John carpenter He was born in January 1948, in Carthage, New York. His family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where his father was Head of the Music Department at Western Kentucky University.
Carpenter was captivated by cinema at an early age, mainly by westerns of Howard hawks Y John ford, and for low-budget horror films like “Forbidden Planet“(1956) and”The Thing from Another World“(1951). He began filming horror short films even before entering high school. He briefly attended the Western Kentucky University, but in 1968 he moved to the School of Cinematographic Art of the University of Southern California, graduating in 1971.
Despite the fact that his father, a violinist and music teacher, expected him to dedicate himself to this art, his son’s promising career in film was marked by winning, at just 22 years old, the Oscar for the best short film for “The Resurrection of Bronco Billy“(1970).
His first feature film was “Dark star“(1974), which he carried out in close collaboration with Dan O’Bannon, future co-writer of “Alien, the eighth passenger“(1979) and”Total challenge” (1990).
“Assault on District 13“(1976), began the consecration of Carpenter as director; but it was “The halloween night“(1978), the one that launched him to fame, both from critics and from the general public.
To the success of “Halloween” he followed “The fog“(1980), another box office success, and, the following year,”Escape from New York“(1981), also acclaimed by the public and critics.
In 1982 Carpenter presented “The thing“, a remake of the 1951 horror film”The thing and another world“. This new version, starring Kurt russell, It did not have the expected success, mainly due to the time in which it was presented: that same year the film of Steven Spielberg “ET the Extra-Terrestrial “which showed a completely different view of aliens.
During the 1980s the director continued to regularly present his works, including “Christine“(1983), based on a story by Stephen King; “Starman“(1984, produced by Michael Douglas; “Blow in Little China“(1986), again with Kurt russell as the protagonist; “Prince of Darkness“(1987) and”They are alive“(1989).
The 1990s featured a decline in the director’s career, marked by a series of films that received poor reviews and box office flops such as “Memoirs of an Invisible Man“(1992),”Village of the Damned“(1995) and”Escape From LA“(1996). They are rescued from that period”In the mouth of fear“(1995), and”Vampires“(1998).
In 2001 “Ghosts of mars“, reinforcing the reputation of the director. His previous films are already considered classics, due to the success they continue to have on video; and many of them have been the subject of remakes as in the case of”Assault on District 13” Y “The fog“. John Carpenter leaves his personal stamp on all his productions, the vast majority of his films begin with the legend”John Carpenter presents”
Carpenter returned to the director’s chair in 2005 to direct two episodes of the show “Masters of Horror“:”Cigarette burns“(2005) and”Pro-Life“(2006).
It currently has three projects in its portfolio, “Scared straight“(2009), starring Nicolas Cage; “The prince“, announced for 2010; and”LA Gothic“, a combination of 5 stories combined about a former priest and his efforts to protect his daughter from the dark forces.
In his personal life, Carpenter had a romantic relationship with his creative partner Debra Hill, until he met his future wife, the actress Adrienne barbeau, in 1978. The couple married in 1979, divorcing in 1984. The result of that relationship is their son John cody carpenter. In 1990, the director married the production company Sandy King.