On This Day

Birthday of John Carpenter

January 16th 1948

10:11 16 January 2024

American director, actor and composer John Carpenter was born on this day in 1948. Carpenter made his feature film directorial debut with the low-budget science-fiction comedy 'Dark Star' (1974). He also produced and directed the movie as well as composing the musical score, something he would continue throughout his career. His next film 'Assault on Precinct 13' (1976) was heavily influenced by the work of Howard Hawks, 'Rio Bravo' (1959) in particular, and is now regarded as one of the best exploitation films of the 70s.

The directors big breakthrough came with 'Halloween' (1978), a critical and commercial success. From here he directed a string of hit movies and cult classics through the 80s and 90s including 'The Fog' (1980), 'Escape From New York' (1981), 'The Thing' (1982), 'Christine' (1983), 'Starman' (1984), 'Big Trouble in Little China' (1986), 'Prince of Darkness' (1987), 'They Live' (1988), 'In the Mouth of Madness' (1995) and 'Escape from L.A.' (1996). John Carpenter semi-retired in the 2000s but has made occasional returns to filmmaking including 'Ghosts of Mars' (2001) and 'The Ward' (2010) and remains a prominent figure of the American New Wave of Cinema as well as a major influence on many of todays filmmakers. Happy Birthday John.