Steven Spielberg, Hollywood’s best-known director and one of the world’s wealthiest filmmakers, is one of the most influential figures in cinema history.
Jaws (1975) established him as a leading director, and it was one of the highest-grossing films of all time.
It starred Roy Scheider as the chief of police in a resort town battling a man-eating white shark. Richard Dreyfuss, a marine biologist, and Robert Shaw, a shark hunter, join him.
The critically acclaimed thriller received an Academy Award nomination for best picture, and John Williams’ ominous soundtrack won an Oscar.
Many of Spielberg’s touchstones were established in this film: an ordinary but sympathetic main character is enlightened through a confrontation with some extraordinary being or force that gradually reveals itself as the narrative unfolds.
Steven Spielberg’s diverse films includes other classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), to historical dramas, notably Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). In 2013, Time listed him as one of the 100 most influential people.