Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, comedy, fantasy, horror and science fiction. After working in advertising out of college, Bruckheimer moved into film production in the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, he partnered with fellow producer Don Simpson. Bruckheimer and Simpson's partnership continued until Simpson's death in 1996. Bruckheimer has produced films including Flashdance, The Rock, Crimson Tide, Con Air, Armageddon, Enemy of the State, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, and Kangaroo Jack, as well as the Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Bad Boys, Pirates of the Caribbean, and National Treasure franchises.
Jerry Bruckheimer
- Film producer
- television producer
- advertiser
1972–present
At the helms of his self-titled production company, his films have been distributed by Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and Disney, while his television works have been co-produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios. In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety as the first in Hollywood history to produce the first and second highest-grossing films of a single weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Bad Boys II.[2] In 2023, Top Gun: Maverick earned him a nomination for Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards.
His best known television series are television dramas CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, CSI: Cyber, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Lucifer, and reality competition series The Amazing Race, which would spawn a franchise with international versions. For the latter, he won ten Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2003, three of his television productions—CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Without a Trace and CSI: Miami—ranked among the top ten in the U.S. ratings, making him the first producer to achieve this.[3][4]
Bruckheimer is also the co-founder and co-majority owner (with David Bonderman) of the Seattle Kraken, the 2021 expansion team of the National Hockey League.
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Bruckheimer was born on September 21, 1943,[5][6] in Detroit, Michigan, the son of German Jewish immigrants.[7] He graduated from Mumford High School in 1961[8] in Detroit, at age 17, before moving to Arizona for college. Bruckheimer was also an active member of the Stamp Collecting Club.[9] He graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona. He was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. A film buff at an early age with an interest in photography, Bruckheimer would take snapshots when he had the opportunity. After college, Bruckheimer worked in advertising in Detroit (creative producer) and New York City. At the Detroit agency he worked on a one minute ad spot for the new Pontiac GTO.[10] Early in his career, Bruckheimer produced television commercials, including one for Pepsi.
1970s & 1980s: From advertising to film production[edit]
Bruckheimer started producing films in the 1970s after leaving his job in advertising, with director Dick Richards. They worked together on the films The Culpepper Cattle Company, Farewell, My Lovely, and March or Die. Bruckheimer then worked with Paul Schrader on two films, American Gigolo and Cat People, which began to give him notice in Hollywood.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he was a co-producer with Don Simpson of a string of highly successful films for Paramount Pictures. He first met Simpson at a screening of 1973's The Harder They Come at Warner Brothers. The two worked together and created Bruckheimer's first big hit, 1983's Flashdance, which brought in $95 million.[11] He had a number of other hits during that time period, including the Beverly Hills Cop films, Top Gun, and Days of Thunder. Top Gun marked his first collaboration with English director Tony Scott, who directed six films for Bruckheimer.[12] The first Beverly Hills Cop movie, which was supposed to star Sylvester Stallone, launched Eddie Murphy's career and in just five days, became the highest grossing winter release in Paramount's history.[13] On August 9, 1983, Bruckheimer and Simpson struck a three-year agreement with Paramount to produce theatrical and television projects through his new Simpson/Bruckheimer Productions company.[14]
While working with Simpson, Bruckheimer became known as "Mr. Outside" because of his experience with filmmaking, while Simpson became known as "Mr. Inside" because of his film industry contacts. The Rock was the last film in which Bruckheimer collaborated with Simpson. After Simpson's death in 1996, Bruckheimer stipulated that The Rock be dedicated to the memory of Simpson.
1990s: Big-budget films[edit]
In 1990, Bruckheimer and Simpson struck a $500 million deal with Paramount to produce five movies, entirely of their choice.[15] However, his 1990 production of the film Days of Thunder, which starred Tom Cruise, did not perform as well as expected, which was a step backwards in the Bruckheimer-Simpson success story. The duo made a come-back in 1994, however, with the low-budget film ($12 million) The Ref.[16]
His productions collected the following: