Joel Silver

Joel Silver
Silver at the Tribeca Film Festival in May 2008
Born (1952-07-14) July 14, 1952
South Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation Film producer
Years active 1976-present
Spouse(s)
Karyn Fields (m. 1999)
Children 2

Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an American film producer, most well known for action films including the Lethal Weapon series, The Matrix trilogy, the first two Die Hard films and the first two Predator films. He is the owner of Silver Pictures and co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment. He has been a rival to Michael Eisner, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, since their days at Paramount Pictures.

Life and career

Silver was born and raised in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive.[1] His family is Jewish.[2] He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. During his time there, Silver, Buzzy Hellring and Jonny Hines created the rules for what he called "Ultimate Frisbee." He was later inducted into the USA Ultimate Hall of Fame as a result of this.[3] He finished his undergraduate studies at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.

Silver began his career at Lawrence Gordon Productions, where he eventually became president of motion pictures for the company. He earned his first screen credit as the associate producer on The Warriors and, with Gordon, produced 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire, and Brewster's Millions. In 1985, he formed Silver Pictures and produced successful action films such as Commando (1985), the Lethal Weapon franchise, the first two films of the Die Hard series, as well as the first two films of the Predator series and The Matrix franchise of action films.

Silver appears on-screen at the beginning of Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Raoul J. Raoul, the director of the animated short Something's Cookin.

Silver directed "Split Personality", (1992), an episode of the HBO horror anthology Tales from the Crypt. He currently runs two production companies, Silver Pictures, and Dark Castle Entertainment, co-owned by Robert Zemeckis.

Silver is also known for his eccentric temper, which has led to characters based on him appearing in movies such as Grand Canyon, True Romance and I'll Do Anything. The character of Les Grossman (played by Tom Cruise) in the movie Tropic Thunder, is a parody of Silver.

On July 10, 1999, Silver married his production assistant, Karyn Fields.

Frank Lloyd Wright houses

Silver is well known as an aficionado of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. In 1984, he bought the Wright-designed Storer House in Hollywood and made considerable investments to restore it to the original condition. The Storer House's squarish relief ornament then became the company logo of Silver Pictures. Silver sold it in 2002 for $2.9 million. In 1986, he purchased the long-neglected C. Leigh Stevens Auldbrass Plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina, and has been restoring it since then. Both restorations have been managed and supervised by the architect Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson. Mr. Silver also owns the 1941 Lincoln Continental once customized to Frank Lloyd Wright's design.[4]

Carmel Musgrove incident

In August 19, 2015, Silver's 28-year-old assistant Carmel Musgrove drowned in a lagoon while attending a celebration with Silver in Bora Bora, in the occasion of the marriage between Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. Later, in August 2017, Musgrove's family sued Silver and his assistant Martin Herold, arguing the latter had provided her with cocaine, which contributed to her death, together with alcohol consumption and exhaustion from work.[5][6]

