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Quick Facts
- NAME: John Carpenter
- OCCUPATION: Filmmaker, Screenwriter
- BIRTH DATE: January 16, 1948 (Age: 65)
- EDUCATION: Western Kentucky University, University of Southern California
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Carthage, New York
- Full Name: John Howard Carpenter
- AKA: John Carpenter
- ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn
Best Known For
A master of horror, John Carpenter created the 1978 thriller hit Halloween, which has inspired and influenced countless other filmmakers.
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Play NowJohn Howard Carpenter. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:11, Jun 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079.
John Howard Carpenter. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079 [Accessed 19 Jun 2013].
"John Howard Carpenter." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 19 2013, 02:11 http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079.
"John Howard Carpenter," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079 [accessed Jun 19, 2013].
"John Howard Carpenter," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079 (accessed Jun 19, 2013).
John Howard Carpenter [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079.
John Howard Carpenter, http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079 (last visited Jun 19, 2013).
John Howard Carpenter. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/john-carpenter-20703079. Accessed Jun 19, 2013.
His then-wife, actress Adrienne Barbeau, co-starred with Jamie Lee Curtis in the film. Turning to a gritty, futuristic action drama, Carpenter worked on Escape from New York (1981) starring Kurt Russell. Both films opened to disappointing reviews and mixed box office results.
Taking on one of the literary masters of horror and suspense,
Carpenter directed the big screen adaptation of Stephen King's Christine. He took a break from his usual fare for the science fiction romance Starman (1984) starring Jeff Bridges. Bridges played an alien who takes over a dead man's body and becomes involved with the man's widow (Karen Allen). The film proved to be a critical and commercial success with Bridges earning an Academy Award nomination for his work.
Later Career
Returning to independent film, Carpenter has continued to work with varying degrees of success, but none matching the heights he reached with Halloween. Horror thriller Prince of Darkness (1987) and sci-fi action flick They Live (1988) failed to attract much of an audience. Carpenter tried comedy, directing 1992's Memoirs of an Invisible Man with Chevy Chase, which also proved to be a disappointment.
After the 2001 sci-fi thriller Ghosts of Mars, Carpenter took a break from directing. He worked on a few television episodes, but he did not return to the big screen until 2010 with The Ward. In the thriller starring Amber Heard and Mamie Gummer, young female patients at a mental institution suffer at the hands of an evil ghostly figure.
Personal Life
Carpenter has a son, Cody, from his first marriage to actress Adrienne Barbeau. The couple were married from 1979 to 1984. Carpenter has been married to producer Sandy King since 1990.
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