Wes Craven.

Wesley Earl Craven

Born 2 Aug 1939 Cleveland, United States

Died 30 Aug 2015 Los Angeles, United States

Citizenship United States

Would Be 86 yr If Living

15 min read

Reading time

2,961

Words

Jul 20, 2026

Published

Film credits

TL;DR

Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984 introduced Freddy Krueger. He directed Scream in 1996, which won MTV’s Best Movie Award and grossed over $100 million. In 1999 he directed Music of the Heart, earning Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination. He discovered Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone, and Bruce Willis. His later film Scream 4 was released in 2011.

Identity & family.

KIN · 5

Names, aliases, and relatives of Wes Craven — birth name, kin, and personal ties.

Birth Name Wesley Earl Craven

Aliases Abe Snake, for Wes

Spouses: Iya Labunka Mimi Craven Linda M Grant Bonnie Broecker
Children: Jonathan Craven

At a glance.

STATS

Wes Craven by the numbers — life, work, and family.

76 Years lived

64 Film credits

4 Marriages

1 Child

Who was Wes Craven?

BIOGRAPHY

Wes Craven — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.

Early life

Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 2, 1939, to Caroline and Paul Eugene Craven. His father died when he was four, and he was raised by a strict, hyper-religious mother and a distant, violent-tempered father. That upbringing left him too terrified to talk to girls until college and contributed to the bleak themes in his early films.

Craven earned undergraduate degrees in English and psychology from Wheaton College in Illinois and a master’s degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University. He worked as a humanities professor at Clarkson College in Potsdam, New York, where he also served as a disc jockey for the campus radio station. His interest in filmmaking developed in his mid-twenties.

Career

Craven’s first feature was The Last House on the Left in 1972, which he wrote, directed, and edited. He introduced Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984, based on a childhood memory of a man staring at him through a window. In 1994 he directed New Nightmare, a self-reflexive film nominated for Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Scream 1996 won MTV’s Best Movie Award and grossed over $100 million domestically. He directed Music of the Heart in 1999, earning Meryl Streep an Oscar nomination. Later works included Red Eye in 2005 and Scream 4 in 2011. He discovered Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, cast Sharon Stone in her first starring role in Deadly Blessing, and gave Bruce Willis his first featured role in The Twilight Zone.

Personal life

Craven was married four times: Bonnie Broecker 1964–1969, Linda M Grant 1978–?, Mimi Craven 1982–1987, and Iya Labunka 2004 until his death. He had two children, Jonathan Craven and Jessica Craven. His ex-wife Linda M Grant later married Tom Chapin, and his daughter Jessica performs with the Chapin Sisters.

Raised Baptist, he later became a staunch atheist. He was an avid birdwatcher and donated to charity, including auctioning a personal phone call and props from Scream. He had a dysfunctional relationship with his parents, particularly his mother, whom he never allowed to watch his films.

Legacy

A Nightmare on Elm Street was added to the National Film Registry in 2010. Craven created Freddy Krueger, a lasting figure in pop culture, and introduced self-reflexive horror with New Nightmare. His Scream franchise revitalized the slasher genre. He discovered Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone, and Bruce Willis.

Filmography.

FILMS · 64

The complete filmography of Wes Craven — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.

TV

Castle

2009
TV

Boston Legal

2004
TV

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

2003
TV

The Twilight Zone

1985
Movie

Scream

1996
Movie

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

2011
Movie

Scream 3

2000
Movie

Scream 2

1997
Movie

Scream 4

2011
Movie

Red Eye

2005
Movie

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

1994
TV

Stark Raving Mad

1999
Movie

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

2001
TV

The Magic Hour

1998

Showing 14 of 64 View all 64 films

Notable quotes.

QUOTES · 28

A wall of memorable lines from Wes Craven — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.

I Believe the Cinema Is One of Our Principal Forms of Art. It Is an Incredibly Powerful Way to Tell Uplifitng Stories That Can Move People to Cry with Joy and Inspire Them to Reach for the Stars.
On Horror Movies: It’s Like Boot Camp for the Psyche. in Real Life, Human Beings Are Packaged in the Flimsiest of Packages, Threatened by Real and Sometimes Horrifying Dangers, Events Like Columbine. but the Narrative Form Puts These Fears into a Manageable Series of Events. It Gives Us a Way of Thinking Rationally About Our Fears.
Horror Films Don’t Create Fear. They Release It.
I Like to Address the Fears of My Culture. I Believe It’s Good to Face the Enemy, for the Enemy Is Fear.
I Think There Is Something About the American Dream, the Sort of Disneyesque Dream, If You Will, of the Beautifully Trimmed Front Lawn, the White Picket Fence, Mom and Dad and Their Happy Children, God-fearing and Doing Good Whenever They Can, and the Flip Side of It, the Kind of Anger and the Sense of Outrage That Comes from Discovering That That’s Not the Truth of the Matter, That Gives American Horror Films, in Some Ways, Kind of an Additional Rage.
Certainly the Deepest Horror, as Far as I’m Concerned, Is What Happens to Your Body at Your Own Hands and Others.
If I Were Interested in Reality, I’d Be Making Documentaries.
There Is Rage in My Films, but It’s a Complete Matrix. Sone Could Be Directed at My Father, a Scary Figure.
A Producer Said, ‘Make a Horror Movie’. I Said ‘I’ve Never Seen One.’ He Said, ‘You’re a Fundamentalist, You Must Have Demons Rattling Around.
I Think Sometimes You Might Expect or Want Greater Recognition. but to Me It’s a Little Like How French Impressionists Felt About Formal Recognition. You Know, Once You’re a Member of the Academy You Never Pose Any Danger or Threat. I Don’t Know If I’d Like That.
When You Have an Idea That Really Fascinates You and You Can Honestly Say, ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like That,’ What You Get Is, You Get That First Audience Goes Out and Tells Everybody. and the Reason They Do That Is They’ve Never Seen Anything Like It. You’re Trying to Be the Avant-garde of Horror. That’s Where You Want to Be.
For Me with All This Stuff, Both the Horror Films and Thrillers Like This, the Most Interesting Thing Is What Goes on Inside People’s Heads.
The Horrors of Retirement. These Are Scarier Than Any Horror Movie I Can Dream Up.
‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’ Is a Mantra It Seems Unwise to Ignore.
You Don’t Enter the Theater and Pay Your Money to Be Afraid. You Enter the Theater and Pay Your Money to Have the Fears That Are Already in You When You Go into a Theater Dealt with and Put into a Narrative. Stories and Narratives Are One of the Most Powerful Things in Humanity. They’re Devices for Dealing with the Chaotic Danger of Existence.
What You Want to Do Is You Want to Put Your Audience Off-balance. You Have to Be Aware of What the Audience’s Expectations Are, and Then You Have to Pervert Them, Basically, and Hit Them Upside the Head from a Direction They Weren’t Looking.
It Seems Like All the Powerful People on Earth Just Want to Build Condos and Knock Down All the Trees… as Somebody Once Said with Wonderful Succinctness, the Golf Course Is Man’s Boot on the Neck of Nature.
Horror Movies Have to Show Us Something That Hasn’t Been Shown Before so That the Audience Is Completely Taken Aback. You See, It’s Not Just That People Want to Be Scared; People Are Scared.
The First Monster You Have to Scare the Audience with Is Yourself.
I Learned to Take the First Job That You Have in the Business That You Want to Get Into. It Doesn’t Matter What That Job Is, You Get Your Foot in the Door.
It’s Very Difficult for Me to Even Define What a Horror Film Is. I Think a Lot of the Films I’ve Done Are Quite Far from the Classical Horror Film.
I Had High Hopes for Shocker, but It Didn’t Quite Turn Out the Way I Envisioned. It Was My Attempt at a Kind of Rock ‘N’ Roll Horror Film, but I Was a Little Too Eccentric in My Approach.”
I Did the Hills Have Eyes Part II Mainly for the Money. I Wasn’t Very Proud of the Film, Because I Didn’t Feel I Had Any Control Over It. It Was Basically a Job for Hire, and I Didn’t Put My Heart into It.
I Thought the People Under the Stairs Was an Incredibly Fun Movie to Make, but It Had a Weird Tone That Was Very Hard to Nail. It’s a Film That Has Both Humor and Horror, and for Some People, That’s a Very Difficult Balance to Strike.
It Was a Very Strange Experience Making Shocker. I Think I Was Trying to Do Something Innovative, but It Didn’t Really Come Together. I Didn’t Realize Until Afterward That I Was Getting Distracted by Trying to Make Something That Was Too Different.
I Made Deadly Friend… and I Can’t Tell You Why. It Was a Film That I Think I Was Trying to Make a More Accessible Story, and It Just Didn’t Work.
I Think Vampire in Brooklyn Is One of Those Films That Didn’t Quite Find Its Audience Right Away, but Over Time, It Developed a Following. It’s Always Interesting to See How Certain Films, for Whatever Reason, Become Cult Classics
There Was a Definite Evolution in the 1990S in the Way I Approached Filmmaking. the People Under the Stairs Was a Bit of a Horror Fairy Tale, New Nightmare Was My Meta-commentary on Freddy, Vampire in Brooklyn Was an Experiment with Blending Comedy and Horror, and Scream and Scream 2 Were About Revitalizing the Genre.

