Sam Raimi

Name: Sam Raimi
Date of Birth: October 23, 1959
Place of Birth: Royal Oak, Michigan, USA

Mini-bio: Highly inventive US film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film The Evil Dead (1981). From his c...( read more)hildhood Raimi was a fan of the cinema and before he was ten years old, he was out making movies with an 8mm camera.

He was a devoted fan of The Three Stooges, so much of Raimi's film work in his teens, with good friends Bruce Campbell and Robert G. Tapert, was slapstick comedy based around what they had observed from Stooges movies. Among the three of them they wrote, directed, produced and edited a short horror movie titled Within the Woods (1978), which was then shown to prospective investors to raise the money necessary to film The Evil Dead (1981). It met with lukewarm interest in the US with local distributors, so Raimi took the film to Europe, where it was much more warmly received. After it started gaining positive reviews and, more importantly, ticket sales upon its release in Europe, US distributors showed renewed interest, and "Evil Dead" was eventually released stateside to strong box office returns.

His next directorial effort was Crimewave (1985), a quirky, cartoon-like effort that failed to catch fire with audiences. However, he bounced back with Evil Dead II (1987), a racier and more humorous remake/sequel to the original "Dead" that did even better at the box office. Raimi was then given his biggest budget to date to shoot Darkman (1990), a comic book-style fantasy about a scarred avenger. The film did moderate business, but Raimi's strong visual style was evident throughout the film via inventive and startling camera work that caught the attention of numerous critics.

The third chapter in the Evil Dead story beckoned, and Raimi once again directed buddy Campbell as the gritty hero "Ash", in the Gothic horror "Army of Darkness" (1993). Raimi surprised fans when he took a turn away from the fantasy genre and directed Gene Hackman and Sharon Stone in the sexy western The Quick and the Dead (1995).

Four years later he took the directorial reins on A Simple Plan (1998), a crime thriller about stolen money starring Bill Paxton and Bridget Fonda. In early 1999 he directed the baseball film For Love of the Game (1999) and in 2000 returned to the fantasy genre with a top-flight cast in The Gift (2000). In 2002 Raimi was given a real opportunity to demonstrate his dynamic visual style with the big-budget film adaptation of the Stan Lee comic book superhero Spider-Man (2002), and fans were not disappointed. The movie was strong in both script and effects, and was a runaway success at the box office. Of course, Raimi returned for the sequel, Spider-Man 2 (2004), which surpassed the original in box-office takings.

Raimi remains one of Hollywood's most creative, exciting and intelligent filmmakers.

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I look at myself as an entertainer, more than anything else. I wanted to make the movie a little more different than the previous films. ... That was less about me growing as a craftsman. That was more about me trying to provide an element to the audience that I thought they might need something different, that came from a different place. -Sam Raimi

Raimi, the fourth of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi, who owned home furnishing stores. Raimi was raised in Conservative Judaism; his ancestors emmigrated from Russia and Hungary. Raimi's eldest sibling, Sander, died in a swimming accident in 1970 at age fifteen. His elder brother, Ivan Raimi, is an emergency room doctor and screenwriter who sometimes collaborates with Sam. His brother, Ted Raimi, is an actor and played J. Jonah Jameson's assistant Hoffman in all three Spider-Man movies. His older sister, Andrea Raimi Rubin, is a court reporter and is not involved in the film industry. Raimi attended Wylie E. Groves High School, and Michigan State University and majored in English, leaving after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.

Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day and he began to make Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce Campbell. In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised $350,000, as well as the short comedic film It's Murder!. Through family, friends, and a network of investors Raimi was able to finance production of the highly successful horror film The Evil Dead (1981) which became a major hit and effectively launched Raimi's career to new levels. He began work on his second film Crimewave (1985), intended as a live-action comic book—the film was not successful, due in part to unwanted studio intervention. Raimi returned to the horror genre with the seminal Evil Dead II (which toned down the savageness of the original in favour of slapstick, showcasing his love of the Three Stooges). A long-time comic book buff, he attempted to adapt "The Shadow" into a movie, but was unable to secure the rights. So he created his own super-hero, Darkman (1990). The film was his first major studio picture, and was only moderately successful, but he was still able to secure funding for Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness, which turned away almost totally from horror in favour of fantasy and comedy elements.

In the 1990s Raimi moved into other genres, directing such films as the western The Quick and the Dead, the critically-acclaimed crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998) (starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton), and the romantic drama For Love of the Game (1999) (starring Kevin Costner). Raimi achieved great commercial success with the blockbuster Spider-Man (2002), which was adapted from the comic book series of the same name. The movie has grossed over $800 million worldwide, spawning two sequels: Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. After the completion of the third Spider-Man film, Raimi is slated to direct a film adaptation of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Prior to directing the Spider-Man films, Raimi lobbied to direct Batman Forever when Tim Burton was ousted from the director's chair, but was rejected in favor of Joel Schumacher, whose reputation at the time outshone Raimi's.

