Birthday Shout-Out: STEVEN SPIELBERG

[erik]

Here's a birthday shout-out to the most successful filmmaker in the history of the form. Steven Spielberg celebrates his 72nd birthday today. Born in 1946 in Cincinnati, he and his family nevertheless were very migratory, living in four different cities during the first 20 and a half years of Spielberg's life: Cincinnati; Camden, N.J. (across the Delaware River from Philadelphia); Phoenix; and Saratoga, California (mere miles from what we now know to be Silicon Valley). It was while he lived in Phoenix that he made it his life's work to make movies; and since then, of course, he has done that in spades. His entire filmography has grossed something on the order of $10 billion at the box office, and has ranged from suspense (JAWS) to science fiction (CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND; E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL), World War II (SCHINDLER'S LIST; SAVING PRIVATE RYAN); the Cold War (BRIDGE OF SPIES); and, most recently, THE POST and READY PLAYER ONE.

Thank you Mr. Spielberg for giving the world some of the greatest cinematic experiences of all times.