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 Peter Jackson mini-bio: Peter Jackson is a three-time Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning New Zealand filmmaker best known as the director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which he, along with his long time partner, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens adapted from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. He is also known for his remake of King Kong. With his successes and innovative film-making, Jackson is now considered to be an important force in the new generation of motion picture directors. Peter Jackson has even been described as the new Steven Spielberg of the present generation, and the combination of his unmatched commercial successes, along with the critical acclaim he has garnered, have made Jackson one of the most powerful film directors of the present era. Peter Jackson first gained attention with his "splatstick" horror comedies, and came to prominence with his critically acclaimed Heavenly Creatures, for which he shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen with Walsh.| Cameo roles |
Jackson usually makes cameo appearances in his own films: - Jackson appears as a bi-plane gunner attacking Kong in New York, reprising the cameo which original King Kong filmmaker Merian C. Cooper made in his 1933 film.
- The Lord of the Rings film trilogy includes multiple cameos. In The Fellowship of the Ring Jackson plays Albert Dreary, a drunken, carrot-chomping citizen of Bree. In The Two Towers he plays a spear-throwing defender of Helm's Deep. His significant cameo in The Return of the King is limited to the extended version, where he is seen as the boatswain of a corsair ship and is accidentally killed by Legolas's "warning shot." (Gimli had messed with Legolas's bow.) (The character is seen very briefly in the theatrical version.) Additionally, though not a cameo in the traditional sense, he also served as a stand-in for Sean Astin in the shot where Samwise Gamgee steps into frame, challenging the monster Shelob; all that can be seen of Jackson, however, is his right arm.
- In The Frighteners, Jackson is a biker bumped into by Frank Bannister.
- In Heavenly Creatures, he is a bum that gets kissed by Juliet Hulme.
- In Braindead, he is the mortician's assistant.
- In the puppet movie Meet the Feebles Jackson appears as an audience member disguised as one of the aliens from Bad Taste.
He has also made cameos in several films not directed by him. In Hot Fuzz (2007), he played a demented Father Christmas, who stabs Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg) in the hand.
Jackson's eldest son, Billy (born 1995), has made cameo appearances in every one of his father's films since his birth, namely The Frighteners (1996), The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and King Kong. His daughter, Katie (born 1996), appears in all the above films except The Frighteners.
Jackson had a cameo on the HBO show Entourage in the 5 August 2007 episode, "Gary's Desk", in which he offers a business proposal to Eric Murphy, manager to the lead character, Vincent Chase.
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| Trivia |
Met Fran Walsh in 1987, during post-production for the gross-out cult classic Bad Taste (1987).
He is among an elite group of 7 Directors who have won Best Picture, Best Director & Best Screenplay (Orig/Adapted) for the same film. In 2004 he won all three for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). The other Directors are Billy Wilder, Leo McCarey, Francis Ford Coppola, James L. Brooksand Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (the brothers co-produced, co-directed and co-wrote No Country for Old Men (2007) with each other).
Father of Katie Jackson.
Father of Billy Jackson.
For his first movie, Bad Taste (1987), he did all the special effects, the make-up effects and built exact replicas of the weapons.
Ranked #20 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #41 in 2002.
He allegedly offered $150,000 to Aint-it-cool webmaster Harry Jay Knowles for his King Kong (1933) original poster.
In 1998, he bought the New Zealand based film company National Film Unit.
Voted 'Man of the Year 2002' in the Australian Empire Magazine March 2003.
Ranked #7 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Greatest directors ever!" [2005]
He owns two houses in Wellington, New Zealand
Along with his wife Fran Walsh, he was one of two husband/wife teams to be nominated for an Oscar for the 2003 season, the other team was Michael McKean and his wife, Annette O'Toole.
No longer needs glasses after undergoing eye surgery during the making of King Kong (2005).
Has been referred to by Fran Walsh as being a hobbit himself, due to his physical stature, his tendency to go barefoot, and the fact that he is swarthy (in Walsh's words, "furry").
Was invested as a Companion Of The New Zealand Order Of Merit [CNZM] by the Governor-General of New Zealand in March 2002.
