Profile of the Day: Steven Spielberg

Happy birthday to Steven Spielberg! Today the legendary director turns 73.

Image: Steven Spielberg / Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Spielberg was born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio to Leah Posner, a concert pianist and restauranteur, and Arnold Spielberg, an electrical engineer. He developed an interest in filmmaking as a child after earning his Boy Scout photography merit badge with a nine-minute 8mm film entitled The Last Gunfight.

In the late 1960s, Spielberg began his career as one of the youngest television directors for Universal Studios. It wasn’t long until he landed in the director’s chair for Jaws. The 1975 film was a huge hit and held the spot as the top grossing film of all time until it was surpassed by Star Wars two years later. Spielberg became a household name and would go on to direct some of the most popular and critically acclaimed films in history, including E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List, and Jurassic Park. This time next year, Spielberg will bring a new film adaptation of the classic musical West Side Story to theaters. The movie will open on his 74th birthday!