Raimi frequently collaborates with Joel and Ethan Coen, beginning when Joel was one of the editors of Evil Dead. The Coens co-wrote Crimewave and The Hudsucker Proxy with Raimi in the mid-1980s (though Hudsucker was not filmed for almost a decade). Raimi made cameo appearances in both Miller's Crossing and The Hudsucker Proxy. The Coen brothers gave Raimi advice on shooting in snow for A Simple Plan, based on their experiences with Fargo.

He has also worked in front of the camera with Miller's Crossing as a coldblooded gunman, The Stand as a dimwitted hitman, John Carpenter's Body Bags in an unusual role as a gas station attendant (all three roles saw Raimi dying in distinct ways), and Indian Summer in what is perhaps his biggest role as a bumbling assistant to Alan Arkin. He also produced The Grudge, The Grudge 2 and The Grudge 3.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Raimi had expressed an interest in directing a film version of The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Guillermo del Toro is now attached.

There are also talks of Raimi directing By Any Means Necessary, the next Jack Ryan film based on the CIA character created by Tom Clancy.

Television
In addition to film, Raimi has worked in television, producing such series as Xena: Warrior Princess, featuring his younger brother Ted Raimi and long-time friend Bruce Campbell, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, American Gothic, Cleopatra 2525 and Jack of All Trades. In 2008, it was announced at Comic-Con in San Diego that Raimi would be executive producing a new syndicated TV series called "Legend of the Seeker," based on Terry Goodkind's best-selling The Sword of Truth fantasy series. The original name for the show was going to be based on the first book of the Goodkind series, "Wizard's First Rule," but was changed to the new title as it more accurately captured the scope of the epic storyline.

Did you know:
Always has his car (a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88) somewhere visible to the audience in all of his films (including a modified covered wagon, according to Bruce Campbell, in The Quick and the Dead (1995)) It is even visible in the Spider-Man (2002) trailer (the car that Spider-man jumps on).

During the mid-80s, Raimi used to live in an apartment with actor Bruce Campbell, writer/director Scott Spiegel, writer/director Joel Coen, writer/producer Ethan Coen and actresses Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand and Kathy Bates.

Is a avid fan of Spider-Man comic books

.His family name was changed from the German name Reingewertz.

He wanted to adapt and direct The Shadow (1994),but was denied the rights to do it. Instead, he created his own superhero with his Film Darkman 1990.

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Sam Raimi Information:

Full Name: Samuel Marshall Raimi Surname is pronounced ray-mee;

Eye color:

Height: 5' 11" (1.80 m)

Nickname(s): Sammy

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Education:

Family: Raimi has been married since 1993 to Gillian Dania Greene, daughter of actor Lorne Greene. They have five children. Three of the Raimis' children (daughter Emma Rose and sons Lorne and Henry) appeared as extras in Spider-Man 3 during the movie's climactic final battle

On occasion, Raimi collaborates with his elder brother Ivan, a doctor and occasional scriptwriter. Together, they co-wrote the screenplays for Darkman and Army of Darkness and fleshed out most of the plot for Spider-Man 3. Ivan also contributed to story and script development for the three Spider-Man films.

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Last update: Oct 23 2008, 4:35 AM EDT by NaWia (content history | content tools) (help)

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Sam Raimi Biography Sam Raimi Quotes Sam Raimi Best Movies and Characters

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Comments

chocofreak7

da spiderman sequels are the best movies he done.

posted 90 days ago
stephsmatrix

this is one fantastic director. i love Evil Dead

posted 204 days ago
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posted 214 days ago
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posted 214 days ago
chezachan1364

Loved your work on Xena, best show in my opinion, I also love your Spider Man movies. Keep up the good work!

posted 553 days ago
littlebit93

You make the best movies in the world and i hope that you dont stop making them!!

posted 555 days ago
bigbadbrewcee

Sam Raimi is a pure genius.

posted 574 days ago
johnpaullucky7

Sam Raimi is a really good director Spider-man 1, 2 and 3 hes done a brilliant job on them i know the 4th is just going to be as good. I just wish Sam Raimi would have been the director on xmen cause he would of made it better and not finished it to early. I also liked Evil Dead 1 but not 2 or 3 anyway cant wait untill 2009 for Spider-Man 4 if you ever see this comment Sam keep up the brilliant work.

posted 574 days ago
wearelocalpeople

have to leave a comment because im so ticked off with people dissing and hating Spiderman 3 when it so feels like im the only one who likes it loads.i thought you did a fantastic job with the film and the action was top quality.the storyline was great and i loved how you got to fit 3 villians into one film.basically im a fan of your spiderman films and evil dead films and i just want to say your a great director.thank you

posted 575 days ago