Quentin Tarantino Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About The 'Inglourious Basterds' Director

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born on March 27th, 1963. He is a proficient American director, writer, and actor. He has made some very diverse films and mostly they are characterized by nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, uniquely portrayed violence, extended scenes of intelligent dialogue, casts consisting of established and lesser-known performers, addition of relatable cultural practices, soundtracks primarily containing songs and score pieces from the 1960s to the 1980s, and also some features of neo-noir film. He is aptly considered as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. His career started in the late 1980's, when he wrote and directed the film, 'My Best Friend's Birthday'. In the early 1990's, he started his career as an independent filmmaker with the film, 'Reservoir Dogs' in 1992, which was coined as the "Greatest Independent Film of All Time" by Empire. Tarantino's popularity was boosted by his second film, 'Pulp Fiction' in 1994. Pulp Fiction was a black comedy crime film that was a huge success both among critics and audiences. Pulp Fiction was judged as the greatest film from 1983–2008 by Entertainment Weekly and many critics and scholars have named it one of the most significant works of modern era. Tarantino next came up with 'Jackie Brown' in 1997. 'Jackie Brown' was an adaptation of the novel Rum Punch. His next film, 'Kill Bill' was a highly stylized "revenge flick" containing elements from Kung fu films, Japanese martial arts, Spaghetti Westerns and Italian horror. It came after a gap of six years and was released in two parts: Volume 1 in 2003 and Volume 2 in 2004. Tarantino next directed the film, 'Death Proof' in 2007 as part of a double feature with friend Robert Rodriguez, with the collective title Grindhouse. His film, 'Inglourious Basterds', was released in 2009 to positive reviews. After that, Tarantino came up with 2012's critically acclaimed 'Django Unchained'. The film became the highest-grossing film of his career so far, adding up to his net worth and managing to make over $425 million at the box office. His eighth film, 'The Hateful Eight', was released on December 25, 2015, in 70 mm film format. Tarantino's films have received both critical and commercial success. He has garnered many industry awards, including two Oscar Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and the Palme d'Or, and he also has been nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy. In 2005, he was listed on the annual Time 100 list of the 'most influential people in the world'. Filmmaker and historian Peter Bogdanovich has named him as the "the single most influential director of his generation". In December 2015, Tarantino got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee to parents Connie McHugh and Tony Tarantino. Quentin was named after Quint Asper which was Burt Reynolds' character in the CBS series 'Gunsmoke'. Quentin's mother met his father during a trip to Los Angeles, where Tony Tarantino was a law student. They got married soon after. But their marriage was veyr brief. His mom relocated to Knoxville with Quentin, where her parents lived. In 1966, Tarantino and his mother again shifted base to Los Angeles where they lived in the South Bay, in the southern part of the city. Tarantino was raised there. Tarantino's mother later married musician Curtis Zastoupil soon after arriving in Los Angeles, and the family again moved to Torrance which is a city in Los Angeles County's South Bay area. Zastoupil always encouraged Tarantino's love of movies, and aslo accompanied him to numerous film screenings. Later, his mother divorced Zastoupil in 1973, and was later misdiagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Subsequently, Tarantino was sent to live with his grandparents in Tennessee. He continued living there for about six months to a year, before he returned to California. At just the age of 14, Tarantino wrote one of his earliest works which was a screenplay called 'Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit'. She only allowed him to continue visiting the Torrance Community Theater, where he participated in plays including, 'Two Plus Two Makes Sex' and 'Romeo and Juliet'. At about 15 or 16, Tarantino dropped out of his school, Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Los Angeles. He began working as an usher at a porn theater in Torrance, called the Pussycat Theatre, after he managed to lie about his age. Later, he started attending a few acting classes at the James Best Theatre Company. While at James Best, Tarantino met several actors with whom he would make films in future. He also met Craig Hamann, with whom he joined hands to produce 'My Best Friend's Birthday'. The project later got shelved. By the 1980s, Tarantino started getting small jobs in the industry. He portrayed the character of one of a group of Elvis impersonators in "Sophia's Wedding: Part 1" which was an episode in the fourth season of 'The Golden Girls'. Tarantino also worked as a recruiter in the aerospace industry, and later for five years, he worked in Video Archives which was a video store in Manhattan Beach, California. He was described as a "fantastic video store clerk" as he was such a movie buff and had so much knowledge of films that he would convince people to watch really cool movies.

