No artist in this century has stimulated the emotions of the world's masses with as much power and intensity than Steven Spielberg. From Close Encounters to SchindlerÕs List, Spielberg has never failed to amaze and delight his audience. His career, while still in itÕs prime, has surpassed the level of household name time and time again.

Born in Cincinnati on December 18 1946, the Spielberg family moved from New Jersey to Scottsdale AZ (near Phoenix) while Steven was still young. His father (Arnold) was an electric engineer, and his mother (Leah) a concert pianist. His sister, Anne Spielberg, became a screen writer (who was to be nominated for an Oscar for writing Big). At the age of 13 he won a contest with his 40 minute film, Escape to Nowhere. In 1963, at the age of 16, Spielberg produced the movie Firelight (which would later inspire Close Encounters). The movie made a $100 profit at the local movie theater. Although Spielberg attended California State University in Long Beach studying English, he couldn't get into a traditional film school. As with anything, Spielberg wasn't going to let that stop him.

Breaking into the movie industry, for Spielberg was said to be a very literal thing. Spielberg disappeared into the Universal lot while on a tour. He apparently found an abandoned janitors closet, cleaned it up, and turned it into a presentable office. Every day Spielberg would walk right past the security guards at the gate, wearing a suit and tie. While on the inside, Spielberg started production on Amblin. It was a 24 minute movie about a pair of hitchhikers. The $15,000 budget came from a friend of his, who was also trying to break into the movie business. Amblin won several film festival awards, and more importantly, got him the attention of Universal Studios. Spielberg was signed for 7 years with the Television Division. He Directed shows such as The Night Gallery, Marcus Welby MD, The Name of the Game and the first episode of Columbo. The contract allowed him to show off the diversity of his talents. He got to direct made for TV movies such as Duel and Something Evil. Duel was so good, it was later moved to foreign theaters.

Spielberg's first feature film was in 1974. The Sugarland Express was the a comedy/drama based on the true story of a fugitive couple who flees the authorities with their child, whom they refuse to give up for adoption. They hold a highway patrolman hostage while setting out to kidnap their child from a foster home. As they are being pursued by Texas authorities, they become heroes to the local residents. It won critical acclaim including a Cannes Film Festival Award in 1974 for Best screenplay. In 1975, Spielberg directed Jaws. Only his second feature film, Jaws was a huge success. It was nominated for best film at the 1976 Academy Awards, and won 3 Oscars for Editing, sound and original score. Jaws would later be named as one of the 100 best films of all time by the American Film Institute. More importantly, it would open up the doors for Spielberg to work on many more great projects. Spielberg would go on to create films such as Close Encounters, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler's List,

Jurassic Park and Saving Private Ryan. Rather than pondering the value of each of these movies here in the biography, The Steven Spielberg Directory has an entire page dedicated to each of these movies.

The year 1982 was a big one for Steven Spielberg. E.T. became the first movie to be produced by Amblin Entertainment. Spielberg founded the company, using the name of his first professional film and the popular logo from the movie E.T. Amblin was only a production studio, and never distributed its own movies. It worked with other studios such as Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Warner Brother Studios.

Amblin films were an immediate success. While some movies such as Money Pit, were not received well, many Amblin movies became American icons. Movies produced or directed by Spielberg would usually have an Amblin logo on the poster. But as always, for Spielberg, great was not enough. In 1994 Dreamworks SKG became the first new movie studio in Hollywood in over 75 years. The partnership between Steven Spielberg, Jeffery Katzenberg, and David Geffen formed a media company that would reach into the fields of live action and animated movies (both traditional and CGI), music, computer games, arcades, television production and movie distribution. Unlike Amblin, which Spielberg owns 100% of, Dreamworks is only 22% owned by Spielberg. Other investors include Katzenberg, Geffen, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and a few of their closest friends. By 1997, Spielberg's annual income had reached $283 million. He was the highest paid entertainment figure of that year. This money comes from a variety of investments: Amblin (100% ownership) $400 million value Dreamworks (22% ownership) $550 million Dive! (restaurant chain) (50% ownership) $6 million idealab! (internet content) (15% ownership) $7.5 million These figures are accurate as of June 1998 according to Business Week. They give Spielberg an estimated value of $1 billion. Business week also had a break down of how Spielberg collects his money from a movie. "Anatomy of a Spielberg Hit" shows how much of Jurassic Park's box office will be taken home by Spielberg.

Spielberg, recently interviewed by Larry King of CNN, stated that he is not a "worker" but rather a 'dreamer". From our smiles, fear and tears from such great material as "E.T.", "Jaws", "Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" - keep dreaming Steven. And keep providing us and our children with the right angle, the right light, the right editing and the right scripts.

OUR SECOND CHOICE FOR ARTIST OF THE CENTURY IS A TIE BETWEEN PABLO PICASSO AND CHARLES CHAPLIN.

OUR THIRD CHOICE FOR ARTIST OF THE CENTURY - THE BEATLES