Brian Grazer Biography

Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer.

He co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986, with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $13 billion. The movies include four for which Grazer was personally nominated for an Academy Award: Splash (1984), Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Frost/Nixon (2008). His films and TV shows have been nominated for 43 Academy Awards, and 131 Emmys.

In 2002, Grazer won an Oscar for Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind (shared with Ron Howard). In 2007, he was named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World".

Early life

Grazer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Arlene Becker Grazer and criminal attorney Thomas Grazer. He is the older brother of Nora Beth Grazer (born 1952) and actor/director Gavin Grazer (1956). He was raised in Sherman Oaks and Northridge, in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley.

Grazer's mother is Jewish and his father was Catholic, and he described himself in 2000 as "half-Jewish". Subsequently, third-party reports conflicted as to whether he was Jewish or a practicing Christian. His parents divorced when he was in high school. Grazer said "My best buddy, the most important person in my growing up, was my little 4-foot-10 Jewish grandmother, and she'd say, 'In order to get it, you got to do it. No one's going to get it for you, Brian.'"

Education

Grazer won a scholarship to the University of Southern California (USC) as a psychology major. He graduated from USC's School of Cinema-Television in 1974. He then attended USC Law School for one year, but quit in 1975 to pursue a life in Hollywood.

Career

Grazer began his career as a producer developing television projects. While executive-producing TV pilots at Paramount Pictures in the early 1980s, he met current long-time friend and business partner Ron Howard.

He produced his first feature-film, Night Shift, in 1982, directed by Howard. Grazer and Howard teamed up again for Splash in 1984, which Grazer produced and co-wrote. Splash earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay of 1984.

In 1986, Grazer and Howard co-founded Imagine Entertainment, which became one of Hollywood's most prolific and successful production companies. Over the years, Grazer's films and TV shows have been nominated for a total of 43 Academy Awards, and 131 Emmys. At the same time, his movies have generated more than $13.5 billion in worldwide theatrical, music, and video grosses.

Grazer's early film successes include Parenthood (1989) and Backdraft (1991). He produced Apollo 13 (1995), for which he won the Producers Guild of America's Daryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Picture of 1995.

In 1998, he earned two major honors: he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and made a cameo appearance on the animated series The Simpsons.

In 2001, Grazer won an Academy Award for Best Picture for A Beautiful Mind, which also took home Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), Best Director (Ron Howard), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Akiva Goldsman).

In 2002, Grazer's 8 Mile was released. It proved not only to be a huge box office hit, but also the first film with a rap song to win a Best Original Song Oscar, for Eminem's "Lose Yourself".

Grazer also produced the film adaptation of Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon (2008). Frost/Nixon was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Grazer's productions span over a quarter-of-a-century, and almost the full spectrum of movie genres. His comedies include Boomerang (1992), The Nutty Professor (1996), Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Intolerable Cruelty (2003) and The Dilemma (2011). He has also produced many dramatic thrillers including Inside Man (2006), The Da Vinci Code (2006), American Gangster (2007), Changeling (2008), Angels and Demons (2009), Robin Hood (2010), and Cowboys & Aliens (2011). His recently released films include J. Edgar, the Clint Eastwood-directed biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tower Heist, starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, and Restless, directed by Gus Van Sant.

Grazer's Imagine Entertainment's television series include Sports Night, Felicity, Arrested Development, 24, Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, and Lie to Me. Upcoming series include Those Who Kill, and Gang Related.

Grazer's upcoming productions include Rush (2013), directed by Ron Howard, and staring Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl, and Made in America, airing on Showtime on October 11, 2013.

Grazer is in on pre-production on Heart of the Sea also directed by Ron Howard and staring Chris Hemsworth about the incredible true story about the American whaleship the Essex, and a biopic about the legendary "Godfather of Soul" James Brown.

Personal life

Grazer has been married and divorced three times: to Theresa McKay (1972"79), Corki Corman (1982"92; they had two children; son Riley (born 1986) and daughter Sage (1988)), and Gigi Levangie (1997"2007; they had two sons; Thomas (1999) and Patrick (2004)).

In 2011, Grazer was engaged to Vietnamese concert pianist and artist Chau-Giang Thi Nguyen, his girlfriend of five years. She is the founder of American Friends of Vietnam.

Grazer currently resides in Santa Monica, California. He also has a home in Hawaii on Sunset Beach, on the Banzai Pipeline on O'ahu's North Shore.

Additional awards

• 2001 " Producers Guild of America's David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures
• 2003 " ShoWest Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2007 " Named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World"
• 2009 " Producers Guild of America Milestone Award, together with Ron Howard
• 2009 " New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Big Apple Award, together with Ron Howard
• 2010 " Simon Wiesenthal Center Humanitarian Award, together with Ron Howard
• 2011 " MPSE 2011 Filmmaker Award