Daily BirthdaysLawrence Kasdan
In addition, Kasdan has written or co-written four of the most successful pictures 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, 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. 1990's I Love You to Death, written by John Kostmayer, was the first script that Kasdan directed that he did not write.
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 1992, Kasdan's seventeen-year-old script for The Bodyguard was filmed under the direction of Mick Jackson. Kasdan, Jim Wilson and Kevin Costner produced the movie, which went on to gross $400 million in theaters worldwide. 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 made his theatrical stage debut in the fall of 1995 as director of John Patrick Shanley's Four Dogs & a Bone, a dark comedic look at the seamier side of Hollywood, as the inaugural play of the newly renovated Geffen Playhouse. The comedy Mumford, which Kasdan wrote, directed and produced with Charles Okun, was released in 1999.
Lawrence Kasdan Facts
| Occupation | Director, Writer, Director |
| Birthday | January 14, 1949 (60) |
| Sign | Capricorn |
| Birthplace | Miami, Florida, USA |
Selected Filmography
| The Big Chill | ||
| Body Heat | ||
| Wyatt Earp | ||
| The Accidental Tourist | ||
| Dreamcatcher | ||
| French Kiss | ||
| Grand Canyon | ||
| Mumford | ||
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