July 13 - Cameron Crowe

Happy 63rd Birthday, Cameron Crowe! Born today in 1957 as Cameron Bruce Crowe, this American author, journalist, actor, screenwriter, producer and director was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes. This was before he moved into the film industry, 

 

Crowe's debut screenwriting effort grew out of his 1981 fiction book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story. He had written this while posing for one year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. 

 

This was for American film director Amy Heckerling's ('Clueless') 1982 American teen coming-of-age comedy/romance drama film 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'. The film was also Heckling's directorial debut. 

 
Seven years later, Crowe wrote and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1989 American teen romantic comedy-drama film 'Say Anything...'. 

 
The film was then followed by the 1992 American romantic comedy film 'Singles'. 

The feature was a story centered on some twenty-somethings that was woven together by a soundtrack centering on Seattle's burgeoning grunge music scene. Crowe had a cameo, credited as Club interviewer. 

 
Four years later, Crowe landed his biggest hit. This was in writing, co-producing and directing the 1996 American romantic-comedy sports film 'Jerry Maguire'. 

 
American director, producer and screenwriter James L. Brooks ('Terms of Endearment', 'Broadcast News') also served as co-producer. 

 
The film later received critical acclaim, with critics praising its acting and writing. The film was a financial success, bringing in more than $273.6 million worldwide against its $50 million budget. It was the ninth-highest grossing film of 1996. 

 
The following year, 'Jerry Maguire' was nominated for five Oscars. However, it only received one for Best Supporting Actor (Cuba Gooding Jr.). This occurred at the 69th Academy Awards in late March 1997. 

 
According to AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, "Show me the money!" ranked in at #25 and "You had me at hello." ranked in at #52. 

 
In the late 1990s, Crowe's second book was published. It had been based on a question and answer session with Austrian-born American film director and screenwriter Billy Wilder. This was the 1999 biographical film criticism book Conversations with Wilder. 

 
After this, Crowe was given a green light to go ahead with a pet project with his autobiographical effort. This was for the 2000 American comedy drama/music film 'Almost Famous'. 

 
Centering on a teenage music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band, it gave insight to his life as a fifteen-year-old writer for Rolling Stone.  

 
The following year, Crowe won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. This occurred at the 73rd Academy Awards in late March 2001. 

 
Later that same year, Crowe directed the 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film 'Vanilla Sky'. 

 
The film was an adaptation of Spanish-Chilean film director, screenwriter and composer Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish sci-fi/mystery film 'Abre los ojos' ('Open Your Eyes'). In 'Vanilla Sky', Penélope Cruz reprised her role as Sofia. 

 
Although financially successful at the box office, 'Vanilla Sky' was not critically praised as much as its predecessor. 

 
In 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked 'Say Anything...' as the greatest modern movie romance, and it was ranked at #11 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High-School Movies. 

 
In 2005, 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". 

 
In the early 2010s, Crowe directed the 2011 American family comedy-drama film 'We Bought a Zoo'. 

The film had been loosely based on the 2008 autobiographical memoir of the same name by Australian former bricklayer and decorator Benjamin Mee. 

 
Unfortunately for Mee, the former owners of a zoo had launched a scathing attack on their successor after the escape of a lynx - and accused him of destroying their legacy.  

 
In 2006, Mee bought Dartmoor Zoo from the Daw family after they had owned it for thirty-six years. 

 
Crowe has been active from 1972–present. 

 
#borntodirect 

@CameroneCrowe 

@tcm

@AmericanFilmInstitute 

@librarycongress 

@RollingStone 

@entertainmentweekly 

@mentalflossmagazine 

@GoldDerby 

@TVGuide

@BenjaminMee1