Joel Silver | |
|---|---|
 Silver at theTribeca Film Festival in May 2008 | |
| Born | (1952-07-14)July 14, 1952 (age 73) South Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Joel Silver (born July 14, 1952) is an Americanfilm producer.
Silver was born and raised inSouth Orange, New Jersey, the son of a writer and a public relations executive.[1] His family isJewish.[2] He attendedColumbia High School inMaplewood, New Jersey. During his time there, Silver,Buzzy Hellring, and Jonny Hines created the rules for what he called "Ultimate Frisbee". He was later inducted into theUSA UltimateHall of Fame as a result of this.[3] He finished his undergraduate studies at theNew York University'sTisch School of the Arts.
Silver began his career atLawrence Gordon Productions, where he eventually became president of motion pictures for the company. He earned his first screen credit as the associate producer onThe Warriors and, with Gordon, produced48 Hrs.,Streets of Fire, andBrewster's Millions. In 1985, he formedSilver Pictures and produced successful action films such asCommando (1985), theLethal Weapon franchise, the first two films of theDie Hard series, as well as the first two films of thePredator series andThe Matrix franchise of action films.
Silver appears on-screen at the beginning ofWho Framed Roger Rabbit as Raoul J. Raoul, the director of the animated shortSomething's Cookin. Raoul loses his temper at toon Roger Rabbit for seeing tweety birds when a refrigerator crashes on his head, and not stars as the script specified. This was a prankSteven Spielberg andRobert Zemeckis pulled on then-Disney CEO,Michael Eisner, as Eisner and Silver had despised each other since their days atParamount Pictures in the early 1980s, especially with the issues they faced making48 Hrs. Silver trimmed his beard off, paid his expenses, and asked to not have his name in initial cast lists. Reportedly, when production wrapped, because Silver was unrecognizable, Eisner questioned who played Raoul and was told it was Silver, at which point, Eisner shrugged and praised his performance.
Silver directed "Split Personality", (1992), an episode of theHBO horror anthologyTales from the Crypt.
In 1996, he set up Decade Entertainment withRichard Donner to make low budget films with new talent financed byHBO,The Kushner-Locke Company andRepublic Pictures, with its first production beingDouble Tap (1997).[4][5] In 1998, he set upDark Castle Entertainment, co-owned byRobert Zemeckis. In 2000, Zinc Entertainment was launched as a low-budget division of Silver Pictures, with its first production beingProximity (2000) and Decade Entertainment ceasing to produce films.[4]
Silver is also known for his eccentric temper, inspiring characters based on him in movies such asGrand Canyon,True Romance andI'll Do Anything.[6] The character of Les Grossman (played byTom Cruise) in the movieTropic Thunder, is a parody of Silver.[7] ActorRick Moranis parodied Silver onSCTV in the skitThe Larry Siegel Talk Show.[8]
He also voiced "the police chief" in the 2001 filmOsmosis Jones in an uncredited role.[9]
On June 24, 2019, Silver Pictures CEO Hal Sadoff announced that Silver had resigned from the company.[10] Two days later,The Hollywood Reporter cited unnamed sources claiming that Silver's overspending, dearth of recent box-office hits, and an animosity between Silver and financierDaryl Katz led to his departure.[11] No official reason has yet been given by the Katz Group, Silver Pictures, or Silver himself.[12][11]
On November 30, 2023, Silver was fired as a producer ofPlay Dirty byAmazon Studios.[13][14]
Silver is well known as an aficionado of architectFrank Lloyd Wright. In 1984, he bought the Wright-designedStorer House in Hollywood and made considerable investments to restore it to its original condition. The Storer House's squarish relief ornament then became the company logo of Silver Pictures. Silver sold it in 2002 for $2.9 million. In 1986, he purchased the long-neglected C. Leigh StevensAuldbrass Plantation inYemassee, South Carolina, and has been restoring it since then. Both restorations have been managed and supervised by the architectEric Lloyd Wright (grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright).
Silver has also owned and restored twoLincoln Continental automobiles previously owned by Wright, one a 1940 convertible and the other a 1941 coupe. After the 1940 car was damaged, Wright had abody shop rebuild the car based on his custom redesign. For a time both cars were displayed in the Storer House.[15][16]
On August 19, 2015, Silver's 28-year-old assistant Carmel Musgrove drowned in a lagoon while working on vacation with Silver and his family inBora Bora. Later, in August 2017, Musgrove's family sued Silver and his assistant Martin Herold, arguing the latter had provided her with cocaine, which, along with alcohol consumption and exhaustion from work, they alleged had contributed to her death.[17][18] Silver was exonerated in February 2021 by a Los Angeles judge.[19]
Film
Film
| TV series
TV movies
|
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Raoul J. Raoul | |
| 2001 | Osmosis Jones | Police Chief | Uncredited voice role |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Tales from the Crypt | Crypt Keeper's Chainsaw Victim (Uncredited) | "Split Second" |
| 2007 | Entourage | Himself | "Less Than 30" |
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | The End | Assistant to producer |
| Hooper | Assistant to executive producer | |
| 1979 | The Warriors | Associate producer |
| 1981 | The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper | Creative consultant |
Television
| Year | Title | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | The Bette Midler Show | Assistant to the producer | TV special |
| 1983 | The Renegades | Production executive | |
| 1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Director | Episode "Split Personality" |
| 1999 | Tales from the Cryptkeeper | Special thanks |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
