46 Little Known Facts About Steven Spielberg, One Of The Most Influential Film Personalities In The World

Spielberg started making movies at the age of 12. He always wanted to direct one of the Bond movies but got flat "no" from its producer twice. Here're 46 more little known facts about the director:

• Steven Spielberg was born on December 18, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• His mother, Leah Posner was a restaurateur and concert pianist and his father, Arnold, was an electrical engineer.
• Steven belongs to an Orthodox Jewish family.
  
• He attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957 taught by Rabi Alber L. Lewis.
• Steven is Godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow.
• He frequently uses a piano as an element in key scenes Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report.
• His science-fiction fantasy E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial, is one of the highest-grossing films ever made.
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had honored him with the Irving Thalberg Award in 1987.
  
• The iconic character E.T. is ranked #26 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
• Steven is a fan of Doctor Who (1963).
• His first full-length feature film is Sugarland Express in 1974.
• "Jaws" catapulted Spielberg to stardom.
• He struggled with dyslexia his whole life but was not diagnosed until very recently.
• Spielberg's classic Jurassic Park has grossed over $1 billion.
  
• Spielberg was educated at California State University at Long Beach.
• He started making movies at the age of 12 and by the time he left college he had at least eight amateur works to his credit.
• His short film Amblin' (1968) came to the attention of Universal Pictures and signed him to a seven-year contract.
• His other blockbuster film in the 1970s is Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
• He teamed up with writer-producer George Lucas in the 1980s to make the action-adventure Indiana Jones film series: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
• Spielberg also produced the animated features An American Tail (1986), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993).
• Schindler's List won him his first Academy Award for best director. It also won an Academy for best picture.
• He married actress Amy Irving in 1985 and divorced in 1989.
• Amy received $100 million from Spielberg after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement written on a napkin.
• Their divorce was recorded as the third most costly celebrity divorce in history.
• Forbes magazine has placed his personal net worth at $3 billion.
• In 2006, Time listed him as one of the '100 Most Important People of the Century.'
• Life named him the most influential person of his generation at the end of 20th century.
• Steven married actress Kate Capshaw on October 12, 1991.
  
• They met when he cast her in Indiana Jones and the Temple Doom.
• There are seven children in the Spielberg-Capshaw family.
• Spielberg and George Lucas have been old friends. During the making of 'Jaws' Spielberg pranked Lucas using the giant mechanical shark which almost costed them the very expensive prop.
  
• After Drew Barrymore posed for Playboy magazine, Spielberg sent her a quilt and a note that said: "Cover yourself up."
• Steven has one of the largest gun collections on the East Coast. He shoots, but only privately.
• 'E.T.' was originally set to be a horror movie about aliens terrorizing a rural family.
• Spielberg always wanted to direct a Bond film. However, he got two chances to make his pitch and got a flat 'No' both times from producer Alber R. Broccoli.
• Spielberg developed an idea for a WWII shooting game that would become the first "Medal of Honor" game from his Dreamworks' studio.
• His all-time favorite cartoon character is Daffy Duck.
• He has never had a cup of coffee in his entire life. Steven has never liked the smell of coffee and has never had the desire to try it.
• He has never accepted a dime for his work on Schindler's List because according to him any money he received would be 'blood money'.
• His salary and all the future profits from Schindler's List have been donated to The Shoah Foundation.
• He is an avid collector of movie memorabilia. Two Yankee Clipper sleds were made for the filming of 'Citizen Kane' in 1941, a prop that becomes a centerpiece for the film's central story and theme. Spielberg bought the sole surviving sled that wasn't burned at an auction in 1986 for $60,500.
  
• He would get very depressed while directing Schindler's List because of the film's subject matter. He would talk to Robin Williams over the phone every week and Robin would tell him jokes to make him laugh and cheer him up.
• Steven says his favorite curse word is "Rats!"
• He nicknamed the mechanical shark in Jaws "Bruce" in honor of his lawyer.
• Spielberg has casted his cocker spaniel Elmer in 'The Sugarland Express,' 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind,' '1941' and a memorable scene in 'Jaws' as the dog who mysteriously disappears just before the young boy is eaten by the shark.
• Because of the complaints made by parents over the PG ratings of movies like Poltergeist, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg suggested PG-13 rating.