Tarantino's career quintessentially began when he co-wrote and directed the movie, 'My Best Friend's Birthday' in 1987. The final reel of the film was almost completely destroyed in a lab fire that occurred unfortunately during its editing but its screenplay was there and it later formed the basis for his film, 'True Romance'. In 1990, Tarantino was hired by Robert Kurtzman to write a script for him, 'From Dusk Till Dawn'. His next film, 'Reservoir Dogs' which he wrote, directed and even acted in, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992. 'Reservoir Dogs' was a major hit and was critically acclaimed. 'Reservoir Dogs' had a peculiar style of dialogue and this continued in his later films. After that, Tarantino collaborated with director Robert Rodriguez many times. His film, 'True Romance' was finally released in 1993. His second script was for the film, 'Natural Born Killers' which he sold to director Oliver Stone. Tarantino became an uncredited screen writer for the films 'Crimson Tide' in 1995 and 'The Rock' in 1996. After the success of 'Reservoir Dogs', Tarantino was approached by many big directors and was offered several projects including 'Speed' and 'Men in Black', but he just retreated to Amsterdam to work on his script for 'Pulp Fiction'. 'Pulp Fiction' was a black comedy crime film released in 1994. It has an aesthetic violence portrayal for which Tarantino is known for. Tarantino claimed an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which he shared with Roger Avary, who has also contributed to the story. He also got a nomination in the Best Director category. The film garnered another five nominations, including for Best Picture. Tarantino won the Palme d'Or for the film, 'Pulp Fiction' at the Cannes Film Festival. The film has grossed over $200 million and was critically acclaimed. Tarantino next directed the fourth segment of the anthology film 'Four Rooms', "The Man from Hollywood", which was a tribute to the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Man From the South". But the film was very poorly received by critics. Additionally, he later starred in the action comedy 'Destiny Turns on the Radio' in the title role and also played the "Pick-up Guy" in Robert Rodriguez's action film 'Desperado' in 1995. Tarantino featured in and also wrote the script for Rodriguez's film, 'From Dusk till Dawn' (1996), which met with average reviews from the critics. It soon quickly reached a cult status. Also in 1996, he featured in Steven Spielberg's 'Director's Chair', which is a simulation video game that used pre-generated film clips. Tarantino's next feature film was Jackie Brown (1997), which was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel 'Rum Punch'. 'Rum Punch' received positive reviews and was called a "comeback film" for Grier and costar Robert Forster. Leonard regarded Jackie Brown to be his favorite of the 26 different screen adaptations of his novels and short stories. Tarantino had next planned to make 'Inglourious Basterds', but postponed his project to write and direct the film, 'Kill Bill' which is a highly stylized "revenge flick" kind of movie. 'Kill Bill' was based on a character called 'The Bride' and a plot that he and Kill Bill's lead actress Uma Thurman had developed during the filming of 'Pulp Fiction'. In 2004, Tarantino attended the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where he was honored to be the President of the Jury. Tarantino was credited as "Special Guest Director" in Robert Rodriguez's 2005 neo-noir film 'Sin City'. He had directed the famous car sequence featuring Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro. In May 2005, Tarantino co-wrote and directed the film, "Grave Danger" which was the 5th season finale of 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'. For this particular episode, Tarantino was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series during the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards. Tarantino's next film project was 'Grindhouse', which he co-directed with director Rodriguez. The same year, he featured in the Japanese Western film 'Sukiyaki Western Django' as Piringo and also had a vocal cameo as a newsreader in George A. Romero's 'Diary of the Dead'. Tarantino has also produced a few films including, 'Hostel', the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's 'Killshot' and 'Hell Ride'. Tarantino's film 'Inglourious Basterds', was released in 2009. 'Inglorious Basterds' is the story of a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers residing in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Filming of 'Inglourious Basterds' began in October 2008. The film was released on August 21, 2009 to very positive reviews and quickly reached the No. 1 spot at the box office worldwide. 'Inglourious Basterds' became the highest-grossing film of his career until 'Django Unchained' came up three years later. 'Django Unchained' was a film about the revenge of a former slave in the U.S. South in 1858. 'Django Unchained' came up from Tarantino's wish to produce a spaghetti western set in America's Deep South. On the 'Django Unchained's' particular style, he said, "I want to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to". The film was released on December 25, 2012. In November 2013, Tarantino announced his new film and revealed that it would be another Western but not a sequel of Django Unchained. On January 12, 2014, it was announced that the film would be titled 'The Hateful Eight'. The script of 'The Hateful Eight' leaked in 2014 and Tarantino considered dropping the movie and publishing it as a novel instead. He then altered the script a bit. 'The Hateful Eight' was released on December 25, 2015, in 70mm film format theaters, before it was released in digital theaters on December 30, 2015. Tarantino also narrated several scenes in the film 'The Hateful Eight'. He edited two versions of 'The Hateful Eight', from which one for the roadshow version and the other for general release. The film, 'The Hateful Eight'was critically acclaimed. On July 11, 2017, it was announced that Tarantino's next film, untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project will be a film about the 'Manson Family murders'. Untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project will be Tarantino's first film to be based on true events. On February 28, 2018, it was announced officially that the Untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project is entitled 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'. This untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project is much awaited by his fans.

