Short Biography

Edward Zwick is well-known for his heroic movies that include Glory (1989), and the breathtaking works of art that include Legends of the Fall (1994). Zwick has also been known for his thoughtfulness as a director, and for his record of working with television series and other films as a producer.

Born in 1952, in the city of Chicago, Zwick had a brother, Joel Zwick who was ten years his senior, and went on to become a film maker. This may have been one of Zwick`s reasons to enter the film industry himself. After graduating from the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles, California, Zwick worked as a journalist with the magazine Rolling Stone. He found work on television in 1976 as a producer, writer, and director.

Zwick eventually moved on to higher grounds, though. He made three films released for television in two years: the fashion drama _Paper Dolls (1982)(TV)_, the more comedic based Having It All (1982) (TV), and Special Bulletin (1983) (TV) which is about a reporter and his camera man held hostage by terrorists. Zwick followed up with his first theatrical release; About Last Night... (1986) starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore. The film concerns a man and a woman attempting to enter a love affair with each other, despite their differences and the opinions of others. It was based on a theatrical production and was a success for Zwick`s rising star. He raised the bar for himself with his second film three years later: bringing back a story of great heroism, Glory (1989) was a Civil War film about the first black regiment raised for the Northern army. It starred Matthew Broderick as the idealistic abolitionist Colonel Shaw, Cary Elwes as his friend and second-in-command, Denzel Washington as an angry ex-slave who questions the point of the war, and Morgan Freeman as the wise father figure towards the other soldiers in the regiment.

Glory (1989) was a massive success commercially and critically. At the Academy Awards, the film did not gain any nominations for Zwick, but it won three Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Supporting Actor (Denzel Washington). Zwick pursued television again before coming back with a light-hearted drama Leaving Normal (1992). The film was not the success that Glory (1989) had been, though, but Zwick bounced back immediately with Legends of the Fall (1994). The film was about a family of a father and his three sons as they live in the wilderness of Montana. The film starred Brad Pitt as the wayward middle son who cannot settle down, Anthony Hopkins as the stern father and former soldier, Aidan Quinn as the oldest brother who tries to be good and do the right thing, and Julia Ormond as the beautiful woman that is engaged to the youngest brother, played by Henry Thomas. The movie (which had been filmed in Canada) won an Oscar for Cinematography, showing massive landscapes and beautiful skies. Zwick drew wonderful performances from all of the actors, particularly Quinn, Pitt, and Hopkins.

Zwick produced the television show "Relativity" (1996) starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley the same year as he directed the Gulf War film Courage Under Fire (1996) starring Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, and Lou Diamond Phillips. The film was a success, and helped advance a then-unknown Matt Damon`s career forward. Zwick produced a couple of movies in 1998, winning his first Oscar for the film Shakespeare in Love (1998). He had produced this film, and while he did not direct it, he helmed the

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