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Christopher "Chris" Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Columbus had most success with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film), and the Home Alone film (1990), winning a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film.

Life and career

Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Irene, a factory worker, and Alex Columbus, an aluminum plant worker and coal miner.^[1][2] Columbus is of Italian and Czech descent.^[3] He married Monica Devereux in 1983, with whom he had four children: Eleanor, Violet, Brendan, and Isabella.

Columbus graduated from Tisch School of the Arts and made his directorial debut with the teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus also created and wrote the first episodes of the animated series Galaxy High (1986–87).

With Steven Spielberg

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg launched the career of Chris Columbus, hired Columbus as writter for Gremlins (1984), later Spielberg produced and wrote the story to The Goonies (1985), Columbus on screenplay, directed by Richard Donner. Spielberg produced Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) Columbus wrote the screenplay, directed by Barry Levinson. And later Spielberg brought Columbus to write for his Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) the third installment of Indiana Jones films, Columbus thought it was going to change his life, but producer George Lucas was not satisfied with Columbus's script and terminated the contract.

His directorial work includes Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Heartbreak Hotel (1988), Home Alone (1990), Only the Lonely (1991), Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Nine Months (1995), Stepmom (1998), Bicentennial Man (1999), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Rent (2005), I Love You Beth Cooper (2009) and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010).

Success and criticism

The characters best loved by the blue-chip director are the everyday American men, women and children who struggle to uphold family traditions against a changing, sometimes intimidating society.^[4] In 1993 he said: "I can understand the validity of showing people the ugliness of the world, but I also think there is a place for movies to leave people with a sense of hope. If your film isn't going to do that, I just don't think it's worth making."

Columbus founded his production company named 1492 Pictures in 1995, intended as a play to Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus.

Family and cameo appearances

His brother in law, Clarke Devereux, attended Boston College and was roommates with Ed Rabasco a lawyer who went to see Reckless, Columbus' first film, with Columbus and other friends and at the end of the movie they all got up and clapped. Other viewers at the movie asked "why are you clapping" and they responded with "This is the writer right here".^{[citation needed]}

His daughter Eleanor Columbus appeared as the character Susan Bones in the two Potter films he directed, making her one of only two Americans cast as students, along with cousin Robert Ayres (Boy in Study Hall #2 in his second Harry Potter film). She also appeared as an infant in Home Alone with her mother, and had a small cameo along with her father in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Two of his other children, Violet and Brendan, appeared in unnamed cameo roles in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Violet Columbus also appeared in I Love You, Beth Cooper, singing "Forget Me" at the very beginning of graduation and the entire movie itself.

Devereux made a small appearance in Home Alone as the red-headed flight attendant, and in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York as the Plaza telephone operator.

Columbus lives in San Francisco's Pacific Heights, where his children attend or previously attended Saint Ignatius College Preparatory. He donated money to the school for a new building, which is named after him.

Filmography

References

External links

• Chris Columbus at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Movies article about Chris Columbus
• Chris Columbus biography from The New York Times
• Elementary, My Dear Potter - Young Sherlock Holmes / Harry Potter article