The first of his productions was in 2001 with film 'Iron Monkey', which made over $14 million in the United States which was a whopping seven times its budget. In 2004, Tarantino brought the Chinese martial arts film 'Hero to U.S. shores' which did very well. In 2006, another film produced by him, 'Hostel', opened at No. 1 at the box office with a $20.1 million opening weekend. In 2008, he produced the Larry Bishop-helmed 'Hell Ride' which was a revenge biker film. In addition, in 1995, Tarantino formed a company called, 'Rolling Thunder Pictures' with Miramax to release or re-release several independent and foreign features. But the company shut down in 1997. The following films were released by Rolling Thunder Pictures: Chungking Express, Switchblade Sisters, Sonatine, Hard Core Logo, The Mighty Peking Man, Detroit 9000, The Beyond and Curdled.

Tarantino many a times uses graphic violence that has proven seductive to audiences, but at the same time, he has been harshly criticized for his use of gore and blood. His films have been staunchly criticized for their use of violence, blood and action as a "color" within cinema, and also sometimes rebuked for allegedly using human suffering as a punchline. His film 'Reservoir Dogs' was even initially denied United Kingdom certification because it used torture as a form of entertainment. Actor Steve Buscemi has remarked that "Tarantino's novel style of filmmaking is similar to that of bursting with energy" and "focused". This style has earned him a lot of appreciation worldwide. There is a very distinct genre of humor in his films. However, he insists that his films are dramas, not comedies. Tarantino often tries to meld comic strip formulas and aesthetics within a live action film sequence, in some cases by the literal use of cartoon or anime images. He has a unique ability to morph genres and conventions in such a way that they appear as a new and authentic style of his own. Tarantino has said that he has "no respect" for biopics, saying that they "are just big excuses for actors to win Oscars. ... Even the most interesting person – if you are telling their life from beginning to end, it's going to be a fucking boring movie." In an interview he said, "There is one story that I could be interested in, but it would probably be one of the last movies I [ever make] ... My favorite hero in American history is John Brown. He's my favorite American who ever lived. He basically single-handedly started the road to end slavery and ... he killed people to do it. He decided, 'If we start spilling white blood, then they're going to start getting the idea." Tarantino's writing process is like writing a novel and after that, he formats it into a script, saying that this creates the blueprint of the film and makes the film feel like literature. About his writing process said in an interview, "[My] head is a sponge. I listen to what everyone says, I watch little idiosyncratic behavior, people tell me a joke and I remember it. People tell me an interesting story in their life and I remember it. ... when I go and write my new characters, my pen is like an antenna, it gets that information, and all of a sudden these characters come out more or less fully formed. I don't write their dialogue, I get them talking to each other."

