James Francis Cameron
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James Cameron wrote and directed Titanic 1997, which became the highest-grossing film of all time until his own Avatar 2009 surpassed it. He pioneered 3D film technology with Avatar and became the first director to make two films that each grossed over $2 billion. Cameron also explored the deep sea, reaching the bottom of the Mariana Trench in 2012.
Names, aliases, and relatives of James Cameron — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
James Cameron by the numbers — life, work, and family.
James Cameron — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
James Cameron, born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, was the son of an engineer. He studied physics at California State University before switching to English and dropping out. He drove a truck to support his screenwriting ambition. After seeing Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope 1977, he quit his job to enter the film industry.
Cameron’s directorial debut on Piranha II: The Spawning 1982 ended with him being fired. He then wrote and directed The Terminator 1984, a low-budget film that became a surprise mainstream success and is now regarded as a classic. He followed with Aliens 1986, earning Sigourney Weaver an Oscar nomination. After directing The Abyss 1989 and Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991, Cameron formed Lightstorm Entertainment in 1990. In 1997, he wrote and directed Titanic, which won 11 Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing film of all time. He then released Avatar 2009, which pioneered 3D film technology and grossed over $2.7 billion, surpassing his own record.
Cameron has been married five times: to Sharon Williams 1978–1984, producer Gale Anne Hurd 1985–1989, director Kathryn Bigelow 1989–1991, actress Linda Hamilton 1997–1999, and actress Suzy Amis since 2000. With Hamilton he has a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, born in 1993. He and Amis have three children. Cameron also helped friend Guillermo del Toro by providing over one million dollars to ransom del Toro’s father in 1998.
Cameron’s films have been selected for the National Film Registry: The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Titanic. He has won Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Film Editing. His deep-sea exploration in 2012 made him the first person to solo dive to the Mariana Trench. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009 and was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada. Cameron pushed technical boundaries in both filmmaking and oceanography.
The complete filmography of James Cameron — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by James Cameron — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from James Cameron — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
People Call Me a Perfectionist, but I’m Not. I’m a Rightist. I Do Something Until It’s Right, and Then I Move on to the Next Thing.
…You Can Read All the Books About Filmmaking, All the Articles in American Cinematographer and That Sort of Thing, but You Have to Really See How It Works on a Day-to-day Basis, and How to Pace Your Energy so That You Can Survive the Film, Which Was a Lesson That Took Me a Long Time to Learn.
A Director’s Job Is to Make Something Happen and It Doesn’t Happen by Itself. so You Wheedle, You Cajole, You Flatter People, You Tell Them What Needs to Be Done. and If You Don’t Bring a Passion and an Intensity to It, You Shouldn’t Be Doing It.
I Don’t Look at Scripts. I Just Write Them.
On Stanley Kubrick: I Remember Going with a Great Sense of Anticipation to Each New Stanley Kubrick Film and Thinking, Can He Pull It off and Amaze Me Again? and He Always Did. the Lesson I Learned from Kubrick Was, Never Do the Same Thing Twice.
There Is This Long, Wonderful History of the Human Race Written in Blood. We Have This Tendency to Just Take What We Want. and That’s How We Treat the Natural World as Well. There’s This Sense of We’re Here, We’re Big, We’ve Got the Guns, We’ve Got the Technology, Therefore We’re Entitled to Every Damn Thing on This Planet. That’s Not How It Works and We’re Going to Find Out the Hard Way If We Don’t Kind of Wise up and Start Seeking a Life That’s in Balance with the Natural Life on Earth.
The Key to a Sequel Is to Meet Audience Expectation and yet Be Surprising.
Guillermo Del Toro Is One of My Best Friends and We’ve Never Really Worked Together. I Mean, We Always Feel Like We’re Working Together Because He Gets All Involved in My Stuff, I Get All Involved with His Stuff, but Not in an Official Capacity.
I Was Always Fascinated by Engineering. Maybe It Was an Attempt Maybe to Get My Father’s Respect or Interest, or Maybe It Was Just a Genetic Love of Technology, but I Was Always Trying to Build Things.
Little-known facts about James Cameron — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope 1977 inspired Cameron to leave his truck driving job and pursue filmmaking.
