Wes Craven's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Exposure Wes Craven

Main Movie Roles 2007 - Diary of the Dead 2006 - Paris, je t'aime 2005 - Inside Deep Throat 2004 - The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing 2001 - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 2000 - Scream 3 1997 - Scream 2 1996 - Scream 1994 - New Nightmare 1989 - Shocker

BIOGRAPHY:

Wes was born in Cleveland in 1939 and raised in a Baptist family. After an unhappy childhood, he left Cleveland to study for a degree in English Literature, at Wheaton College, Illinois. But after illness, he left the school for one year before returning to study psychology. In 1963, he took a degree in writing and psychology and in 1964 he took a Masters from J. Hopkins University. While he was a humanities college teacher, Wes married Bonnie Broecker, mother of both his children, Jonathan and Jessica. But after few years, they separated, and the children stayed with Bonnie.

Wes left his job as a teacher, and after employment as taxi driver, he became a sound editor for a post-production company in New York. And after the co-direction of Together (1971) with Sean S. Cunningham, Wes made the horror movie The Last House on the Left (1972). The movie, released in August 1972, was a big success as was his second movie, The Hills Have Eyes (1977), winning the critic's prize at the Sitges Film Festival.

Wes has gone onto win many more awards, including one for the best movie at the Avoriaz Film Festival for A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). In 1999 he directed Music of the Heart (1999), a change of direction from the horror genre for which he is known.


TRIVIA:

• Directed a documentary about former president 'Bill Clinton (I)' (qv). Craven and the film crew followed Clinton for three hours into the White House a few days before his departure. (January 2001)
• Developed the "evil house" premise for the computer game "Wes Craven's Principles of Fear." Although the game won About Game's Bronze Medal award for Interactive Fiction when the prototype was demonstrated at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Atlanta, the game was never completed, due to the financial failure of the game's publisher.
• Co-wrote the screenplay for _Pulse (2006/I)_ (qv) with 'Vince Gilligan' (qv). The script was based on 'Kiyoshi Kurosawa' (qv)'s original Japanese horror film. Craven and Gilligan scripted the final draft in the fall of 2002 for Miramax's Dimension Films. The production for this film should have started on October 1, 2002, in Los Angeles. In July 2003, Dimension's chairman 'Bob Weinstein' (qv) announced that _Pulse (2006/I)_ (qv) would never be produced because it was too similar to _The Ring (2002)_ (qv).
• He is an avid birdwatcher.
• In 1976 he acted in "Tales That Will Tear Your Heart Out," a project being made under the supervision of friend 'Roy Frumkes' (qv), who was teaching at a state university at that time. Shortly after the filming, the raw stock was mistakingly re-exposed by another student, so both days' shooting were lost.
• His father died when he was 4-years-old.
• He nearly turned down the option to direct the hit _Scream (1996/I)_ (qv) because the first scene with 'Drew Barrymore (I)' (qv) reminded him too vividly the climax sequence of _The Last House on the Left (1972)_ (qv), his first film.
• Lives in Los Angeles. Has a production company with his professional partner 'Marianne Maddalena' (qv), called Craven/Maddalena Films.