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Lawrence Kasdan

Counting his latest, Darling Companion, four-time Academy Award nominee Lawrence Kasdan has directed eleven films: Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, I Love You To Death, Grand Canyon, Wyatt Earp, French Kiss, Mumford, and Dreamcatcher. He has written or co-written all of these pictures except John Kostmayer's I Love You to Death and Adam Brooks's French Kiss. In addition, Kasdan has written or co-written four of the most successful films in motion picture history: Raiders of The Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi and The Bodyguard.

Born in Miami Beach, Florida and raised in West Virginia, Kasdan attended the University of Michigan, supporting himself with a series of writing awards while he studied English literature.

Kasdan made his critically acclaimed directorial debut with Body Heat in 1981. Next, he directed The Big Chill, which he co-wrote with Barbara Benedek and which was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. His next effort was the sprawling western Silverado, which he directed and produced, and co-wrote with his brother Mark.

Kasdan next directed The Accidental Tourist based on the novel by Anne Tyler and adapted by Kasdan and Frank Galati. The film was named Best Picture of 1988 by the New York Film Critics, received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and earned Geena Davis a Best Supporting Actress award. The script for Grand Canyon, co-written with his wife Meg Kasdan, earned them Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Screenplay. The film received the Golden Bear Award for Best Picture at the 1992 Berlin Film Festival.

In 1994, Kasdan made Wyatt Earp, starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid and Gene Hackman, and in 1995, directed French Kiss, a romantic comedy set in Paris and Cannes with Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline. Kasdan wrote and directed the comedy Mumford in 1999, which earned him the Best Screenplay Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. In 2003, he helmed the sci-fi thriller Dreamcatcher, based on the Stephen King novel and adapted for the screen with William Goldman.

The Writers Guild of America gave Kasdan its 2006 Laurel Award for advancing the literature of motion pictures.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2012.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Lawrence Kasdan Facts

OccupationDirector, Writer, Director
BirthdayJanuary 14, 1949 (75)
SignCapricorn
BirthplaceMiami, Florida, USA

Selected Filmography

The Accidental Tourist
Darling Companion
Wyatt Earp
The Big Chill
Silverado
Dreamcatcher
Body Heat
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