Steven Spielberg Through the Years: From ‘Indiana Jones’ to ‘The Fabelmans’ and Beyond

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Steven Spielberg Through the Years: From ‘Indiana Jones’ to ‘The Fabelmans’ and Beyond

The king of entertainment! From Indiana Jones to Jaws, Steven Spielberg is one of the most well-known and successful directors of all time. The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial director was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in December 1946, though his family moved to Phoenix 10 years later, where he spent his formative years. Spielberg’s interest in film started at a young age where he spent time making adventure films and later moving to California to pursue a film career. Spielberg made his directorial debut with the 1974 film The Sugarland Express. The following year he was given the opportunity to direct the iconic shark thriller Jaws, which went on to win three Oscars. “I credit Jaws with everything, being a movie director, having final cut. Jaws gave me freedom, and I’ve never lost my freedom,” the Amblin Entertainment cofounder told the Directors Guild of America in a 2006 interview. “But the experience of making Jaws was horrendous for me. And it was partially because the script was unfinished and we were all making it up as we went along.” After the enormous success of Jaws, Spielberg went on to direct several huge box-office successes including 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1982’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and 1981’s Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Though the Post director took a brief hiatus while starting his production company Amblin Entertainment in the late ‘80s, he took the next decade by storm with 1993’s Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List and 1998’s Saving Private Ryan. Following decades of his highly accomplished directing career, Spielberg decided to create the semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans, which was released in 2022. He came up with the idea for the film when the pandemic first hit. [jwplayer aVwEQ78p-zhNYySv2] “I started thinking, what’s the one story I haven’t told that I’d be really mad at myself if I don’t?” Spielberg said in a November 2022 New York Times interview. “It was always the same answer every time: the story of my formative years growing up between 7 and 18.” Spielberg went on to share that the story was very difficult to tell at first due to how personal it got. “This story was no longer going to be about metaphor. It was going to be about lived experiences, and what was difficult was facing the fact that I might really tell the story,” he explained in the same interview. Keep scrolling for a look back at Spielberg’s life and career over the years:

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1946

Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in December 1946, but grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He developed his passion for filmmaking at a young age while making home videos. The four-time Academy Award winner moved to California in 1965 and later went on to study film at California State University, Long Beach.

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1968

The Ohio native was given an opportunity by Universal to write and direct a short film for theatrical release. The executives were so impressed with Spielberg’s work that he was offered a seven-year directing contract — which led him to leave college early.

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1974

After only directing short films, Spielberg’s directorial debut came with the release of The Sugarland Express. 

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1975

The DreamWorks founder was asked to direct Jaws, which went on to win three Oscars. “I was a director-for-hire before Jaws, and because it was such a big hit, I could do any movie I wanted, and Hollywood just wrote me a cheque,” he told Far Out magazine in a January 2023 interview.

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1977

After the success of Jaws, Spielberg went on to write and direct another of his most legendary films — Close Encounters of the Third Kind — which won the Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Effects Editing.

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1981

Spielberg collaborated with George Lucas to create Raiders of the Lost Ark, the beginning of the Indiana Jones franchise. The film was a box office hit and won five Academy Awards.

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1982

The Firelight producer returned to science fiction with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial which won the Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects, Best Special Effects and Best Music. “Of all the movies I’ve ever made, E.T. went through the least amount of revision,” he told Gold Derby in an April 2022 interview.

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1984 to 1985

In 1984, Spielberg cofounded Amblin Entertainment with film producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy. Some of the films they have produced include the iconic Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Men in Black.

The following year, the West Side Story director directed The Color Purple, which won him the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director.

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1985

Spielberg married actress Amy Irving and welcomed their son Max that same year. The duo divorced in 1989.

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1991

Following his divorce from Irving, Spielberg tied the knot with actress Kate Capshaw. The couple have five children: Sasha, Sawyer, Destry, Theo and Mikaela, born in 1990, 1992, 1996, 1988, and 1996, respectively. He is also stepdad to Kate’s daughter Jessica.

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1993

Spielberg helmed Jurassic Park — an instant fan favorite that won three Academy Awards in 1994. He also directed Schindler’s List that same year, which earned seven Oscars, including Spielberg’s first as Best Director.

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1994

The Amistad director took a break from directing to start up his new film studio, DreamWorks, with filmmaker Jeffrey Katzenberg and businessman David Geffen. Spielberg sold the company in 2005.

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1998

Spielberg released Saving Private Ryan with Tom Hanks, which led to his second win for Best Director at the Academy Awards.

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2011 to 2015

The writer released several successful films during this time period, including War Horse — which was nominated for six Academy Awards — and Bridge of Spies, which led to Mark Rylance taking home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

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2015

Spielberg was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-president of the United States Barack Obama. “His stories have shaped America’s story and his values have shaped our world,” the former president shared in his speech.

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2022

The legendary director presented his own personal story of his life in The Fabelmans. The film was nominated for seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.