Cameron is left-handed and drew the portrait of Rose in Titanic 1997; the image was flipped so it appeared right-handed.
In the 1980s, a magazine described Cameron working on three scripts simultaneously: The Terminator, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Aliens.
Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench on March 25, 2012, becoming the first person to do so in a one-man craft. He spent three hours exploring the Challenger Deep.
While editing Titanic, Cameron taped a razor blade to the editing computer with instructions: Use only if film sucks!
His five favorite films are The Wizard of Oz 1939, Dr. Strangelove 1964, 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968, The Godfather 1972, and Taxi Driver 1976.
Cameron insists that any actor in his films must audition for him, even major stars.
He jokingly called Titanic his $190 million chick flick.
Avatar 2009 became the highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation, and the first to gross over $2 billion.
Cameron has married one of his producers and two of his actresses.
In 1998, Cameron gave Guillermo del Toro over one million dollars in cash to ransom del Toro’s kidnapped father.
Cameron’s big break came while filming pick-up shots for Galaxy of Terror 1981; he made maggots move on cue by electrifying an arm prop, impressing producers.
Kate Winslet confirmed on Inside the Actors Studio that Cameron drew her nude portrait for Titanic.
Cameron’s first wife, Sharon Williams, received only $1,200 in their divorce settlement.
He is the first director to make a $100 million film Terminator 2 and a $200 million film Titanic.
Cameron received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2008 but says he is too cheap to pay for a Hollywood star.
He is close friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Guillermo del Toro, and was close with Bill Paxton until his death in 2017.
A lawsuit by Harlan Ellison over The Terminator forced Cameron to settle; newer prints acknowledge Ellison.
Cameron is the first director to make two films grossing over $1 billion each: Titanic and Avatar. As of 2024, three other directors have done so.
His early draft for Spider-Man 2002 included organic web-shooters, later used in Sam Raimi’s film.
Apart from Piranha II and The Terminator, all of Cameron’s films have been nominated for or won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
Cameron is a huge Japanese anime fan and his opinion is often used on DVD covers.
He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on December 18, 2009.
After Terminator 2, Cameron stopped drinking caffeinated coffee and only drinks decaf.
His screenplay for Spider-Man was rejected as too violent; Sam Raimi’s version was made instead.
Cameron attempted to remake Planet of the Apes but his script was turned down; Tim Burton’s version was made in 2001.
Before filmmaking, Cameron worked as a truck driver.
Rolex customized a Deepsea Challenge watch for Cameron’s Mariana Trench dive, designed to withstand 13.6 tons of pressure.
Cameron also tried to make an X-Men film with then-wife Kathryn Bigelow.
The mandibles of the Predator from Predator 1987 were Cameron’s idea.
In 2007, Entertainment Weekly ranked him #3 on The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.
Cameron co-founded visual effects company Digital Domain.
Three of his films have appeared on the IMDb top 250: The Terminator, Terminator 2, and Aliens.
He is a big fan of Zack Snyder, whose films he has praised.
Cameron has a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, with Linda Hamilton, born February 15, 1993.
He has directed three actresses to Oscar-nominated performances: Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, and Gloria Stuart.
Cameron has been in talks to fly to the Mir space station or ISS with RKK Energia and MirCorp.
As a child, he avidly read Arthur C. Clarke, A.E. van Vogt, Harlan Ellison, and Larry Niven.
Three of his films made the AFI’s 100 Most Heart Pounding Movies list.
Cameron did uncredited voice work for The Terminator and True Lies.
His production company is Lightstorm Entertainment.
He developed a new stereo imaging camera called The Fusion Camera.
Six of his films have won the Oscar for Visual Effects: Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, Titanic, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water.
Cameron has lived in the United States since 1971 but has never become a U.S. citizen.
An October 1987 draft of Alien Nation credits him for a rewrite, but he is not credited in the final film.
Time magazine included him in the 2010 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Cameron and Paul W.S. Anderson are the only two to have both written and directed an Alien movie.
He and Suzy Amis own Childspot!, an early childhood center in Wichita, Kansas, operated by her sister.
Cameron did not attend film school.
Three of his films have been selected for the National Film Registry: The Terminator, Terminator 2, and Titanic.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about James Cameron.
Celebrities similar to James Cameron — same craft, ranked by reach.
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