Robert Lee Zemeckis was born on the 14th May 1952, in Chicago, Illinois USA, of Italian and Lithuanian ancestry, and is a director, writer and producer, best known to the world as the lead person behind the camera of the popular franchise film “Back To The Future”. Apart from directing this and it`s sequels, Zemeckis has also directed films such as “Forrest Gump” (1994), “Cast Away” (2004), and “The Walk” (2015), among others. His career has been active since the 1970s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Robert Zemeckis is, as of mid- 2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Robert`s net worth is as high as $50 million, an amount he has acquired through his successful career in the entertainment industry, using his many talents.
Robert Zemeckis Net Worth $50 Million
Robert is a half Lithuanian from his father`s side, and half Italian from his mother`s side. He went to a Roman Catholic grade school, after which he attended the Fenger Academy High School. Following matriculation, he enrolled at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, from which he graduated in 1973. Ever since he was a small by he was fascinated by television, and often used his parent`s camera to film family holidays and birthdays. It was only a matter of time before he would start to chase his dream, which happened the moment he finished high school.
While in university, Robert wrote and directed the film “the A Field of Honor” (1973), which won him the Student Academy Award, and he presented his creation to one and only Steven Spielberg, who immediately became his mentor. Robert`s first film was released in 1978, entitled “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, co-written by Bob Gale, and although receiving positive critiques it was a commercial failure. Two years later, the two collaborated again, this time on the film “Used Cars”, which, like its predecessor was commercial failure.
In 1984, Robert directed the film “Romancing The Stone”, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner; the film became a complete success, and Robert was encouraged enough to put his own screenplay about a time-travelling teenager onto big screen, which resulted in “Back To The Future”, starring Michael J. Fox, Cristopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson. His film garnered positive critiques, and what was more important it grossed enough for Robert to make the sequels “Back To The Future II” (1989), and “Back To The Future III” (1990). His net worth was well set.
With the beginning of the 1990s, Robert started to become more and more popular, and films such as “Death Becomes Her” (1992), and “Forrest Gump” (1994), which became his top film until present day, and “Contact” (1997), all became extremely successful, and increased his net worth by a large margin.
His next project was the film “What Lies Beneath” (2000), starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pheiffer, which became quite successful, and the same year he directed film “Cast Away”, based on the story of the Robinson Crusoe, written by William Broyles Jr. and starring Tom Hanks and Hellen Hunt. Four years later, Robert worked again with Tom Hanks, this time on the animated film “The Polar Express”, which is based on a book of the same name written by Chris Van Allsburg, for which Robert wrote the screenplay, and also featuring Michael Jeter and Chris Copola. The film incorporated a new technique of filming called performance capture, and Robert did an amazing job, receiving positive critiques.
After that, he started working on another performance capture film, the 2007 “Beowulf”, featuring Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins. The film received mostly positive critiques and won two awards, apart from 16 other nominations.
Another Robert`s animations came two years later; a Christmas story written by Charles Dickens was rewritten into movie screenplay by Robert himself, and then directed. With the help of film stars such as Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman, the film received quite positive critiques, however, there were some critics on which the film didn`t have any major impact. Nevertheless, Robert continued with his career, directing films “Flight” (2012), starring Denzel Washington and Nadine Velasquez, “The Walk” (2015), and most recently “Allied” (2016), with stars such as Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.
His net worth has also benefited from his work as a producer, putting his name on films such as “Thirteen Ghosts” (2001), “House Of Wax” (2005), and “Real Steel” (2011), among others, all of which added a lot to his net worth.
Thanks to his skills, Robert has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Academy Award in category Best Director for the film “Forrest Gump”, and the Golden Globe for the same film, plus the Directors Guild Award in category Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. In 2004 he was rewarded with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his achievements in motion pictures, among many other awards.
Regarding his personal life, Robert has been married twice; his first wife was Mary Ellen Trainor(1980-2000), with whom he had a son. The next year he married Leslie, and the two now have two children.
Robert is also a pilot, and has more than 1,500 hours in flight; his most used aircraft is the Cirrus SR20.
Academy Award for Best Director, Saturn Award, Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture, Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film, Saturn Award for Best Director, National Board of Review Award for Best Film, ...
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, BAFTA Award for Best Film, César Award for Best Foreign Film, BAFTA Award for Best Direction, BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game/Audience Participa...
Movies
Beowulf, Back to the Future, The Walk, Forrest Gump, Allied, Back to the Future Part II, The Polar Express, Cast Away, Flight, Back to the Future Part III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, A Christmas Carol, Contact, Death Becomes Her, Romancing the Stone, What Lies Beneath, Used Cars, Mars Needs Moms, I Wa...
TV Shows
Back to the Future
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Trademark
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[officer names] Frequently has police officers named Foley and/or Reese in his movies. See _Back To The Future II (1989)_ and The Walk (2015) as examples.
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Uses 90-degree angle shots, looking straight up at subjects from below the floor level.
[Celebrities] Frequently includes actual celebrities as characters, generally through the use of archival footage or look-alikes (Forrest Gump (1994)).
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[Citation] Likes to cite/imitate famous movies/commercial spots
I guess you can say, I have been remaking my student films forever.
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From where I sit, I see the digital cinema creating sloppiness on the part of filmmakers because they know if they really get in trouble they can fix it later. So they don't pay that much attention, and of course it costs a lot of money.
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It's the most unrealistic thing you can do to shoot a close-up, and it's the most unrealistic place you can be as a performer. And yet, actors grouse about having to do visual effect shots. But they love close-ups.
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No matter how many obstacles that are thrown in our path, there are ways to accept them and to live through them. Understand life's mysteries, - as mysteries to be lived.
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I was raised a Catholic on the South Side of Chicago, and I felt I had to undo a lot of serious damage. But as I was getting older, I began coming off my absolutely young, arrogant, agnostic beliefs. I was thinking more about coming to terms with human spirituality.
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Fact
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Named Bonnie and Clyde (1967) as his favorite film in an AFI poll.
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He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on November 5, 2004.
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Though many of his movies are rife with CGI effects, his personal favorite 'special effect' is the good old-fashioned closeup due to its uniqueness to filmmaking.
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He and his writing partner Bob Gale considered Wendie Jo Sperber a good luck charm and often cast her in their movies.
Has directed three actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Tom Hanks (twice), Gary Sinise and Denzel Washington. Hanks won for his first nominated performance in a Zemeckis feature, Forrest Gump (1994).
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Resides in Santa Barbara, California with his second wife, Leslie Zemeckis, and their two children (2010).
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Has an affinity for Italy. His mother was of Italian descent, he and his second wife Leslie Zemeckis were married in Italy, and they have a vacation home (a villa) in Tuscany, Italy.
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He is rated an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) private pilot.
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Has in his archives a letter of rejection from every studio rejecting Back to the Future (1985), because they thought it was too soft for the type of teen movie at the time, except for Disney who thought it was too racy.
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Ranked #18 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood (2007).
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Spent one year developing Cocoon (1985), but was fired by 20th Century Fox when he screened the final cut of Romancing the Stone (1984) for studio executives, who thought it was a disaster and destined to become Zemeckis' third straight box office failure.
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Interviewed in "Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America," ed. by Jeremy Kagan, Scarecrow Press (2006).
Announced through his company ImageMovers that he will direct a film adaptation of the popular horror/fantasy comic book "Route 666". The comic, published by CrossGen Comics, centers on a young woman who is besieged by demons and other strange creatures during the Cold War. [August 2002]