Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerry Bruckheimer
Bruckheimer at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in June 2013
Born	Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (1943-09-21) September 21, 1943 Detroit, Michigan, US
Residence	Los Angeles, California, US
Alma mater	University of Arizona
Occupation	Producer Director at ZeniMax Media
Years active	1972–present
Notable work	Beverly Hills Cop, CSI (franchise), Flashdance, Top Gun, The Rock, Con Air, Coyote Ugly, Crimson Tide, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean, King Arthur, Prince of Persia, National Treasure, Remember the Titans, Lucifer
Home town	Detroit, Michigan, US
Spouse(s)	Bonnie Fishman (divorced) Linda Cobb

Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943)^[1][2] is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without a Trace, Cold Case, and the U.S. version of The Amazing Race. At one point, three of his TV series ranked among the top 10 in the U.S. ratings—a unique feat in television.^[3]

Some of his best-known films include Flashdance, Top Gun, The Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, Kangaroo Jack, Enemy of the State, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, and the Beverly Hills Cop, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean and National Treasure franchises. He also serves as a Director at ZeniMax Media. Many of his films have been produced by Disney and Paramount, while many of his television series have been co-produced by Warner Bros. and CBS Television Studios. In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety magazine as the first producer in Hollywood history to produce the top two highest-grossing films of a single weekend, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Bad Boys II.

Early life

Bruckheimer was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German-Jewish immigrants.^[4] He graduated from Mumford High School^[5] in Detroit, at age 17, before moving to Arizona for college. Bruckheimer was also an active member of the Stamp Collecting Club.^[6] He graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona. He was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. A film buff at an early age with an interest in photography, Bruckheimer would take snapshots when he had the opportunity. After college Bruckheimer worked in advertising in Detroit and New York City.

Film production

Bruckheimer started producing films in the 1970s, after leaving his job in advertising, with director Dick Richards. They had worked together on the films The Culpepper Cattle Company, Farewell, My Lovely, and March or Die. Bruckheimer then worked with Paul Schrader on two films, American Gigolo and Cat People, which began to give him notice in Hollywood.

During the 1980s and 1990s, he was a co-producer with Don Simpson of a string of highly successful Hollywood films for Paramount Pictures. He originally met Don at a screening of 1973's The Harder They Come at Warner Brothers. The two worked together and created Bruckheimer's first big hit, 1983's Flashdance, which brought in US$95 million.^[7] He had a number of other hits during that time period, including the Beverly Hills Cop films, Top Gun and Days of Thunder. Top Gun marked his first collaboration with English director Tony Scott, who would direct six films for Bruckheimer.^[8]

While working with Simpson, Bruckheimer became known as "Mr. Outside" because of his experience with film making, while Simpson became known as "Mr. Inside" because of his film industry contacts. The Rock was the last film in which Bruckheimer collaborated with Simpson, due to Simpson's death in 1996. Bruckheimer stipulated that The Rock be dedicated to the memory of Simpson (this fact is mentioned at the end of the film).

Despite the setback of the untimely death of Simpson in 1996, Bruckheimer has continued to produce a large number of action films often working with director Michael Bay for several hits including Armageddon. His other hit films produced include Remember the Titans, Black Hawk Down and the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has also acquired the rights to produce a film based on the popular role playing game by Palladium Books, Rifts.

Television production

Early in his career, Bruckheimer produced television commercials, including one for Pepsi. Since 1997 he has branched out into television, creating a number of police dramas of which CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has been the most successful. He has also produced the reality game show The Amazing Race. In May 2008 CBS announced it had picked up Bruckheimer's newest series, Eleventh Hour, for the 2008–2009 broadcast television season. The science fiction drama follows a government agent and a professor as they investigate strange scientific and medical activity.^[9]

From 2004 (beginning of CSI: NY) to 2009 (end of Without a Trace), Bruckheimer had six hit television shows on the air: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Cold Case, Without a Trace and The Amazing Race. At one point, three of his TV series ranked among the top 10 in the ratings.^[3] It was announced on September 10, 2009 that NBC had picked up an action procedural from Jerry Bruckheimer. The show, titled Chase,^[10] "tells the stories of a team charged with making sure fugitive criminals don't evade justice," reports The Hollywood Reporter.^[11] It was canceled in May 2011. Bruckheimer's most notable flop was Skin, which was cancelled after three episodes in 2003.

