SAM RAIMI
Name: Samuel Marshall Raimi
Born: 23 October 1959 Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Other name: Celia Abrams
Samuel Marshall Raimi (born October 23, 1959) is an American film director,
producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing the classic cult-horror
film The Evil Dead and the blockbuster Spider-Man films.
Raimi, the fourth of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of
Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi,
who owned home furnishing stores. Raimi was raised in Conservative Judaism;
his ancestors immigrated from Russia and Hungary. Raimi's eldest sibling,
Sander, died in a swimming accident in 1968 at age fifteen. His elder brother,
Ivan Raimi, is an emergency room doctor and screenwriter who sometimes
collaborates with Sam. His brother, Ted Raimi, is an actor and played J. Jonah
Jameson's assistant Hoffman in all three Spider-Man movies. His older sister,
Andrea Raimi Rubin, is a court reporter and is not involved in the film industry.
Raimi attended Wylie E. Groves High School, and Michigan State University and
majored in English, leaving after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera
home one day and he began to make Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce
Campbell. In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and
Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised
$350,000, as well as the short comedic film It's Murder!. Through family,
friends, and a network of investors Raimi was able to finance production of the
highly successful horror film The Evil Dead (1981) which became a major hit and
effectively launched Raimi's career to new levels. He began work on his second
film Crimewave (1985), intended as a live-action comic book—the film was not
successful, due in part to unwanted studio intervention. Raimi returned to the
horror genre with the seminal Evil Dead II (which toned down the savageness of
the original in favour of slapstick, showcasing his love of the Three Stooges).
A long-time comic book buff, he attempted to adapt "The Shadow" into a movie,
but was unable to secure the rights. So he created his own super-hero, Darkman (1990).
The film was his first major studio picture, and was only moderately successful,
but he was still able to secure funding for Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness,
which turned away almost totally from horror in favour of fantasy and comedy
elements.
In the 1990s Raimi moved into other genres, directing such films as the western
The Quick and the Dead, the critically-acclaimed crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998)
(starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton), and the romantic drama For Love
of the Game (1999) (starring Kevin Costner). Raimi achieved great commercial
success with the blockbuster Spider-Man (2002), which was adapted from the comic
book series of the same name. The movie has grossed over $800 million worldwide,
spawning two sequels: Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. After the completion of the
third Spider-Man film, Raimi is slated to direct a film adaptation of The Wee
Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Prior to directing the Spider-Man films, Raimi
lobbied to direct Batman Forever when Tim Burton was ousted from the director's
chair, but was rejected in favor of Joel Schumacher, whose reputation at the
time outshone Raimi's.
Raimi frequently collaborates with Joel and Ethan Coen, beginning when Joel was
one of the editors of Evil Dead. The Coens co-wrote Crimewave and The Hudsucker
Proxy with Raimi in the mid-1980s (though Hudsucker was not filmed for almost a
decade). Raimi made cameo appearances in both Miller's Crossing and The
Hudsucker Proxy. The Coen brothers gave Raimi advice on shooting in snow for A
Simple Plan, based on their experiences with Fargo.
He has also worked in front of the camera with Miller's Crossing as a
coldblooded gunman, The Stand as a dimwitted hitman, John Carpenter's Body Bags
in an unusual role as a gas station attendant (all three roles saw Raimi dying
in distinct ways), and Indian Summer in what is perhaps his biggest role as a
bumbling assistant to Alan Arkin. He also produced The Grudge, The Grudge 2 and
The Grudge 3.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Raimi has expressed an interest in directing
a film version of The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Name: Samuel Marshall Raimi
Born: 23 October 1959 Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Other name: Celia Abrams
Samuel Marshall Raimi (born October 23, 1959) is an American film director,
producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing the classic cult-horror
film The Evil Dead and the blockbuster Spider-Man films.
Raimi, the fourth of five children, was born in Royal Oak, Michigan, the son of
Celia Barbara (née Abrams), who owned lingerie shops, and Leonard Ronald Raimi,
who owned home furnishing stores. Raimi was raised in Conservative Judaism;
his ancestors immigrated from Russia and Hungary. Raimi's eldest sibling,
Sander, died in a swimming accident in 1968 at age fifteen. His elder brother,
Ivan Raimi, is an emergency room doctor and screenwriter who sometimes
collaborates with Sam. His brother, Ted Raimi, is an actor and played J. Jonah
Jameson's assistant Hoffman in all three Spider-Man movies. His older sister,
Andrea Raimi Rubin, is a court reporter and is not involved in the film industry.
Raimi attended Wylie E. Groves High School, and Michigan State University and
majored in English, leaving after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.
Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera
home one day and he began to make Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce
Campbell. In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and
Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised
$350,000, as well as the short comedic film It's Murder!. Through family,
friends, and a network of investors Raimi was able to finance production of the
highly successful horror film The Evil Dead (1981) which became a major hit and
effectively launched Raimi's career to new levels. He began work on his second
film Crimewave (1985), intended as a live-action comic book—the film was not
successful, due in part to unwanted studio intervention. Raimi returned to the
horror genre with the seminal Evil Dead II (which toned down the savageness of
the original in favour of slapstick, showcasing his love of the Three Stooges).
A long-time comic book buff, he attempted to adapt "The Shadow" into a movie,
but was unable to secure the rights. So he created his own super-hero, Darkman (1990).
The film was his first major studio picture, and was only moderately successful,
but he was still able to secure funding for Evil Dead III: Army of Darkness,
which turned away almost totally from horror in favour of fantasy and comedy
elements.
In the 1990s Raimi moved into other genres, directing such films as the western
The Quick and the Dead, the critically-acclaimed crime thriller A Simple Plan (1998)
(starring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton), and the romantic drama For Love
of the Game (1999) (starring Kevin Costner). Raimi achieved great commercial
success with the blockbuster Spider-Man (2002), which was adapted from the comic
book series of the same name. The movie has grossed over $800 million worldwide,
spawning two sequels: Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. After the completion of the
third Spider-Man film, Raimi is slated to direct a film adaptation of The Wee
Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Prior to directing the Spider-Man films, Raimi
lobbied to direct Batman Forever when Tim Burton was ousted from the director's
chair, but was rejected in favor of Joel Schumacher, whose reputation at the
time outshone Raimi's.
Raimi frequently collaborates with Joel and Ethan Coen, beginning when Joel was
one of the editors of Evil Dead. The Coens co-wrote Crimewave and The Hudsucker
Proxy with Raimi in the mid-1980s (though Hudsucker was not filmed for almost a
decade). Raimi made cameo appearances in both Miller's Crossing and The
Hudsucker Proxy. The Coen brothers gave Raimi advice on shooting in snow for A
Simple Plan, based on their experiences with Fargo.
He has also worked in front of the camera with Miller's Crossing as a
coldblooded gunman, The Stand as a dimwitted hitman, John Carpenter's Body Bags
in an unusual role as a gas station attendant (all three roles saw Raimi dying
in distinct ways), and Indian Summer in what is perhaps his biggest role as a
bumbling assistant to Alan Arkin. He also produced The Grudge, The Grudge 2 and
The Grudge 3.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Raimi has expressed an interest in directing
a film version of The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.