Filmography

Year Title Director Notes
1976 Max Joe Gilford Short film
1979 The Warriors Walter Hill Associate producer
1980 Xanadu Robert Greenwald Co-producer
1982 Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again Jerry Belson Executive producer
1982 48 Hrs. Walter Hill N/A
1984 Streets of Fire Walter Hill Executive producer
1985 Brewster's Millions Walter Hill N/A
1985 Weird Science John Hughes N/A
1985 Commando Mark L. Lester N/A
1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash Penny Marshall N/A
1987 Lethal Weapon Richard Donner N/A
1987 Predator John McTiernan N/A
1988 Action Jackson Craig R. Baxley N/A
1988 Die Hard John McTiernan N/A
1989 Road House Rowdy Herrington N/A
1989 Lethal Weapon 2 Richard Donner N/A
1990 Die Hard 2 Renny Harlin N/A
1990 The Adventures of Ford Fairlane Renny Harlin N/A
1990 Predator 2 Stephen Hopkins N/A
1990 Hudson Hawk Michael Lehmann N/A
1991 Ricochet Russell Mulcahy N/A
1991 The Last Boy Scout Tony Scott N/A
1992 Lethal Weapon 3 Richard Donner N/A
1993 Demolition Man Marco Brambilla N/A
1994 Richie Rich Donald Petrie N/A
1995 Demon Knight Ernest Dickerson Executive producer
1995 Assassins Richard Donner N/A
1995 Fair Game Andrew Sipes N/A
1996 Executive Decision Stuart Baird N/A
1996 Bordello of Blood Gilbert Adler Executive producer
1997 Fathers' Day Ivan Reitman N/A
1997 Conspiracy Theory Richard Donner N/A
1997 Double Tap Greg Yaitanes N/A
1998 Lethal Weapon 4 Richard Donner N/A
1999 The Matrix The Wachowskis Brothers N/A
1999 Made Men Louis Morneau N/A
1999 House on Haunted Hill William Malone N/A
2000 Romeo Must Die Andrzej Bartkowiak N/A
2000 Dungeons & Dragons Courtney Solomon Executive producer
2001 Exit Wounds Andrzej Bartkowiak N/A
2001 Proximity Scott Ziehl N/A
2001 Swordfish Dominic Sena N/A
2001 Thirteen Ghosts Steve Beck N/A
2002 Ritual Avi Nesher N/A
2002 Ghost Ship Steve Beck N/A
2003 Cradle 2 the Grave Andrzej Bartkowiak N/A
2003 The Animatrix Various Executive producer
2003 The Matrix Reloaded The Wachowskis Brothers N/A
2003 The Matrix Revolutions The Wachowskis Brothers N/A
2003 Gothika Mathieu Kassovitz N/A
2005 House of Wax Jaume Collet-Serra N/A
2005 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang Shane Black N/A
2006 V for Vendetta James McTeigue N/A
2007 The Reaping Stephen Hopkins N/A
2007 The Invasion Oliver Hirschbiegel N/A
2007 The Brave One Stephen Hopkins N/A
2007 Return to House on Haunted Hill Víctor García Executive producer
2007 Fred Claus David Dobkin N/A
2008 Speed Racer The Wachowskis Brothers N/A
2008 RocknRolla Guy Ritchie N/A
2009 The Hills Run Red Dave Parker Executive producer
2009 Orphan Jaume Collet-Serra N/A
2009 Whiteout Dominic Sena N/A
2009 Ninja Assassin James McTeigue N/A
2009 Sherlock Holmes Guy Ritchie N/A
2009 Splice Vincenzo Natali Executive producer
2010 The Book of Eli The Hughes brothers N/A
2010 The Losers Sylvain White N/A
2011 Unknown Jaume Collet-Serra N/A
2011 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Guy Ritchie N/A
2012 The Apparition Todd Lincoln N/A
2012 Dragon Eyes John Hyams N/A
2012 Stash House Eduardo Rodríguez N/A
2012 The Factory Morgan O'Neill N/A
2012 Bullet to the Head Walter Hill Executive producer
2013 Enemies Closer Peter Hyams N/A
2013 Getaway Courtney Solomon N/A
2014 Non-Stop Jaume Collet-Serra N/A
2014 The Loft Erik Van Looy N/A
2014 Veronica Mars Rob Thomas Executive producer
2016 The Nice Guys Shane Black N/A
2016 Collide Eran Creevy N/A
2017 Suburbicon George Clooney N/A
2018 Superfly Director X N/A

References

  1. ↑ http://www.filmreference.com/film/52/Joel-Silver.html
  2. ↑ James, Clive (2009). The Blaze of Obscurity. Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
  3. ↑ ""Founders (Class of 2005)"". USA Ultimate. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  4. ↑ Lee, Matt; Lee, Ted (November 30, 2003), "Auldbrass Wasn't Rebuilt in a Day", New York Times
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
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