Jerry Bruckheimer Biography

Bruckheimer was born an only child on Sept. 21, 1945 in Detroit, MI to German immigrant parents-his father was a manager for an exclusive clothing store and his mother was an accountant while maintaining the Bruckheimer home. Due to being slightly dyslexic, he was a slow reader, leading to lackluster student career. But he developed a passion for photography thanks to a fairly wealthy uncle who gave him hand-me-down cameras. From the time he was six, Bruckheimer was taking pictures, seeing the world differently than others. When in high school, he began printing his photos, winning several awards from Kodak and National Scholastics. A solid C-student, Bruckheimer moved on to the University of Arizona where he started studying dentistry, but quickly switched gears to psychology. Bruckheimer first job out of college was working in the mailroom of a New York ad agency, a job born from financial necessity rather than any burning desire to work in advertising. But when he heard that someone from his agency bolted from New York to forge a career making movies in Hollywood, Bruckheimer became determined to do likewise.

Bruckheimer moved to Los Angeles, CA in the early 1970s to make his mark as a producer, starting with an associate producer gig on the revisionist western "The Culpepper Cattle Company" (1972). In 1973, Bruckheimer met Simpson at a screening of "The Harder They Come" at Warner Bros., where he had been working. Though it would be several years before the two would work together, they became fast friends-Bruckheimer even stayed at Simpson's Laurel Canyon home when he divorced from his first wife, Bonnie. After producing "Farewell, My Lovely" (1975) and "March or Die" (1977), Bruckheimer finally teamed up with Simpson on the Richard Gere-defining drama, "American Gigolo" (1980), a bleak, but redemptive look at a male prostitute (Gere) making a lucrative living hustling older-and wealthier-women in Los Angeles, only to be framed for the murder of a trick-a situation he can only get out of if he can convince a senator's wife (Lauren Hutton) to provide an alibi.

After co-founding Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Productions in 1982, the two went to work on several high-concept films that redefined the business of Hollywood. In 1983, they made "Flashdance," a high-flying drama about a female steel worker (Jennifer Beals) moonlighting as an exotic dancer with dreams of going to a real dance school. "Flashdance" became a sensation, taking in over $90 million at the box office after being shot on a modest $7.5 million budget. With the success of this iconic film, Simpson and Bruckheimer were rolling. Though their next effort, "Thief of Hearts" (1984), a cheap and cheesy thriller about a professional thief (Steven Bauer) who stumbles upon a woman's diary and uses her private thoughts to seduce her, was easily forgettable, it would be their next project that made Bruckheimer and Simpson kings of Hollywood.