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John Campbell McTiernan, Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American filmmaker, best known for his action films and most identifiable with the three films he directed back-to-back: Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October along with later ones like Die Hard With A Vengeance, and The Thomas Crown Affair. More recently, McTiernan was in the news for his criminal conviction in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal.

Overview

McTiernan was born in Albany, New York and attended the Juilliard School before graduating M.F.A. from the AFI Conservatory. In 1986, his first movie that he directed was Nomads starring Pierce Brosnan. In 1987, he directed the science fiction action film Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan Dutch Schaefer. In 1988, he directed the action film Die Hard starring Bruce Willis as New York cop John McClane. In 1990, he directed the action thriller The Hunt for Red October starring Alec Baldwin as CIA agent Jack Ryan, adapted from the novel of the same name. In 1992, he directed Medicine Man starring Sean Connery. In 1993, he directed the action comedy Last Action Hero starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Jack Slater. In 1995, he directed Die Hard With a Vengeance (Die Hard 3), the second sequel starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons. In 1999, he directed The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, a remake of the 1968 movie starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway; and also directed The 13th Warrior, an action-costumer adapted from the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton. In 2002, he directed Rollerball, a remake of the 1975 movie starring James Caan. In 2003, he directed the thriller Basic starring John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson.

Criminal charge

On April 3 2006, McTiernan was charged in federal court with lying to the FBI during a phone call to McTiernan's home in the wiretapping investigation involving Anthony Pellicano. He was arraigned and pleaded guilty on April 17, 2006, and is the 14th person charged in this case.

McTiernan was charged with an information, rather than in grand jury indictment, which means he waived his right to an indictment and suggests he may have reached either a prior plea agreement with prosecutors or some sort of cooperating agreement.^[1]

Some time later, upon retaining new counsel, McTiernan attempted to withdraw his guilty plea because his prior counsel had not offered an available defense.^[2] On September 24, 2007 this bid was denied by Federal District Judge Dale S. Fischer. She then proceeded to sentence McTiernan to four months in prison and $100,000 in fines for lying about his relationship with Pellicano. McTiernan's lawyers had asked for no jail time, arguing that even the Department of Justice policy manual stated that no single False Statement charges would be filed against an individual. The prosecution argued that the manual is a guide and the government cannot be held to the statements contained in it. The judge sided with the prosecution and characterized McTiernan as someone who "lived a privileged life and simply wants to continue that." He was ordered to surrender for incarceration by January 15, 2008. His lawyers stated thereafter he planned to appeal this conviction.^[3] Fischer allowed McTiernan to remain out of prison on bail pending his appeal of her decision to the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.^[4]

In October 2008, a federal appeals court vacated McTiernan's four month sentence and ruled that he was entitled to a hearing about whether his plea could be withdrawn. After that hearing, the original judge, Judge Fischer, allowed McTiernan to withdraw his plea on February 24, 2009. The case remains open, with prosecutors intending to proceed a second time against McTiernan on the charges.^[5]

Invasion of privacy civil suit

On July 3, 2006, McTiernan's former wife, film producer Donna Dubrow, filed suit against him for invasion of privacy and other claims arising from her belief that he hired Pellicano to wiretap her telephone. Judge Dale S. Fischer refused to give any credence to the claim when it was mentioned by the prosecution during McTiernan's hearing.^[6]

Filmography

References

External links

• John McTiernan at the Internet Movie Database
• "Filmmaker Says He Lied in FBI Probe" The Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2006.
• "Links Between Pellicano, Director Come Into Focus" The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2006.
• "Pellicano Inquiry Expands to Snare Director of 'Predator'" The Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2006.
• "Film Director Accused of Lying to FBI in Pellicano Scandal" The LA Weekly, April 3, 2006.

Die Hard series Die Hard (1988) · Die Hard 2 (1990) · Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) · Live Free or Die Hard (2007) Video games Die Hard · Arcade · Trilogy · Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas · Nakatomi Plaza · Vendetta Related articles John McClane · Fox Plaza · Nothing Lasts Forever · 58 Minutes · Val Verde · Bruce Willis · Films on television