In June 2016, Jerry Bruckheimer Television became an Independent outfit, ending a 15-year run exclusive pact with Warner Bros. Television.^[12]

Financial success

One of the most successful producers of all time, Bruckheimer has been nicknamed "Mr. Blockbuster", due to his track record of commercially successful, high-grossing films. Overall, his films have grossed over $13 billion^[13] and have launched the careers of numerous actors and directors.

In 2007, he was ranked No. 39 on Forbes Celebrity 100 List, up from No. 42 in 2006. With reported annual earnings of $120 million,^[14] he was the 10th highest money-earner on the 2006 Forbes Celebrity 100 List.

Notable box-office grosses

Bruckheimer with Johnny Depp and Tom Cruise in June 2013

In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety magazine as the first producer in Hollywood history to produce the top two highest-grossing films of a single weekend, the buddy-cop Bad Boys II and the Disney theme-park spin-off, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

The Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy, produced through Walt Disney Pictures, was enormously profitable, and demonstrated Bruckheimer's ability to create lucrative projects. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the first film in the franchise, was released on July 9, 2003. A popular box office hit, it was well received by critics and filmgoers alike. After the unexpected success of the first film, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a trilogy was in the works. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released on July 7, 2006. The sequel proved to be very successful, breaking records worldwide the day of its premiere. In the end it acquired a total of $1,066,179,725 at the worldwide box office, becoming the third and fastest film to reach this amount. The third film in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was released worldwide on May 25, 2007. Altogether, the film franchise has grossed over $2.79 billion worldwide. Two more films, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, were released, in 2011 and 2017, respectively.

Professional honors and awards

The editors of Entertainment Weekly named Bruckheimer the No. 1 most-powerful person in Hollywood in 2003. He was ranked No. 10 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list, and had also ranked No. 10 on the 2005 list. He ranked No. 19 on Premiere's 2003 annual Hollywood Power List, and had ranked No. 22 in 2002. His projects have been honored with 41 Academy Award nominations (six wins), eight Grammy Award nominations (five wins), 23 Golden Globe nominations (four wins), 77 Emmy Award nominations (seventeen wins), eight People's Choice nominations (four wins), and numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade.^[13]

Bruckheimer received the ShoWest Producer of the Year Award in 1998 and in 2000 the Producers Guild honored him with the David O. Selznick Award for Lifetime Achievement.In May 2006, he was honored with a doctor of fine arts degree (DFA) from the University of Arizona's College of Fine Arts.

On June 24, 2013, Bruckheimer received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, placed right by El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.^[15]

Views on cinema

When asked about his favorite films, Bruckheimer named The Godfather (1972), The French Connection (1971), Good Will Hunting (1997), and The 400 Blows (1959).^[3] When asked on what the film industry's obligation to an audience was, he responded, "We are in the transportation business. We transport audiences from one place to another."^[16] When asked why he makes films, he stated, "If I made films for the critics, or for someone else, I'd probably be living in some small Hollywood studio apartment."^[17]

Personal life

Bruckheimer at the 2014 WonderCon

Bruckheimer has been married twice. His first wife was Bonnie Fishman Bruckheimer. He currently lives in Los Angeles, with his second wife, novelist Linda Cobb Bruckheimer.^[18] He also has one stepdaughter, Alexandra. The couple owns a farm in Bloomfield, Kentucky, about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Louisville, as well as another in Ojai, east of Santa Barbara. As a teenager, Linda moved from Kentucky to Los Angeles, where she has been a writer, producer and West Coast editor for Mirabella, and where she married Bruckheimer. She regularly spends time as a preservation activist, restoring and preserving historic buildings in small rural U.S. towns.^[19]

His film company, Jerry Bruckheimer Inc. (doing business as Jerry Bruckheimer Films), is located in Santa Monica, California.

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jerry Bruckheimer.

• Jerry Bruckheimer Films
• Jerry Bruckheimer on IMDb
• "Jerry Bruckheimer collected news and commentary". The New York Times.
• https://web.archive.org/web/20130127000134/http://www.zenimax.com/bod.htm