John Milius
Screenwriter and director of Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn.
John Frederick Milius was born April 11, 1944, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of three children to a shoe manufacturer father and Elizabeth Marie Roe.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- John Frederick Milius
- Born
- 11 April 1944
- Birthplace
- St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
- Education
- USC School of Cinema-Television
- Occupation
- Screenwriter, director
- Years active
- 1966–present
- Children
- 3
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
When Milius was seven, his father sold the family shoe company and moved the family to Bel Air, California, where John became an enthusiastic surfer.[2][3] Milius wrote an uncredited draft of Dirty Harry (1971) and says his contribution included "the attitude of Dirty Harry, being a cop who was ruthless"[4] He wrote and directed Dillinger (1973), which launched his directing career.[5][4] Milius is also one of the creators of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and helped create the octagon-shaped cage.[6]
He suffered a stroke a few years ago that left him unable to speak coherently.[7] Milius attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, an elitist school he chose for its Hollywood training, where his fellow students included George Lucas, Walter Murch, Basil Poledouris, Randal Kleiser, and Donald F. Glut.[8]
What the cited sources add
The CNN interview reports that Milius wrote the famous "napalm" line from "Apocalypse Now" and the "Jaws" speech about the USS Indianapolis "literally over the phone"[9] The same source states that Milius is said to be the model for the character Walter Sobchak in "The Big Lebowski," an item Milius does not dispute.[9] A Reason.com article notes that Andrew Kopkind of The Nation saw "Red Dawn" as "a celebration of people's war" and a paean to insurgency.[7] The Filmreference.com biography lists Milius's full name as John Frederick Milius and records his three marriages: to Renee Fabri, Celia Kaye, and Elan Oberon.[1]
The CNN interview quotes Milius saying most Hollywood scripts today are "garbage" written by "broken writers" with no "shame".[9]
References
- "John Milius Biography (1944–)", Filmreference.com. facts only, no text reused. filmreference.com
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "John Milius Biography (1944–)", Filmreference.com; Ken P., "An Interview with John Milius", IGN, May 7, 2003; "Jewish Hospital Gets $25,000 Gift", St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 18 December 1943, p. 3A (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "William S. Milius Dies", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 31 October 1965, p. 3E (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thompson, "Stoked", Film Comment 12.4, July 1976, p. 10–21 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Harmetz, "The dime-store way to make movies-and money", New York Times, August 4, 1974, p. 202; Ken P., "An Interview with John Milius", IGN, May 7, 2003 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: White, Allen, & Milius, John. (8 March 1999). Joy in the Struggle: A Look at John Milius Film Threat. (Interview) accessed 5 January 2012.; Meroney, "Milius the Moviemaking Maverick", The American Enterprise (TAE), July 2000, p. 50; "A Man Named Milius, and His Imprint on The UFC", MMA Memories, January 5, 2008; www.espn.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Walker, "John Milius, Hollywood Maverick", Reason.com, 2014-06-05. facts only, no text reused. reason.com
- Wikipedia, "John Milius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pye Myles 1979, p. 175 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Patterson, "'Apocalypse' writer: Most scripts today 'are garbage'", CNN, March 9, 2009. facts only, no text reused. edition.cnn.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article John Milius (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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