Celebrity Biographies
Chris Columbus
Although he has tried several genres, Christopher Joseph Columbus cannot deny that he has an innate talent for comedy. Discoverer of talents like Macauly Culkin, his greatest successes have been in this genre in which with his own brand of identity, the nods to his own filmography or to other films, he has always known how to bring an innocent smile to the viewer. Like when Mrs. Doubtfire would lose her false teeth and say “Carpe Dentum” reminiscent of “Carpe Diem” from Dead Poets Club.
He was born in Splangler, Pennsylvania on September 10, 1958. However, he grew up and studied in Ohio. Since he was little, he had the illusion of drawing for Marvel, but after watching The Godfather , it was clear to him that he wanted to dedicate himself to the seventh art. For this he decided to study at the New York Film School where he began to write scripts. He sold his first writing, Jocks, though it was never produced.
After graduating, he sought funding to carry out his latest script, Gremlins , but it wasn’t until fate made Steven Spielberg read the script and make it happen. For this Columbus had to move to Los Angeles to work on retouching. After the collaboration, Spielberg and Chris would come together again in two other productions The Goonies and The secret of the pyramid .
He made his directorial debut in Big City Adventures in 1987 but it was with Home Alone that Columbus would become a respected director and a true genius directing young people. The success of the film made it one of the highest grossing comedy films of all time. He returned to repeat with his fetish actor whom he himself had discovered, Macaulay Culkin , in Me, You and Mom and Home Alone II: Lost in New York . With the passage of time, the child prodigy fell into disgrace because he could not assimilate so much fortune and fame at his young age.
His career continued sitting in the directing chair with the winner of an Oscar for best makeup and two Golden Globes for best film and actor Mrs. Doubtfire . In it, the combination with Robin Williams gives a wonderful result that continues with the tradition of fantastic nannies like Mary Poppins. Williams’s work is superb in all aspects, from his performance to his always great vision of comedy. He followed up with the family comedy in Nine Months where he directed Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore and Robin Williams again. He worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger on his next film A Troubled Dad , where “Terminator” had to get the toy his son wanted. This would be his last comedy for a while.
Chris opened a new stage with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, touching for the first time a new genre, the drama, with Stay by my side . After a first contact outside his comfort zone, he tried science fiction, once again forming the Columbus-Williams duo in The Bicentennial Man , based on the homonymous story by Isaac Asimov. He continued his career directing what would become the magical phenomenon created by JK Rowling, in its first two installments, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . With his adventure through magical fantasy over, Columbus would set aside his directing baton for a bit to dedicate himself body and soul to the production of titles such asFantastic Four, Night at the Museum and Percy Jackson , with their respective sequels.
On his break since 2012, the director, screenwriter and producer has dedicated himself body and soul to what will be his comeback project, a crazy and original comedy that is expected to storm the box office. Pixels stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Peter Dinklage as they battle against classic video game characters Donkey Kong and Pacman among others to save the world. Regarding his private life, Columbus is married to Monica Devereux with whom he has 4 children.