Biography
By the 1990s, after helming the critically lauded features "Dead Ringers" (1988), "Naked Lunch" (1991) and "Crash" (1996), he attained the status of being one of the most intelligent and interesting contemporary auteurs working in English language films. Cronenberg began building his reputation with a series of vivid explorations of biological terror and sexual dread. He shed the label of "exploitation director" by de-emphasizing his trademark …
Latest Tv Credits
1 - 4 of 4
Sisters
William Burroughs: A Man Within
Career Milestones
| Submitted fantasy and science fiction stories to magazines for publication as a youth; none purchased | ||
1966 | As a college student, directed, wrote, shot and edited first film, the 16mm, seven-minute short "Transfer" | |
1967 | Wrote, directed, shot and edited the 14-minute 16mm short "From the Drain" | |
1969 | First feature and first film in 35mm, "Stereo" (produced, directed, wrote, shot and edited) | |
1970 | Completed second feature, "Crimes of the Future" | |
1971 | Traveled to Europe on Canadian Council Grant | |
1971 | While living in France, directed, scripted, and shot three fillers for television | |
1972 | Episodic TV directing debut, "Secret Weapons" for the Canadian series "Project X" | |
1972 | Made six fillers for TV (directed, scripted, and shot) | |
1972 | Returned to Canada | |
1974 | First commercial feature, "Shivers/They Came from Within/Frissons"; also wrote script | |
1976 | Cast Marilyn Chambers (the "Ivory Snow" porn queen) as a woman with an unsatiable thirst for blood in "Rabid" | |
1979 | Used Samantha Eggar's bodily-manifested anger in "The Brood" as a reflection of own anger over divorce from first wife | |
1980 | Wrote and directed the sci-fi horror flick "Scanners"; among film's assets were the noteworthy special effects; spawned a host of sequels (none of which Cronenberg directed) | |
1983 | First feature directed from another's screenplay, "The Dead Zone", based on a Stephen King novel; first Hollywood film | |
1983 | Wrote last original screenplay for 16 years, "Videodrome"; starred James Woods in a dynamic performance as head of a soft-core TV channel mesmerized by bizarre, untraceable "snuff" transmissions that have a hallucinatory power | |
1985 | Acting debut in John Landis' "Into the Night" | |
1986 | Scored commercial success with "The Fly," a reworking of the 1958 cult sci-fi movie starring Jeff Goldblum; made cameo appearance as a gynecologist | |
1988 | Directed "Dead Ringers"; starred Jeremy Irons in fascinating dual role as twin gynecologists who share each other's lives - and lovers; based on the true story of the Marcus brothers | |
1990 | First major acting role in a feature, Clive Barker's "Nightbreed" | |
1991 | Brilliantly adapted William S Burroughs' supposedly unfilmable novel "Naked Lunch" | |
1993 | Reteamed with Irons for "M. Butterfly," a tame and disappointing adaptation of David Henry Hwang's Tony Award-winning Broadway play | |
1996 | Turned another unfilmable novel, J G Ballard's Crash, into an intriguing, disturbing, enigmatic motion picture | |
1999 | Directed first original script in more than 15 years, "eXistenZ" | |
1999 | Served as jury president at the Cannes Film Festival | |
2000 | Signed agreement with Internet studio ExFlix to provide content; announced plans to create "David Cronenberg's Film Skool" featuring a character called Rant Quealy | |
2002 | Directed Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Richardson in the psychological thriller "Spider" | |
2005 | Directed "A History of Violence," a film about an average family that is thrust into the spotlight after the father (Viggo Mortensen) commits a seemingly self-defense murder | |
2007 | Directed and played a suicidal man in the short segment titled "At the suicide of the last Jew in the world in the last cinema in the world" featured in "To Each His Own Cinema" | |
2007 | Helmed the thriller "Eastern Promises," reteaming the acclaimed director with Viggo Mortensen | |
2011 | Directed Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Mortensen in "A Dangerous Method" | |
Awards
1988 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director in Dead Ringers |
1991 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay in Naked Lunch |
1991 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director in Naked Lunch |
1991 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay in Naked Lunch |
1991 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay in Naked Lunch |
1996 | Cannes Film Festival for Special Jury Prize in Crash |
1999 | Berlin International Film Festival for Silver Bear for an Outstanding Artistic Contribution in Existenz |
2002 | Toronto International Film Festival for City of Toronto-CityTV Award for Best Canadian Feature in Spider |
2005 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Director in A History of Violence |
2005 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director in A History of Violence |
2005 | Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Director in A History of Violence |
2006 | Palm Springs International Film Festival for Sonny Bono Visionary Award |
2007 | BAFTA Award for Best British Film in Eastern Promises |
2007 | Toronto International Film Festival for Cadillac People's Choice Award in Eastern Promises |