Crowe and wife Nancy Wilson

Born in Palm Springs, CA; educated at California State University, San Diego. Teenage music journalist (Crowe was writing for Rolling Stone by the age of 15) who made an "undercover" return to high school to research his book on teen life, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The book was optioned by Universal Studios before it reached the stores and Crowe himself adapted it for the 1982 film version, directed by Amy Heckerling and starring future Hollyood luminaries Sean Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh. FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) remains one of the most honest and entertaining evocations of suburban high school culture, far superior to the slew of films which followed in its wake. Crowe made his directorial debut with SAY ANYTHING... (1989, also writer), another winning, insightful study of teen angst finely acted by John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney, as a seemingly perfect father whose exposure as a crook shatters his daughter's world. The equally engaging SINGLES (1992) saw Crowe shift his focus to a slightly older age group, in this case a group of twenty-somethings embarking on the adult life in Seattle. Good performances, fine comic timing and a soundtrack featuring the music of Seattle's popular rock scene failed, however, to translate into box-office success. Crowe's 1996 sports comedy-romance JERRY MAGUIRE solidified his position as a bankable writer/producer/director. Taking over five years to develop, it took some 20 drafts and near terminal discouragement that he would ever get it right before the film finally made it to the screen. Starring screen idol Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger and Kelly Preston, MAGUIRE grossed over $150 million. Perhaps more than that, the line "Show me the money!" etched it way into popular culture. Crowe received Oscar® nominations for Best Picture and Original Screenplay for his efforts. Crowe turned to his teenage rock magazine writing experiences for ALMOST FAMOUS (2000), which won him his first Academy Award® for Original Screenplay. Crowe's story about a high-school boy who is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies it on their concert tour featured a great ensemble cast that included Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee, Zooey Deschanel, Anna Paquin, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jimmy Fallon, among others. ALMOST FAMOUS was more widely accepted by critics that his previous film, but it did not do as well at the box office, grossing $32.5 million (against its estimated $60 million production cost). Crowe's next film was VANILLA SKY (2001). Adapted from Alejandro Amenábar's film ABRE LOS OJOS, it reteamed Crowe with Tom Cruise, who played a successful publisher who finds his life taking a turn for the surreal after a car accident with a jaded lover (Cameron Diaz). The cast also features Penélope Cruz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee and Tilda Swinton. Crowe created a movie in a dream world, causing audiences (and critics) to question whether what they were watching was dream or reality. Roger Ebert, in the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote: "I've seen it two times. I went to a second screening because after the first screening I thought I knew what had happened, but was nagged by the idea that certain things might not have happened the way I thought they had. Now that I've seen it twice, I think I understand it, or maybe not." Understood or not understood, the film made money, grossing over $100 million, and introducing a new hot Hollywood couple: Cruise and Cruz. ELIZABETHTOWN (2005) is Crowe's most recent film. He returned to the romantic comedy-drama format that had served him so well before. In this film, hours after a ruinous product debut, suicidal industrial designer Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) learns of his father's sudden death. As the only son, Drew must travel to their small hometown of Elizabethtown, KY to attend to his father's memorial. On the flight to Kentucky, Drew meets Claire (Kristen Dunst), a quick-witted flight attendant, who helps him navigate the rough waters ahead and proves that amazing things happen when you least expect them. E-TOWN didn't click with audiences and returned less than half of its production budget. Always closely associated with rock music, Crowe's wife is Nancy Wilson (of the rock group Heart). They married in 1986 and presently have 2 children, twin boys William James Crowe and Curtis Wilson Crowe, born in 2000.  Nominated for Best Picture of the Year 1996: JERRY MAGUIRE - Producer at Tristar (w. James L. Brooks, Laurence Mark & Richard Sakai)  Nominated for Achievement in Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) 1996: JERRY MAGUIRE  Best Achievement in Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) 2000: ALMOST FAMOUS 3 nominations, 1 Award