Did you know?

FACTS · 40

Little-known facts about Wes Craven — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.

A childhood memory inspired the look of Freddy Krueger. At age 10, Craven saw a drunk man staring at him from outside his window; the man’s appearance later became the basis for Freddy’s look.
He based the story of A Nightmare on Elm Street on a news report about young men who died in their sleep during horrific nightmares with no known cause.
When actor-producer Robert Evans suffered a stroke in 1998, Craven was with him and witnessed the collapse. Evans later joked he scared the king of horror.
Craven nearly turned down Scream because its opening scene reminded him too much of The Last House on the Left.
He directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart 1999.
He was an avid birdwatcher.
He had a dysfunctional relationship with his parents: a severe, hyper-religious mother and a distant, violent-tempered father. His mother’s judgmental influence led him to marry young and contributed to the angry themes in his early films.
He is the only person to direct more than one film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise: A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 and New Nightmare 1994.
Rumored to have named Freddy Krueger after a boy who bullied him in high school.
His first film, The Last House on the Left, was a rape shocker banned in Britain.
He spent his early career making pornographic films under fake names.
Was set to direct Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 1987 but was replaced after creative differences with Christopher Reeve.
The Elm Street in A Nightmare on Elm Street is located in Potsdam, New York, near Clarkson College where Craven was a humanities professor.
Freddy Krueger’s appearance was inspired by a hobo he saw staring at him through a window at age 10.
His father died when Craven was four years old.
He was one of the few horror directors who never adapted a Stephen King novel.
He didn’t develop an interest in filmmaking until his mid-twenties.
His first hit was The Hills Have Eyes in 1977.
He was set to direct the remake of The Haunting but backed out to direct Scream.
He had an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wheaton College and a master’s degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University.
He was a disc jockey for the campus radio station at Clarkson College.
Co-wrote the screenplay for Pulse 2006 with Vince Gilligan, but the project was canceled for being too similar to The Ring.
He was a teacher and university professor before filmmaking.
He began working in the film industry as a sound editor.
In 1986 he directed seven episodes of The Twilight Zone and made his acting debut in one.
He directed one film selected for the National Film Registry: A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984.
Starting as a messenger, he became an assistant editor to Sean Cunningham, who gave him the chance to write and direct The Last House on the Left.
He directed a documentary about former president Bill Clinton, following him in the White House in January 2001.
His ex-wife Linda M Grant married Tom Chapin, brother of Harry Chapin. His daughter Jessica is part of the Chapin Sisters.
Though raised Baptist, Craven later became a staunch atheist, telling Fangoria that religions have done more harm than good.
Developed an evil house premise for the computer game Wes Craven’s Principles of Fear, which won a Bronze Medal at E3 but was never completed.
Profiled in the book Hollywood Horror from the Director’s Chair 2008.
Donated a ten-minute personal phone call and premiere tickets to Pulse 2006 for charity.
In 1976 he acted in Tales That Will Tear Your Heart Out, but the footage was accidentally re-exposed and lost.
Authored an article for the New York Times titled Retirement: Scarier Than Freddy Krueger.
An Italian production chart in Variety in 1980 announced filming of Marimba to be directed by Craven, but no evidence of completion.
Former son-in-law is composer Michael Maccini.
He had English and German ancestry.
Father of Jonathan Craven and Jessica Craven.
He intended to direct the film adaptation of his novel Fountain Society for ImageMovers.

You wanted to know.

FAQ · 30

Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Wes Craven.

When was Wes Craven born?

Wes Craven was born on August 2, 1939. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Where was Wes Craven born?

Wes Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He spent his early childhood in the Midwest.
When did Wes Craven die?

Wes Craven died on August 30, 2015. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.
How old was Wes Craven when he died?

Wes Craven was 76 years old when he died. He passed away on August 30, 2015.
Where did Wes Craven die?

Wes Craven died in Los Angeles, California, USA. He passed away at his home from brain cancer.
How did Wes Craven die?

Wes Craven died from brain cancer. He passed away at his home in Los Angeles on August 30, 2015.
What was Wes Craven's real name?

