|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Harvey Weinstein |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
N/A |
| << Add Harvey Weinstein To Your Favorites |
|
Full Harvey Weinstein Biography
Harvey Weinstein, CBE (Hon) (born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. ì
Born in Flushing, New York, Weinstein and his younger brother, Bob Weinstein, grew up in New York City, residing in a housing co-op named Electchester. He attended and graduated from John Bowne High School, and then the State University of New York at Buffalo. He currently lives in Westport, Connecticut.
Also in 1989, Miramax released two art-house films, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and director Pedro Almodóvar's film Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, both of which the MPAA rating board gave an X-rating, effectively stopping nationwide release for these films. Weinstein sued the MPAA over their rating system and while his lawsuit was thrown out, the MPAA agreed to introduce the new NC-17 rating following this episode.
Miramax continued to grow its library of films and directors until, in 1993, after the success of The Crying Game, Disney offered Harvey and Bob $80 million for ownership of Miramax. Agreeing to the deal that would cement their Hollywood clout and ensure that they would remain at the head of their company, Miramax followed the next year with their first blockbuster, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and the indie favorite Clerks by Kevin Smith.
In 2000, Harvey Weinstein was bestowed an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters, from the State University of New York at Buffalo despite not completing his course of study there, having dropped out to form Miramax Films in 1979.
On March 29, 2005, it was announced that the Weinstein brothers would leave Miramax on September 30 to form their own production company, named The Weinstein Co. with several other media executives as well as, reportedly, directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. The new studio immediately garnered Academy Award nominations for Transamerica and Mrs. Henderson Presents, and box office success through Hoodwinked and Scary Movie 4.
Weinstein was awarded an Honorary CBE in November 2004 for services to the British Film Industry. Many of his films, including Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient, were shot at least partially in British studios.
He serves on the board of the Robin Hood Foundation, a charitable organization which attempts to allieviate problems caused by poverty in New York City, New York.
Another notable example citied by Biskind was The Quiet American, directed by Phillip Noyce. The film tested relatively well on September 10, 2001. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Weinstein held the film until testing it again on October. This time, the scores were much lower, possibly due to the critical tone of the film towards America's past foreign policy. Noyce delivered the finished film in May 2002, but was unable to get a response from Weinstein. He refused to screen the film at the Toronto International Film Festival until he was lobbied by star Michael Caine, who threatened to boycott publicity for another film he had made for Miramax. Still, there were no press screenings. The movie was released in November and closed after two weeks. Miramax also made little effort to promote the film before the Oscars. Despite this, Caine was still nominated for an Academy Award. (Biskind 2004, pp. 463-464.)
Weinstein's demands to trim films' running times—sometimes drastically—earned him the nickname "Harvey Scissorhands", after the Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands.
In a 2002 piece in New York magazine, Weinstein appeared somewhat repentant for his often aggressive discussions with directors and producers.
While Weinstein was head of Miramax, the company often produced controversial films. Priest told the story of a gay priest struggling with the problems of an inner-city parish. Dogma lampooned many aspects of Catholicism. The filmmakers, including Miramax and its parent company Disney, were heavily criticized for these films by some Catholics. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 presented a detailed critique of the Bush Administration's response to the September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11]] attacks, and generated much controversy. In the end, the latter two films were distributed by Lions Gate Entertainment.
In 2004, Weinstein divorced his wife of several years, Eve Chilton Weinstein. He is married to designer Georgina Chapman.
Harvey Weinstein is parodied in the form of the character Harvey Weingard in the Entourage episodes "The Sundance Kids", "Malibooty", "Sorry, Harvey", and "The Cannes Kids", played by actor Maury Chaykin. In one episode, a character actually calls Weingard "Weinstein", and the directors either forgot to edit it, or deliberately left it in, in tribute to Weinstein. Also in the last episode of season four, Ari Gold makes a reference "wait till Harvey gets his scissors hands on it" in reference to Weinsteins nickname. |
|
|
| Add Harvey Weinstein Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Harvey Weinstein Review/Comment
|
| << Back to the Harvey Weinstein Homepage |
|
