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JERRY BRUCKHEIMER
Biography
as of June 1997
Jerry Bruckheimer is co-executive producer of the Rysher Entertainment
action series "SOLDIER OF FORTUNE, INC."
As one of the most highly-regarded creative forces in the entertainment
industry, Jerry Bruckheimer, along with his late partner Don
Simpson, established one of the most successful producing teams
in recent motion picture history with such smash
hits as "Flashdance," "Beverly Hills Cop,"
"Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder."
The films of Mr. Bruckheimer have continually topped the list
of box office winners, resulting in worldwide number one pictures
an unprecedented three years in a row. His projects have generated
over $3 billion in sales, which established the duo as the top
producers of the 1980s.
Based at the Walt Disney Studios in California, Mr. Bruckheimer
continues to make tremendous contributions to the industry. In
1995, Simpson-Bruckheimer produced the No. 1 box office hits
"Bad Boys," (Columbia) starring Will Smith and Martin
Lawrence; "Crimson Tide," (Hollywood Pictures) starring
Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington; and "Dangerous Minds,"
(Hollywood Pictures) starring Michelle Pfeiffer. "Bad Boys"
became Columbia Pictures' highest grossing film for 1995, while
"Crimson Tide" and "Dangerous Minds" were
two of Hollywood Pictures most successful for the year; with
"Crimson Tide" receiving Academy Award nominations
for Film Edition, Sound Effects Editing and Sound, as well as
being named one of the "Top Three Favorite Films" of
the year by The People's Choice Awards. "Crimson Tide"
received an "Eddie Award" nomination for artistic achievement
in film editing, by the American Cinema Editors, and received
Golden Reel Awards from the Motion Picture Sound Editors for
"Feature Film Sound Editing" and "Feature Film
ADR Editing." Between them, "Bad Boys," "Crimson
Tide," and "Dangerous Minds" garnered a total
of six 1996 MTV Movie Award nominations for Best Movie ("Dangerous
Minds"), Best Male Performance (Denzel Washington "Crimson
Tide"), Best Female Performance (Michelle Pfeiffer - "Dangerous
Minds"), Best Song From A Movie (Coolio's "Gangsta's
Paradise" - "Dangerous Minds"), Best On-Screen
Duo (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence - "Bad Boys") and
Best Action Sequence ("Bad Boys"). Both "Gangsta's
Paradise" ("Dangerous Minds") and the score for
"Crimson Tide" received Grammy Awards in the categories
Best Rap Solo Performance (Coolio) and Best Instrumental Composition
Written For A Motion Picture or Television (Hans Zimmer), respectively.
In 1996, Mr. Bruckheimer produced "The Rock," starring
Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery. "The Rock" grossed $235
million worldwide in it's first seven weeks at the box office,
and set the video rental record as the most ordered film, with
830,000 copies being purchased by video retailers. Recently,
Mr. Bruckheimer and "The Rock" director Michael Bay
accepted awards at the annual ShoWest Convention, where the film
was named 1996s Favorite Movie Of The Year. "The Rock"
also received an Academy Award nomination for "Best Achievement
In Sound."
Mr. Bruckheimer's current projects include "Con Air,"
starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich and Steve
Buscemi; "Bad Boys II," starring Martin Lawrence and
Will Smith; other projects include "Armageddon," starring
Bruce Willis, directed by Michael Bay and "Enemy of the
State," directed by Tony Scott and starring Will Smith.
In addition, Mr. Bruckheimer is developing "Rogue Warrior,"
the exciting action story of a Navy Seal, based on the popular
number two hardback best-seller by Dick Marcinko. "Rogue
Warrior" recently reached the pinnacle position of number
one on the New York Times' best-seller list.
Mr. Bruckheimer is also developing "Witness to the Truth,"
based on the fascinating true-life account of FBI agent Paul
Lindsay. The story is being adapted for the screen by Academy
Award-winning screenwriter Robert Towne.
Also in development at Mr. Bruckheimer's production company is
the contemporary suspense thriller "Zone of Silence,"
based on an original story by Mr. Simpson, which John Dunne and
Joan Didion have adapted; "The Veronica Guerrin Story,"
about the heroic life of the Irish investigative journalist who
was gunned down last summer by Dublin crime lords; the true story
of journalism professor David Protess, who along with three of
his female students helped to exonerate four African-American
men on death row unjustly convicted of a double murder/rape in
1978 and "Esau," based on the book by Philip Kerr,
about a mountain climber who leads an expedition to find his
missing brother and subsequently discovers a Yeti in an unascended
mountain peak in the Himalayas.
Mr. Bruckheimer, a native of Detroit, Michigan, and an award-winning
photographer, was previously an art director and producer of
television commercials who had been honored for his work with
numerous Clio Awards. His first credits as a producer include
"American Gigolo," "Cat People," "Young
Doctors in Love" and "Farewell, My Lovely."
Since his initial teaming with Mr. Simpson as producers on the
1983 blockbuster "Flashdance," Mr. Bruckheimer has
been honored with an impressive twelve Academy Award nominations,
two Best Song Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, MTV's
Best Picture of the Decade Award and two People's Choice Best
Picture Awards. His hit feature "Top Gun" has the distinction
of being one of the most profitable motion pictures in Paramount's
history.
The soundtrack for "Crimson Tide" garnered a Grammy
Award for "Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion
Picture or Television." In all, the soundtrack albums of
Mr. Bruckheimer's four high-grossing films have been honored
with 18 Grammy nominations. The albums feature ten singles that
have achieved top ten status, including four Number One Singles.
Three of the soundtracks were Number One albums and feature hits
by such popular artists as Irene Cara, Harold Faltermeyer, Glenn
Frey, The Pointer Sisters, Patti LaBelle, Berlin, Kenny Loggins
and George Michael. In addition, "Days of Thunder"
produced an international hit single.
The Oscar-winning songs Mr. Bruckheimer's films have produced
are "What a Feeling" from "Flashdance" and
"Take My Breath Away" from "Top Gun." The
"Flashdance" soundtrack won Grammy Awards for Pop Vocal
-- Female, Instrumental Composition and Original Score. The "Top
Gun" theme by Harold Faltermeyer and Steve Stevens was awarded
a 1986 Grammy as Best Pop Instrumental.
Mr. Bruckheimer, was named Producer of the Year by the National
Association of Theater Owners at the ShoWest Conventions in 1985
and 1988. The Publicists Guild of America named the Simpson-Bruckheimer
team 1988 Motion Picture Showmen of the year.
In the 1980s Jerry Bruckheimer was responsible for some of entertainment's
most popular and enduring motion pictures. In the 1990s, this
exceptional and unique producer will undoubtedly continue to
bring audiences worldwide, films that thrill, excite and delight. |
