A Houston philosophy graduate turned symmetry and melancholy into a film brand
Wes Anderson grew up shooting silent Super 8 films starring his brothers. He met Owen Wilson as a university roommate, made a flop that critics loved, then built a career on grief, broken families and meticulously staged frames, eventually winning an Oscar for a Roald Dahl short.
Born in Houston on May 1, 1969, Anderson was the middle of three sons; his parents split when he was eight. His younger brother Eric Chase Anderson later supplied paintings and designs for several of his films. Wes first dreamed of writing, finished at St. John's School in 1987, and then studied philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, working part-time as a projectionist. There, in 1989, he shared a room with Owen Wilson, and he graduated in 1991.
Bottle Rocket, a 1996 caper about young Texans planning heists, grew out of a short he had made with Owen and Luke Wilson. It drew good reviews and a poor box office. Rushmore followed in 1998 and succeeded on both counts, earning Anderson the Independent Spirit Award for best director and reviving Bill Murray's career in independent cinema. Martin Scorsese praised both early films in 2000, and the Library of Congress added Rushmore to its National Film Registry in 2016.
The Royal Tenenbaums of 2001, with Gene Hackman as a shunned patriarch, took more than $50 million domestically and brought an original screenplay nomination. The Darjeeling Limited, shot in India, was partly a homage to Satyajit Ray and is dedicated to him. His first stop-motion feature, an adaptation of Fantastic Mr Fox, was admired by critics though it barely covered its costs. Moonrise Kingdom competed at Cannes in 2012 and made $68.3 million on a $16 million budget.
The Grand Budapest Hotel of 2014 marked his peak so far: nearly $175 million worldwide, nine Oscar nominations with four wins in craft categories, and a BAFTA for its screenplay. Isle of Dogs brought him the Silver Bear for directing, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar finally gave him an Academy Award, for live-action short.
Source: Wes Anderson
