1 of 10 Under 50: Cameron Crowe

1957: Born in Palm Springs, CA.
1982: Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (Wrote screenplay based on his nonfiction book.)
1989: Say Anything. (Writer/director of this and subsequent films.)
1992: Singles.
1996: Jerry Maguire.
2000: Almost Famous.
2001: Vanilla Sky. (remake of Alejandro Amenabar’s Open Your Eyes.)
2005: Elizabethtown. (due in October.)

California born and bred, Cameron Crowe is an apt transitional figure from the classic writer-directors of comedies in the Hollywood system such as Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder, to the new breed of independent writer-directors celebrated in this film series.

By the time he graduated from high school at the age of 15, he was a widely-published rock journalist with a regular gig at Rolling Stone magazine, which is the source for the autobiographical story of Almost Famous, which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

As a baby-faced 22-year-old, he went back to high school as an undercover journalist, and published his findings in the successful book, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which he adapted into the screenplay for the even more successful movie, directed by Amy Heckerling.

After some years of struggle, that success led to his own first directorial effort, Say Anything, a now-classic and unusually true-to-life teen comedy, involving the romance between valedictorian Iona Skye and dropout John Cusack, whose aspiration is to be kickboxer.

He moved on to the romantic travails of twentysomethings in Singles, set in the Seattle grunge music scene and starring Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick, Matt Dillon, and Bridget Fonda.

He broke through to commercial success and multiple Academy Award nominations with Jerry Maguire, with Tom Cruise as a bigtime sports agent who has a disastrous attack of conscience, Cuba Gooding as the one football star who stays with him, and Renee Zellweger as the single mom whose heart he wins with the change of his own.

Crowe then published a book of interviews with his hero and model, Conversations with Billy Wilder, before releasing his most personal film yet, Almost Famous, which landed on more than 150 lists of the Top 10 films of the year. The 10<50>Untitled: The Bootleg Cut.

He re-teamed with Tom Cruise for Vanilla Sky, a remake of a Spanish-language thriller, and his forthcoming film with Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon is called Elizabethtown.

Crowe is married to Nancy Wilson of the rock group, Heart, and they have twin boys.

His affectionate humor and love of popular culture make him one of the more successful independent auteurs of the new American cinema, personal yet personable, ambitious yet accessible.