BARRY SONNENFELD Biography - Theater, Opera and Movie personalities

 
 

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BARRY SONNENFELD

Name: Barry Sonnenfeld                                                                   
Born: 1 April 1953 New York City, New York, U.S.                                         
                                                                                         
American film maker Barry Sonnenfeld (born New York City, April 1, 1953) worked         
as cinematographer for the Coen Brothers, then later he directed and produced           
big budget films such as Men in Black. On the 20 April 2007 episode of "The Late         
Late Show with Craig Ferguson," Barry Sonnenfeld said that, when he directs, he         
sits on a saddle.[citation needed] He also admits to vomiting at least once             
during shooting of his films.[citation needed]                                           
                                                                                         
Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New             
York University of Film School in 1978. After "refining" his craft on several           
hardcore porn films, he started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated   
In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984).   
This film began his collaboration with the Coen Bros., who used him for their           
next two pictures, Raising Arizona (1987) and Miller's Crossing (1990). He also         
worked with Danny DeVito on Throw Momma from the Train (1987) and Rob Reiner on         
When Harry Met Sally (1989) and Misery (1990). Sonnenfeld got his first work as         
a director from Orion Pictures on The Addams Family, a box-office success               
released in November 1991. Its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993), was not so           
successful at the box office, but he got critical acclaim for his fourth                 
directorial effort, Get Shorty (1995). Produced by Jersey Films and based on a           
novel by Elmore Leonard, the film won a Golden Globe for John Travolta (Best             
Actor in a Comedy or Musical). In 1996 Steven Spielberg asked him to direct Men         
in Black (1997). Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, the movie was a               
critical and financial smash. Producer Jon Peters then asked Sonnenfeld to               
direct Wild Wild West (1999), an adaptation of an old TV series. He also                 
directed the comedy Big Trouble (2002), after which he made his most successful         
film sequel, Men in Black II (2002).