It was not impossible for Quentin Tarantino to stay out of any controversies. It is rumored that the violence that he depicts in his movies inspires acts of violence in real life. In an interview, he clarified, "I think it's disrespectful to [the] memory of those who died to talk about movies ... Obviously the issue is gun control and mental health." He also sometimes uses the word nigger in his movies. Spike Lee once questioned Tarantino's use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the word "nigger". In an interview, Lee said, "I'm not against the word ... And some people speak that way. But Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made–an honorary black man?" Tarantino responded on Charlie Rose by saying, "As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think them and I demand the right to tell the truth as I see they are, all right? And to say that I can't do that because I'm white, but the Hughes brothers can do that because they're black, that is racist. That is the heart of racism, all right. And I do not accept that ... That is how a segment of the black community that lives in Compton, lives in Inglewood, where Jackie Brown takes place, that lives in Carson, that is how they talk. I'm telling the truth. It would not be questioned if I was black, and I resent the question because I'm white. I have the right to tell the truth. I do not have the right to lie". Samuel L. Jackson, who has in his films defended Tarantino's use of the word, responded by saying, "I don't think the word is offensive in the context of this film ... Black artists think they are the only ones allowed to use the word. Well, that's bull. Jackie Brown is a wonderful homage to black exploitation films. This is a good film, and Spike hasn't made one of those in a few years." His film, 'Django Unchained' was the subject of controversy because it had a lot of racial epithets and depiction of slavery. Spike Lee, got into the controversy saying that he would not see the film, explaining, "All I'm going to say is that it's disrespectful to my ancestors. That's just me ... I'm not speaking on behalf of anybody else." Lee later tweeted, "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them." At the 73rd Golden Globe Awards in 2016, Tarantino again received some criticism for using the term "ghetto" while he was stage accepting the Golden Globe for best original score on behalf of composer Ennio Morricone, saying, "Wow, this is really cool. Do you realize that Ennio Morricone, who, as far as I am concerned, is my favorite composer ‑‑ and when I say "favorite composer," I don’t mean movie composer, that ghetto. I’m talking about Mozart. I’m talking about Beethoven. I’m talking about Schubert". On October 18, 2017, Tarantino in an interview discussed sexual harassment and assault allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Tarantino revealed that he knew about accusations against Weinstein since the mid-1990s, when his then-girlfriend Mira Sorvino had told him about her experience with Weinstein. Tarantino confronted Weinstein at the time and got an apology. Tarantino said, "What I did was marginalize the incidents." He added, "I knew enough to do more than I did." In February 2018, an audio resurfaced of a 2003 interview on 'The Howard Stern Show' in which Tarantino had defended Roman Polanski over his 1977 sexual abuse case. Tarantino casually referred to the then 13-year-old victim as a "party girl" and insisted that she "wanted to have it". Tarantino later apologized to Samantha Geimer (Polanski's rape victim) saying, "I want to publicly apologize to Samantha Geimer for my cavalier remarks on 'The Howard Stern Show' speculating about her and the crime that was committed against her. Fifteen years later, I realize how wrong I was. Ms. Geimer WAS raped by Roman Polanski. When Howard brought up Polanski, I incorrectly played devil's advocate in the debate for the sake of being provocative. I didn't take Ms. Geimer's feelings into consideration and for that I am truly sorry. So, Ms. Geimer, I was ignorant, and insensitive, and above all, incorrect. I am sorry Samantha."

On February 3, 2018, in an interview with the actress of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill actress, Uma Thurman, another controversy came up. She revealed that Tarantino had ignored her account of a sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein at the Savoy Hotel. He later apologized and Uma Thurman accepted Tarantino's apology partly. There was another controversy regarding a biting incident. This biting incident is related with Uma Thurman. Tarantino received a lot of backlash after the biting incident video went viral. This biting incident was about Tarantino biting his co-star. A video surfaced during the filming of the 'Grindhouse' in 2006 from which the biting incident sparked up. Fergie alleged that the biting incident did happen but it was just some fun they were having. Tarantino did not bite her out of any anger. Too much has been made in the media regarding the biting incident but there was nothing big about it. The biting incident was nothing but just playful banter amongst the co-stars.

Quentin Tarantino's net worth is around $100 Million. This net worth is sure to increase with the upcoming untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project.

On June 30, 2017, Tarantino became engaged with Israeli singer, Daniella Pick, daughter of musician Svika Pick. They had met when Tarantino was in Israel to promote his film 'Inglourious Basterds' in 2009. Tarantino was once asked in an interview if he had religious beliefs and his response was, "I'm not going to tell you how I believe, but I do believe in God."

These are some of the major films of the director and producer Quentin Tarantino which were a big hit and earned him a lot of money adding to his net worth. 1. Pulp Fiction (1994) The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. 2. Reservoir Dogs (1992) Reservoir Dogs is a story about a simple jewelry heist which goes terribly wrong. The surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant. 3. Django Unchained (2012) With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. 4. Inglourious Basterds (2009) In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same. 5. The Hateful Eight (2015) In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters. 6. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) The Bride wakens from a four-year coma. The child she carried in her womb is gone. Now she must wreak vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her - a team she was once part of. 7. True Romance (1993) In Detroit, a lonely pop culture geek marries a call girl, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood. Meanwhile, the owners of the cocaine - the Mob - track them down in an attempt to reclaim it.

He was doing very well with each of him movies but the movies like 'Pulp Fiction', 'Django Unchained', 'Inglorious Basterds' added up a whopping amount to his net worth. Each of them were major box office hits breaking one record after the other.

The millionaire and the best director of his era is coming up another highly anticipated film, initially, untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project and now 'Once Upon a Time In Hollywood' which is scheduled to release in 2019. The plot of Untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project centers around a TV actor and his stunt double who embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry during the Charles Manson murders in 1969 Los Angeles. Coming from the King filmmaker, this untitled Quentin Tarantino/1969 project is eagerly awaited by his fans and will surely open up to a huge reception and probably will do exceedingly well at the box office adding up to his gross net worth.