honorary Degrees:
Doctor of Humane Letters, Brown 1991
Honorary Doctorate, University of Southern California, 1994.
Doctor of Letters, Berkley, 1997
Doctor of Humane Letters, Yale 2002 - His own production company is called Amblin Entertainment.
- Academy Awards - Won
Best Director - Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Best Picture - Schindler's List (1993).
Academy Awards - Nominated
Best Director - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), ET (1982), Munich (1985).
Best Picture - ET (1982), Color Purple (1985), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006).
Special Award
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1986). - He says he'll love to do a movie with both Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise.
- As well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Steven has been given the following honours:
The Great Cross of Merit with Star, Germany, for his work on the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, 1998.
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, 1999.
Medal for Distinguished Public Service, US, 1999.
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), Great Britain, 2001.
Légion d'honneur, France, 2004. - He is the godfather of Drew Barrymore.
- He is a Member of Theta Chi Fraternity, Zeta Epsilon Chapter.
- He and his close friend, George Lucas, each have personal fortunes in excess of 2 billion dollars $US.
Quotes
- (on making "Indiana Jones 4")
Steven: Well, for me, making the latest installment of Indiana Jones was like getting back on the bicycle I hadn't ridden in 18 years. And I was able to keep my balance without training wheels. I was sort of amazed that all of us got our Indy legs back in the first couple of days of shooting, and that was the good news. It was a real reunion, with the sweetest memories we shared from 1980 through 1989, when we made three Indiana Jones features. - (on the ending to "Schindler's List")
Steven: In all great drama there's redemption. Without redemption there is no hope. And the one thing I'm never going to give up on is hope. A lot of people said at the time, "Why didn't the film end brutally for all 1,200 Schindler Juden? Why were they saved? Why put on a 'Spielbergian' happy ending?" In fact, the story came right out of history. I could have chosen a much darker Holocaust story where nobody survives the furnaces, but I wanted some kind of redemption. That's the person I am and I can't survive without that in my life. - Steven: I always like to think of the audience when I am directing. Because I am the audience.
- Steven: I don't drink coffee. I've never had a cup of coffee in my entire life. That's something you probably don't know about me. I've hated the taste since I was a kid.
- Steven: I dream for a living.
- Steven: Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: The Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Searchers.
- Steven: What I'm saying is that I believe in showmanship.
- Steven: The older I get, the more I look at movies as a moving miracle.
- Steven: I have made almost as many films in England as I have in America. I will come back to England again and again.
- Steven: I would love to see the British film industry get back on its feet again.
