Robert Zemeckis was born on May 14, 1952. As a kid he experimented with with short films, recruiting his family and friends to be his cast members. After high school, he attended the USC film school, where he met his friend and future co-screenwriter, Bob Gale, and also made two short films: The Lift and A Field of Honor. During his USC years, Zemeckis met director Steven Spielberg, who would later direct Zemeckis's and Gale's screenplay 1941 (1979), and who would produce several of Zemeckis's later movies. In the late 1970s, Zemeckis and Gale also collaborated on the Beatles Craze mockery I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) and the Kurt Russell comedy Used Cars (1980). Unfortunately, all three of these films did poorly in theaters. Critics loved them, audiences didn't. Luckily, actor Michael Douglas had faith in Zemeckis, and asked him to direct the movie in which Douglas was to star, Romancing The Stone (1984). The movie, an action/adventure/romance, was very popular and suddenly Zemeckis was a sought-after director. In September of 1980, Zemeckis and Gale had begun working on the screenplay for Back to the Future (1985). After the success of Stone, Zemeckis finally had the respect of the film industry and was able to begin production on BTTF. The movie, which starred Michael J. Fox as time-traveller Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as his wacky inventor/scientist friend, Doc Brown, was directed by Zemeckis. It opened on July 3, 1985, and went on to become the highest-grossing movie of 1985. It was followed by two sequels, Back to the Future 2 (1989) and Back to the Future 3 (1990), which Zemeckis also directed. These films led to a cartoon series as well as popular attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood and Florida. Between working on BTTF and its sequels, Zemeckis set forth upon working on a very ambitious project: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), a film that seamlessly blended live action and animation. That movie was also hugely popular. Zemeckis directed the dark comedy Death Becomes Her in 1992, and in 1993, began working on the film that would earn him an Oscar: Forrest Gump (1994). The film starred Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as childhood best friends who went on to lead unusual lives, but were always connected at the heart. The film was an amazing box office success. In 1997, Zemeckis directed Contact, a movie about a woman (Jodie Foster) who has more than one earth-shattering experience in her lifetime. Zemeckis then went on to direct What Lies Beneath (2000), about a married couple who have a few... problems, and Cast Away (2000), the story of a man (Tom Hanks) who must overcome personal and physical obstacles in order to survive. Zemeckis's most recent release was the Christmas story The Polar Express (2004). Next he will direct Beowulf, which is scheduled to be released in 2007. He is currently married with two children, Alexander (from his first marriage) and Zane. Page created: 10 April 2004 Last Updated: 9 September 2005 Images from this site are from the What Lies Beneath DVD; I don't pretend to own the copyrights to them. I have no contact with Robert Zemeckis. All info. is thought to be correct; if you see anything that is not, please email me. Leave a message in the guestbook to comment on this article. :) (c)2004-2005 Alligator Juice