Three of his collaborators have had connections to the material being filmed, outside the context of the film being made. Ian Holm, whom he cast as Bilbo in The Lord of the Rings, was cast because he had played Frodo in the BBC radio adaptation. That adaptation was written by Brian Sibley, who is a cousin of his wife, Fran Walsh. In _Heavenly Creatures (1994)_, Kate Winslet plays Juliet Hulme, who would later be known as real-life mystery novelist Anne Perry. Winslet has a sister, Anna Winslet, who appears as Dora in The Cater Street Hangman (1998) (TV), which was based on one of Perry's novels.
Described the production of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy as "laying the tracks down in front of the train" as it was moving forward.
The copies of the "Lord of the Rings" books that he referred to during filming are the ones that he bought after seeing _Lord of the Rings, The (1978)_. The books have cover art by Ralph Bakshi.
With Fran Walsh, he become member of the New Zealand Order of Merit [5 March 2002]
The movie that gave him the love for splatter is George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978). After seeing it, he felt a bit sick but amazed too.
Son of Bill Jackson and Joan Jackson.
Nominated for a Best Director Academy Award for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (which he won), but not for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).
The stuff in the bowl, in his first movie Bad Taste (1987), was yoghurt, muesli and green food colouring.
Has worked with three generations of Astins: John Astin (The Frighteners (1996)); John's son, Sean Astin (The Lord of The Rings Trilogy); and Sean's daughter, Alexandra Astin (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)).
One of few directors to be offered the chance of writing and directing sequels to many famous horror franchises. He was offered Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990), Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992) and Child's Play 3 (1991).
He collects models of airplanes from World War One.
Crowned the most powerful man in Hollywood by ranking #1 on Premiere's 2005 Power 50 List. It is his first #1 ranking. Had ranked #6 in 2004.
Started writing a re-make of King Kong (1933) in 1996, which went through several drafts, until in 2003 he made one that was greenlighted by Universal.
2007 - Ranked #16 on EW's The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.
Ranked #11 on Premiere's 2006 "Power 50" list. Had ranked #1 in 2005.
Ranked #6 in Premiere's 2004 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #20 in 2003. He is the second-highest rated director on the list, behind only Steven Spielberg.
The London Daily Mail reported (December 5, 2003) that Jackson was so fond of King Kong (1933) that he once cut up his mother's old fur coat and used it to make a model of the great ape; also that he consulted with Andy Serkis on the script of his version of the movie.
Is a fan of "Doctor Who" (1963), and has used the screen name Xoanon, taken from the Doctor Who story "The Face of Evil.".
Lost 70 lbs. during the production of King Kong (2005).
Estimated earnings from the `Lord of the Rings` trilogy come close to $125 million.
Both of his parents died during production of The Lord of the Rings.
He left school at the age of 17 and started working on a Wellington newspaper.
Together with his partner Fran Walsh, he received the honorary graduation from Massey University [26 November 2001]
Credits his favorite movie King Kong (1933) as his biggest inspiration in filmmaking. He said that he cried when King Kong fell off the Empire State Building.
After his parents, Bill and Joan, died, Jackson owns the modest Pukerua Bay house where he grew up.
He likes 1960s music: his favorites are The Beatles (and he homaged them in Bad Taste (1987)).
During filming of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), he used the same pair of shoes and only two T-shirts.
Collects models of airplanes from World War One.
Owner of production companies WingNut Films, Weta Limited and Three Foot Six.
Made the latex models for Bad Taste (1987) in his mom`s kitchen oven, often forcing the family to have sausages for dinner because they couldn`t use the oven.
Owns two houses in Wellington, New Zealand.
Frequently wears shorts, even in freezing cold weather.
Always writes his scripts with his real-life partner Fran Walsh.
Frequently set his movies in Wellington, New Zealand.
His films frequently conclude with a bloodbath, e.g.: the lawnmower with the zombies in Braindead (1992), and the murder of Honora Parker in Heavenly Creatures (1994).
Spouse: Fran Walsh (1987 - present) 2 children |
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Homerisagodposted 96 days ago