Wes Craven’s real name was Wesley Earl Craven. He was born on August 2, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio.
What was Wes Craven's occupation?

Wes Craven was a writer, producer, and director. He directed horror films including A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream.
What nationality was Wes Craven?

Wes Craven was an American citizen. He was born and raised in the United States.
What language did Wes Craven speak?

Wes Craven’s native language was English. He was born and raised in the United States.
Who were Wes Craven's spouses?

Wes Craven was married four times: Bonnie Broecker 1964-1969, Linda M Grant 1978-?, Mimi Craven 1982-1987, and Iya Labunka 2004-2015. His last wife Iya Labunka produced Scream 4 with him.
Did Wes Craven have children?

Yes, Wes Craven had two children: a son named Jonathan Craven and a daughter named Jessica Craven. Jessica performs with the Chapin Sisters.
Where did Wes Craven go to school?

Wes Craven attended Wheaton College in Illinois, where he earned degrees in English and psychology. He later earned a master’s degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University.
What was Wes Craven best known for?

Wes Craven directed horror films including A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984 and Scream 1996. He created Freddy Krueger.
What is Wes Craven's Instagram?

Wes Craven’s Instagram handle was @therealwescraven. He occasionally posted about his work and personal interests.
How tall was Wes Craven?

Wes Craven was 6 feet 2 inches tall, or 1.88 meters. His height was often noted in profiles.
What aliases did Wes Craven use?

Wes Craven used the aliases Abe Snake and for Wes. He used pseudonyms early in his career, including for pornographic films.
Did Wes Craven have siblings?

Yes, Wes Craven had one sibling, a brother named Paul E. Craven. Not much is known about their relationship.
How many awards did Wes Craven win?

Wes Craven won 12 awards during his career. These include MTV Movie Awards and Independent Spirit Award nominations.
How many award nominations did Wes Craven receive?

Wes Craven received 25 award nominations. His film New Nightmare was nominated for Best Feature at the 1995 Independent Spirit Awards.
What inspired Freddy Krueger's appearance?

Freddy Krueger’s appearance was inspired by a man Craven saw staring at him through a window when he was 10 years old. The man was dressed similarly to the later Freddy.
What was the inspiration for A Nightmare on Elm Street?

Craven based the story on a news report about young men who died in their sleep from horrific nightmares. The victims had no history of health problems and no specific cause of death was found.
Did Wes Craven direct any non-horror films?

Yes, Wes Craven directed Music of the Heart in 1999, a drama that earned Meryl Streep an Academy Award nomination. He also directed a short rom-com segment for Paris, Je T’aime in 2006.
Did Wes Craven write any novels?

Yes, Wes Craven wrote a novel titled The Fountain Society, published by Simon & Schuster in 1999. He also intended to direct a film adaptation.
Which actors did Wes Craven discover?

Wes Craven discovered Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street, cast Sharon Stone in her first starring role in Deadly Blessing, and gave Bruce Willis his first featured role in The Twilight Zone.
What was Wes Craven's first feature film?

Wes Craven’s first feature film was The Last House on the Left in 1972, which he wrote, directed, and edited. It was a controversial rape-revenge film.
How many films did Wes Craven direct in the Nightmare on Elm Street series?

Wes Craven directed two films in the Nightmare on Elm Street series: the original in 1984 and New Nightmare in 1994. He is the only person to direct more than one film in the franchise.
What was Wes Craven's religious background?

Wes Craven was raised a Baptist by his fundamentalist mother, but he later became a staunch atheist. He once told Fangoria that he believed religions have done more harm than good.
Did Wes Craven have any hobbies?

Yes, Wes Craven was an avid birdwatcher. He also donated to charity, including auctioning props from his films.
What is the legacy of Wes Craven?

Wes Craven is remembered for creating Freddy Krueger and for his work on the Scream franchise. A Nightmare on Elm Street was added to the National Film Registry in 2010.

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Audited & updated by

If something's wrong in a profile, Daniel will find it. With 7 years of research experience, he's developed an almost unreasonable eye for inaccurate career timelines, misattributed credits, and dates that don't quite add up. He doesn't publish anything he can't verify. The profiles on Famousy are as accurate as they are largely because of work you'll never see his name on.

Published on July 20, 2026

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Wes Craven.

TL;DR

Early life

Career

Personal life

Legacy

Castle

Boston Legal

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Twilight Zone

Scream

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Scream 3

Scream 2

Scream 4

Red Eye

Wes Craven's New Nightmare

Stark Raving Mad

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

The Magic Hour