| NET WORTH: | $15 Million |
|---|---|
| Source of Wealth: | Director, Screenwriter, Visual Artist, Actor |
| Born: | August 5, 1906 |
| Died: | August 28, 1987 |
| Age: | 81 |
| Partner: | Zoe Sallis |
| Children: | 5 |
| Birth Name: | John Marcellus Huston |
| Height: | 6ft. 2 in.(1.88m) |
John Huston is an American director, screenwriter, visual artist, and actor. He is known for writing the screenplay of the 37 films he directed and are considered as classics now, such as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Misfits, and more. He has been named to as "a titan", "a rebel", and "a renaissance man" in the Hollywood film industry. He received 15 Oscar nominations in which he won twice, throughout his career.
Early Life
John Marcellus Huston was born on August 5, 1906 in Nevada Missouri, the only child of Rhea and Walter Huston. His mother was a sports editor for many publications while his father gave up his stage career and chose to worked as a civil engineer for steady employment, although on the later years he returned to stage acting. When he was six, Huston's parents got divorced and during his summer vacation, he traveled separately with each of his parents. His father takes him on vaudeville tours, while his mother takes him to horse races and some other sports events.
He was treated for an enlarged heart and kidney ailments when he was a child, and recovered after an bedridden stay in Arizona. Together with his mother, they moved to Los Angeles, where he attended high school in Abraham Lincoln High School. Two years after, he dropped out to school to become a professional boxer, and later on became a top-ranking amateur lightweight boxer in California.
While living in Los Angeles, he developed an interest with the new film industry and motion pictures, as viewer only. Huston also engaged with some interests like English and French literature, opera, horseback riding, ballet, and studying painting at the Art Students League of Los Angeles. Later on, he returned to New York City to lived with his father who was acting in off-Broadway productions.
Career
Huston was able to wrote a play called "Frankie and Johnny", which is based on the ballad of the same title while staying in Mexico. After he sell it, he decided that writing would be a possible career. The following years, his stories and also feature articles were published in Theatre Arts, The New York Times, and Esquire.
He received a script editing contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions, however, after receiving no assignments for six months, he decided to quit, and worked for Universal Studios. He got a job in the script department, and started writing several dialogues for many films in 1932, such as A House Divided, Law and Order, and Murders in the Rue Morgue.
Huston's first job as a screenwriter was with Warner Brothers Studio, where he was recognized and respected as a screenwriter. He also asked Warners to let him direct, with the condition that his next script also became a hit. His next script was "High Sierra" in which to be directed by Raoul Walsh, became the hit he always wanted.
As Screenwriter and Director
His first directing career started with his first assignment, choosing Dashiell Hammett's detective thriller, The Maltese Falcon. The film has a two earlier versions by Warners which failed at the box office. The film was only given a small B-movie budget minimal publicity by Warners, as they had low expectations only. Warners was surprised when the film received enthusiastic feedback by the public and referred it as a "classic". Huston earned an Academy Award nomination for the screenplay, and later on directed all of his screenplays, except for the film "Three Strangers".
In the year 1942, he was serving in the United States Army during the World War II. He was making films for the Army Signal Corps while in with a rank as captain. He directed and produced three films: Report from the Aleutians, The Battle of San Pietro, and Let There Be Light. The said films was rank as "among the finest made about World War II" by some critics. All of his films created for the Army "controversial", never released, censored, or banned, as they were reviewed as "demoralizing" to the soldiers and the public.
In 1948-1951, he directed and produced many films like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The Asphalt Jungle, The Red Badge of Courage, and The African Queen. He also took writing, producing, and directing credits to two of his films, Moulin Rouge (1952), Beat the Devil (1953), and Moby Dick (1956).
The film "The Misfits" in 1961 only received critical approval in all of his next five films. Huston was asked by producer Dino De Laurentis to direct the religious epic film, The Bible: In the Beginning. The film became the second highest-grossing film of 1966, earning rentals of $15 million in North America.
Huston developed an interest in Irish film industry while he was working on the film "Casino Royale". In the late 1970s-1980s, he directed many films such as The Man Who Would Be King, which is his most highly regarded film with both critical and commercial success. After he took a long break in directing films, he made a comeback with an offbeat and controversial film which was based on the novel "Wise Blood".
Huston's last film set was an adaptation from the 1947 novel by Malcolm Lowry, and was highly praised by critics. He directed his last film from a wheelchair as he needed an oxygen tank to breathe throughout the last months of his life. The film was an adaptation of the classic short story of James Joyce, and received nomination for 2 Academy Awards.
Personal Life
Huston was married five times all throughout his life. From 1906 to 1933, he was married to his first wife Dorothy Harvey. In 1937, he married his second wife Lesley Black, and got divorced in 1945. From 1946 to 1950, he was married to Evelyn Keyes. In 1950 to 1969, he was married to Enrica Soma, until she died at the age 40 due to a car accident. Huston's last marriage was to Celeste Shane, from year 1972 to 1977. He has 4 children: Pablo, Walter Antony, Jack, and Allegra Huston.
In 1978, he was diagnosed with emphysema. On August 28, 1987, three weeks after his 81st birthday, he died from pneumonia as a complication of lung disease, in his rented home in Middletown, Rhode Island.
Net Worth
Many of his films are considered today as "classics". John Huston has an estimated net worth of $15 million, up until his last day.
