Edward Zwick
Edward Zwick | |
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![]() Zwick in 2016 | |
Born | Edward M. Zwick October 8, 1952 |
Alma mater | Harvard University, A.B. 1974 AFI Conservatory, MFA 1975 |
Occupation(s) | Director, producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1983–present |
Notable work | About Last Night, Glory, Leaving Normal, Legends of the Fall, Courage Under Fire, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance, Love & Other Drugs |
Spouse |
Lynn Liberty Godshall
(m. 1982) |
Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and epic historical film genres, including About Last Night, Glory, Legends of the Fall, and The Last Samurai. He is also the co-creator of the television series thirtysomething and Once and Again.
During his career he has worked with Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Craig, Jennifer Connelly, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway and Liev Schreiber
Zwick's body of work has earned numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Picture as a producer, and Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing in a Limited Series, and Outstanding Dramatic Special. He has additionally been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards.
Early life and education
Zwick was born into a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois,[2][3][4] the son of Ruth Ellen (née Reich) and Allen Zwick.[1] He attended New Trier High School, received an A.B. at Harvard in 1974, and attended the AFI Conservatory, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1975.
Career
His films include Glory (1989), Legends of the Fall (1994), The Siege (1998), The Last Samurai (2003), Blood Diamond (2006), and Defiance (2008). Along with Marshall Herskovitz, Zwick runs a film production company called The Bedford Falls Company (inspired by the name of the town featured in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life). This company has produced such notable films as Traffic and Shakespeare in Love and the TV shows thirtysomething, Relativity, Once and Again, and My So-Called Life.
He was one of the recipients of the Academy Award for Best Picture for Shakespeare in Love; he was also nominated in the same category for Traffic.
Despite sharing a surname and profession, Edward is unrelated to fellow director Joel Zwick.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | About Last Night... | Yes | No | No | Directorial Debut |
1989 | Glory | Yes | No | No | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director |
1992 | Leaving Normal | Yes | No | No | |
1994 | Legends of the Fall | Yes | Yes | No | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director |
1996 | Courage Under Fire | Yes | No | No | |
1998 | The Siege | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2003 | The Last Samurai | Yes | Yes | Yes | National Board of Review Award for Best Director Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Director Nominated - Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture |
2006 | Blood Diamond | Yes | Yes | No | Nominated - St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Director |
2008 | Defiance | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2010 | Love & Other Drugs | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2014 | Pawn Sacrifice | Yes | Yes | No | |
2016 | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | Yes | No | Yes | |
The Great Wall | No | No | Story | ||
2017 | American Assassin | No | No | Yes | |
2018 | Trial by Fire | Yes | Yes | No |
Producer only
Year | Title | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1998 | Dangerous Beauty | Marshall Herskovitz | |
Shakespeare in Love | John Madden | Academy Award for Best Picture BAFTA Award for Best Film Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical Nominated - Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture | |
2000 | Traffic | Steven Soderbergh | Nominated - Academy Award for Best Picture |
2001 | I Am Sam | Jessie Nelson | |
2002 | Abandon | Stephen Gaghan | |
Lone Star State of Mind | David Semel | Executive producer | |
2014 | Boys of Abu Ghraib | Luke Moran | |
About Alex | Jesse Zwick | ||
Cut Bank | Matt Shakman | ||
2016 | The Birth of a Nation | Nate Parker | Executive producer |
2017 | Woman Walks Ahead | Susanna White |
Television
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Creator | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979–80 | Family | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 5 episodes (written); Directed episode "Ballerina" |
1985 | The Insiders | Yes | No | No | No | Pilot episode |
1987–91 | thirtysomething | Yes | Yes | executive | Yes | 3 episodes (directed); 8 episodes (written) |
1999–2002 | Once and Again | Yes | Yes | executive | Yes | 3 episodes (directed); 4 episodes (written) Also actor (as Dr. Daniel Rosenfeld) |
2008 | Quarterlife | No | Yes | executive | Yes | Web series; 2 episodes (written) |
2016–18 | Nashville | No | Yes | executive | No | Wrote episode "The Wayfaring Stranger" |
2020 | Away | Yes | No | executive | No | Directed episode "Go" |
Television films
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer |
---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | Special Bulletin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
1990 | Extreme Close-Up | No | Story | executive |
2009 | A Marriage | No | Yes | executive |
2020 | Thirtysomething(else) | Yes | Yes | No |
Executive producer only
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1987 | CBS Summer Playhouse | Episode "Sawdust" |
1989 | Dream Street | |
1994-95 | My So-Called Life | |
1998 | Relativity | |
2000 | The Only Living Boy in New York | TV movie |
2002 | Women vs. Men |
Awards received by Zwick films
Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
1989 | Glory | 5 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
1994 | Legends of the Fall | 3 | 1 | 4 | |||
2003 | The Last Samurai | 4 | 3 | ||||
2006 | Blood Diamond | 5 | 1 | ||||
2008 | Defiance | 1 | 1 | ||||
2010 | Love & Other Drugs | 2 | |||||
Total | 18 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
References
- ^ a b Edward Zwick Biography (1952–). FilmReference.com. Retrieved November 3, 2010.
- ^ Sachs, Micah (February 17, 2009). "An Interview with Filmmaker Edward Zwick". InterfaithFamily.com. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Rosen, Steven (December 7, 2006). "Director Zwick excavates the bloody price of 'Diamonds'". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ Cox, David (January 13, 2009). "In Defiance of Jewish passivity". The Guardian. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
Further reading
- Denby, David (January 12, 2009). "The Current Cinema: Survivors". The New Yorker. Vol. 84, no. 44. pp. 72–73. Retrieved March 27, 2009. Review of Defiance.
External links
- Edward Zwick on Charlie Rose
- Edward Zwick at IMDb
- Template:Worldcat id
- Edward Zwick collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- 1952 births
- AFI Conservatory alumni
- Film producers from Illinois
- American male screenwriters
- Harvard University alumni
- Living people
- New Trier High School alumni
- Writers from Chicago
- Filmmakers who won the Best Film BAFTA Award
- Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
- Jewish American screenwriters
- Film directors from Illinois
- Golden Globe Award-winning producers
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Writers Guild of America Award winners
- Screenwriters from Illinois
- 21st-century American Jews