Happy 75th Birthday, Ron Shelton! Born today in 1945 as Ronald Wayne Shelton, this American former minor league baseball infielder, screenwriter, producer and film director is known for the many films he has made about sports.
When an infielder for Baltimore's farm system, Shelton played with the Bluefield Orioles (Rookie), Stockton Ports (A), Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs (AA) and Rochester Red Wings (AAA) between 1967-1971.
After working on the scripts for a number of films, including co-writing the 1983 American political thriller war/drama film 'Under Fire' (starring Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman), Shelton made his directorial debut.
This was the feature of which Shelton is best known for writing and directing, being the 1988 American sport/romance comedy film 'Bull Durham'.
Hitting a grand slam, this was Shelton's directorial debut of what would be one of the most revered sports films of all time.
Set in Durham, North Carolina, the Bulls minor league baseball team has one asset no other can claim: a poetry-loving groupie named Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon).
As the team's season begins, Annie selects brash new recruit Ebby Calvin Laloosh (Tim Robbins), whom she christens "Nuke," to inspire with the religion of baseball.
Nuke also receives guidance from twelve-year veteran player "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner), who settles Nuke's erratic pitching and teaches the hotshot rookie pitcher to follow the catcher's lead.
A breakthrough film for all three of its stars and an Oscar nominee for Shelton’s highly quotable screenplay, 'Bull Durham' is a freewheeling hymn to wisdom, experience, and America’s pastime, tipping its cap to all those who grind it out for love of the game.
Upon release, 'Bull Durham' was a commercial and critical success. On a budget of $7.5 million, the film grossed $58 million at the box office. In North America, it grossed $50 million alone.
Sports Illustrated ranked 'Bull Durham' the #1 Greatest Sports Movie of all time. The Moving Arts Film Journal ranked it #3 on its list of the 25 Greatest Sports Movies of All-Time.
In addition, the film is ranked #55 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies."
It is also ranked #97 on AFI'S 100 Years...100 Laughs list, and #1 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of the fifty-three best-reviewed sports movies of all time.
Shelton's screenplay netted him multiple awards, including Best Original Script from the Writer's Guild of America, and Best Script from the U.S. National Society of Film Critics.
'Bull Durham' was also nominated for an Academy Award. However, it did't win. This occurred at the 61st Academy Awards in late March 1989.
Three years later, Shelton wrote and directed the 1992 American American sports comedy-drama film 'White Men Can't Jump. It starred Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as two basketball hustlers.
Roger Ebert called the film "very smart and very funny", and "not simply a basketball movie."
He also wrote that Shelton "knows how his characters talk and sound, and how they get into each other's minds with non-stop talking and boasting."
The trademarks used in Shelton’s films included writing and directing movies about sports, often with cameos from real-life athletes.
He also frequently casts American actor, comedian and writer Robert Wuhl. He appears in ‘Bull Durham’ as Larry Hockett.
According to his personal life, Shelton had grown up in Montecito, California as the oldest of four brothers. He is currently married to Canadian-born actress Lolita Davidovich. They have one child together.
Shas appeared in several of Shelton's films, including taking the title role of Blaze Starr in his 1989 American comedy-drama/romance film 'Blaze'.
The couple have two children and reside in Los Angeles and Ojai, California. Shelton has two daughters with his first wife, American filmmaker Lois Shelton. Ron is also the uncle of American filmmaker Ben Shelton.
On July 7, 2017, Ron was inducted into the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame.
As a filmmaker, Shelton has been active from 1983–present.
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