Joe Roth Biography
Born: June 13, 1948
A onetime communications major at Boston University, producer/director Joe Roth worked as a production assistant with several San Francisco-based film companies. Utilizing several of the improvisational comics who had worked with him at Los Angeles' Pitchel Players (he ran lights while they got laughs), Roth produced an inexpensive "TV of the future" spoof called Tunnelvision. The film did well on its first release in 1976, and even better in later years by virtue of its stars-in-the-making cast, which included Chevy_Chase, Betty_Thomas, Howard_Hesseman, and Ron_Silver. After several years' worth of low-budget but high-grossing films like Bachelor_Party (1984) and Moving_Violations (1986), Roth made his directing bow with Streets of Gold (1986). Forming Morgan Creek productions with partner Jim Robinson, Roth continued his winning box-office record with such films as Young_Guns (1988) and Dead_Ringers (1989). In 1989, Roth made Coupe de Ville. That same year, he became chairman of 20th Century Fox's theatrical film division, toting up more hits (White_Men_Can't_Jump, Die_Hard_2, Sleeping With the Enemy) than misses (Barton_Fink). His last months at Fox were marred with disappointments like Toys (1992) and Hoffa (1992), but Roth had gained a strong reputation for having the uncanny knack for attracting and mollifying some of the biggest and most difficult talents in Hollywood; one magazine characterized him as "filmmaker friendly." From Fox, Roth moved to Disney's Caravan Pictures unit, raking in the bucks with productions like Angels in the Outfield (1994). In September of 1994, Joe Roth replaced Jeffrey_Katzenberg as Disney CEO, and in so doing became the first director ever to hold that position in a major studio; he proved his worthiness for that position almost instantly with the smash Yuletide release The_Santa_Clause (1994).
Producing a number of moderately successful films through the latter 1990s, Roth returned to the director's chair in 2001 with America's_Sweethearts. Scripted and produced by Billy_Crystal, America's_Sweethearts spun the humorous tale of a movie star couple's bitter split on the eve of embarking on a press junket to promote their latest film. Hal Erickson, Rovi
Browse More Actors:
