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Birth
Tarantino was born on March 27, 1963, in Knoxville, Tennessee, the only child of Connie (McHugh) and Tony Tarantino, an actor and producer. His father is of Italian descent, and his mother has Irish and Cherokee ancestry. Quentin was named for Quint Asper, Burt Reynolds' character in the CBS series Gunsmoke. -
1st Screenplay
At 14 years old, Tarantino wrote one of his earliest works, a screenplay called Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit, based on Hal Needham's 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit starring Burt Reynolds. -
Early work
At age 15, Tarantino dropped out of Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Los Angeles. He then worked as an usher at an adult movie theater in Torrance, called the Pussycat Theater.
Later, Tarantino attended acting classes at the James Best Theatre Company, where he met several of his eventual collaborators. While at James Best, Tarantino also met Craig Hamann, with whom he later collaborated to produce My Best Friend's Birthday. -
Movie Buff
Throughout the 1980s, Tarantino worked a number of jobs. He spent time as a recruiter in the aerospace industry, and for five years, he worked at Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach, California. Former Buffy the Vampire Slayer actor Danny Strong described Tarantino as "such a movie buff. He had so much knowledge of films that he would try to get people to watch really cool movies." -
1st Hollywood Job
In 1986, Tarantino got his first Hollywood job, working with Roger Avary as production assistants on Dolph Lundgren's exercise video, Maximum Potential. -
Breakthrough
Tarantino received his first paid writing assignment in the early 1990s when Robert Kurtzman hired him to write the script for From Dusk till Dawn.
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Reservoir Dogs
In January 1992, Tarantino's neo-noir crime thriller Reservoir Dogs—which he wrote, directed, and acted in as Mr. Brown—was screened at the Sundance Film Festival. It was an immediate hit, with the film receiving a positive response from critics.
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Pulp Fiction
Tarantino wrote, directed, and acted in the black comedy crime film Pulp Fiction in 1994, maintaining the estheticization of violence for which he is known, as well as his non-linear storylines. Tarantino received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, which he shared with Roger Avary, who contributed to the story.
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Award
He won the Independent Spirit Award for the category of ‘Best Director’ for ‘Pulp Fiction’, in 1994. -
Award
He won an Academy Award for ‘Best Writing (Original Screenplay’ for ‘Pulp Fiction’, in 1995. -
Jackie Brown
Tarantino's third feature film was Jackie Brown (1997), an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch. A homage to blaxploitation films, it starred Pam Grier, who starred in many of the films of that genre in the 1970s. It received positive reviews and was called a "comeback" for Grier and co-star Robert Forster.
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Kill Bill Vol. 1
A highly stylized "revenge flick" in the cinematic traditions of Wuxia (Chinese martial arts), Jidaigeki (Japanese period cinema), spaghetti westerns and Italian horror. It was originally set for a single theatrical release, but its 4-hour plus running time prompted Tarantino to divide it into two movies. Volume 1 was released in late 2003.
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Kill Bill Vol. 2
Volume 2 was released in 2004. It 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 making of Pulp Fiction.
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Cannes Film Festival
In 2004, Tarantino attended the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where he served as President of the Jury. -
Special Guest Director
Tarantino went on to be credited as "Special Guest Director" in Robert Rodriguez's 2005 neo-noir film Sin City, for his work directing the car sequence featuring Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro.
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Inglorious Basterds
Tarantino's film Inglourious Basterds, released in 2009, is the story of a group of Jewish-American guerrilla soldiers in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Filming began in October 2008.[51] The film opened on August 21, 2009, to very positive reviews and reached the #1 spot at the box office worldwide.
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Award
He won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards for ‘Critics Choice for Best Original Screenplay’ for ‘Inglourious Basterds’, in 2010. -
Django Unchained
A film about the revenge of a former slave in the U.S. South in 1858. The film stemmed from Tarantino's desire to produce a spaghetti western set in America's Deep South. The film was released on December 25, 2012.
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Award
He won an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for ‘Django Unchained’, in 2013. -
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He won a BAFTA Award for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for ‘Django Unchained’, in 2013. -
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In 2013, he also won the Golden Globe Award for ‘Best Screenplay’ for ‘Django Unchained’. -
The Hatful Eight
The Hateful Eight was released on December 25, 2015, as a roadshow presentation in 70 mm film format theaters, before being released in digital theaters on December 30, 2015. Tarantino narrated several scenes in the film. He edited two versions of the film, one for the roadshow version and the other for general release.
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One Upon a Time in Hollywood
The film first officially premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it was in competition for the Palme d'Or. It received positive reviews at the Festival, with praise directed at the performances of DiCaprio, Pitt and Robbie, although reactions were mixed regarding the ending of the film. It received a seven-minute standing ovation.
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