Home   >   Movie Stars   >   K   >   Randal Kleiser
Randal Kleiser
  • Biography

Randal Kleiser

Randal Kleiser made his feature film directorial debut with GREASE, having already racked up an impressive list of television and short subject credits.

Born in Philadelphia, Kleiser resettled in Los Angeles at age 18 to attend the film school at the University of Southern California. While there he directed the award­winning one minute Foot Fetish about a pair of sneakers making love, and Peege, his moving, 28­minute Master's project which took top honors at the Atlanta, Cine, Educational, and USA Film Festivals. He showed Peege to Universal, who offered the young director a non­exclusive contract.

Starting with several episodes for Marcus Welby, M.D., Kleiser went on to direct for several series, most notably the highly­acclaimed Family. Producer Robert Stigwood gave him his first opportunity to direct a made­for­TV film, the sensitive All Together Now. His Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway was also well­received by critics and public alike, and his Boy in the Plastic Bubble introduced TV audiences to a non­Barbarino John Travolta. The moving telefilm scored with the Nielsens as well as the critics.

Kleiser also directed The Gathering for ABC, which starred Maureen Stapleton and Edward Asner, and Portrait of Grandpa Doc, a half­hour companion piece to Peege, starring Melvyn Douglas.

Following Grease, Kleiser directed the coming of age romances The Blue Lagoon and Summer Lovers, as well as Grandview, USA, Flight of the Navigator, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, White Fang, Getting it Right and It's My Party. His 70mm­3­D film Honey, I Shrunk the Audience is currently drawing crowds at Orlando's Epcot Center and is soon to open at Disneyland. He recently completed directing the thriller Shadow of Doubt, starring Melanie Griffith and Tom Beringer. The film will be released later this year.

A graduate of USC Film School, he is currently teaching a graduate production workshop at the university and serves as a judge on the Student Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Kleiser is an active member of both the Writers' Guild of America, for which he is a credit arbitrator, and the Directors' Guild of America, where he currently serves on the Editorial committee for their monthly magazine, as well as the Ethics committee.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2002.

Randal Kleiser Facts

OccupationDirector
BirthdayJuly 20, 1946 (77)
SignCancer
BirthplacePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Selected Filmography

Not available.