Quentin Tarantino - biography

early years

Quentin was born into a single-parent family, the boy's father did not even know about his existence, and his mother was a young sixteen-year-old girl who was independent enough to take care of everything without outside help. When Quentin was two years old, he and his mother moved to Los Angeles. Soon she found herself a boyfriend and remarried. The boy's new father was musician Kurt Zastoupala, who wanted to pass on his last name to the young man, but he refused, deciding that he wanted to leave at least something from his father. The boy spent most of his time with his new dad and his friends, and they, in turn, sat him in front of the TV so as not to watch Quentin. Already at the age of five, the boy was clearly sure that he wanted to connect his life with cinema. When his mother did not work during the day, they organized family trips to the movies, the boy’s favorite movie was “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” The family idyll did not last forever, and already at age the young genius witnessed the divorce of his parents.

Childhood and youth

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born on March 27, 1963 in Knoxville. His mother Connie found out about the pregnancy after breaking up with the father of the future actor. The girl married musician Tony Tarantino at the age of 15 in order to gain the desired independence, but the relationship did not work out. Quentin never tried to find his father. When the child was 2 years old, his mother took him to Torrance (Los Angeles, USA), where Tarantino spent his childhood.

Soon Koni married the musician again. He adopted the boy and gave him his last name, but after 6 years this marriage also broke up. Later, Quentin returned his biological father's surname because it was more harmonious and more suitable for acting.

Tony showed up 30 years later, when his son became rich and famous. How the meeting went, and whether it even happened, Quentin did not share with anyone. He is generally sure that Tarantino Sr. followed in his footsteps (his father makes little-known films and stars in them himself) only thanks to his surname, which everyone knows.

Tarantino attended junior high school. The director admits that school depressed him - he hated classes. Nevertheless, the master of American cinema loved to read and was interested in history, but mathematics, spelling and other subjects were difficult for him. At the age of 12-13, Quentin did not yet know how to ride a bicycle or swim, for which his peers laughed at him.

Quentin's mother took up pharmacology and made a successful career and built a new house. The woman spent most of her time at work, and the boy sat for hours at the TV, watching TV series.

Quentin Tarantino often skipped classes. At the age of 15, the teenager dropped out of school and got a job as a cinema ticket attendant. In the evenings he took acting classes. Tarantino's further life is directly related to cinema. Quentin gained invaluable experience, studied the tastes of the public, which came in handy when he became a director. In his youth, “a cinema freak who is allowed to do anything in Hollywood” did not have time to receive a special education; he drew knowledge from what he saw on the screen as a viewer.

First steps into the world of cinema

Now he spent his free time with his thoughts and created various plays with his toys. The boy was not at all interested in going to school, and he almost immediately began to skip school. His mother, realizing that she was unable to force the difficult teenager to do it her way, reluctantly agreed to his leaving school. His first job was as a ticket attendant in a movie theater for watching porn films. Many teenagers envied him, but he was upset, he loved genuine, worthwhile art, and not the same type, thoughtless garbage. He spent the pennies he earned on evening acting lessons from James Best. In 1981, he met Craig Haymann, who was a screenwriter and he gradually introduced the young man to the world of cinema. At the age of 22, he changed his job to the Video Archive, which he considered the best place to work in order to find out the preferences of people in the film world. He spent hours observing which films customers preferred and which no one ever approached, and in this job he also had full access to a selection of films for personal viewing.

Bold decisions

It was here that Tarantino met his friend and colleague Roger Avary, they could spend hours discussing films and pushing buyers towards one choice or another. At one of the Hollywood parties, Quentin was offered to try his hand at writing scripts. The founding project was “Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit,” which remained unknown to anyone on the bookshelf. After that, he spent many years searching for people ready to take on his ideas, but the main condition he set stopped even the bravest. No one wanted to take a risk and pay for a project by an unknown director who wanted to shoot everything personally. It all came down to the fact that in 1984, Tarantino and his friend Roger began work on “My Best Friend's Birthday.” But unfortunately, during the final editing of the film, the ending of the film was burned. He later used the excerpts to create another film. Continuing his search for fame, he starred in a segment as an Elvis Presley impersonator in the television series The Golden Girls.

Personal life of Quentin Tarantino

In 2014, Quentin Tarantino appeared at the Cannes International Film Festival with his longtime girlfriend Uma Thurman. They held hands, flirted openly and even, as it became known later, rented a villa for two. However, rumors about their romance have not yet been officially confirmed. It has long been said that Quentin Tarantino is having an affair with Uma Thurman, but the director has always denied these speculations. According to Quentin Tarantino, Uma Thurman is his muse and best friend, along with Madonna.

It is known that the director had relationships with Mira Sorvino, Sofia Coppola, Kathy Griffin and many others.

On November 28, 2021, Quentin Tarantino secretly married actress Daniela Pick.

First success

He wrote his next script in three weeks; the creation of Reservoir Dogs had to take place under any circumstances. His willingness to shoot with anything and make any sacrifices, as long as his project came to life, did its job. The script fell into the hands of actor Harvey Keitel and he was very interested. The participation of such a famous performer attracted an equally successful sponsor, Live Entertainment. The film was a good success among film critics, but not all viewers liked it. Moments with excessive violence and frequent dialogue were a novelty in the world of cinema for mass viewing. They became interested in the screenwriter and soon True Love and Natural Born Killers were created based on his stories. The directors altered the scripts so much that the screenwriter, in a fit of anger, insisted on crossing out his name from the credits, but in the end everything came down to the “plot” version.

World recognition

A real breakthrough both in the world of cinema and in the career of Quentin himself was “Pulp Fiction.” In this film, one can clearly see the already established nature of Tarantino’s shooting, his manner of presenting the chronology of actions and the characters’ dialogues. The film changed the life of not only the screenwriter, but also the actors; Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta became one of the most sought-after actors after participating in this film. All of them were nominated for an Oscar for their work in this film. The cast also included already famous actors such as Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth. They risked their position by starring in a film by a little-known director, but their expectations more than paid off after the first showings. Immediately when the film entered the market, Tarantino’s popularity skyrocketed, he was invited to various television shows, was offered a job in “Destiny Turns on the Radio” and was even offered to write a script for “The X-Files.” As a result, the script was banned, but the fact of his work was not noticed.

Vega Brothers

Perhaps the most famous relationship in Tarantino's films, it could develop into something more than just an Easter egg for fans. Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction and Vic Vega from Reservoir Dogs are brothers, as the author himself has repeatedly confirmed. After the release of Fiction, Tarantino seriously thought about a project about brothers, which would become a kind of prequel to the director’s two films. But in the late nineties, both Michael Madsen and John Travolta were actively filming, it was difficult to agree on filming conditions, and Tarantino’s enthusiasm for this project seemed to be exaggerated by fans. It is only known that the director had a premise: Vincent still lives in Amsterdam (at the beginning of Pulp Fiction he shares his impressions of being there) and manages the property of Marcellus Wallace when Vic comes to him. As the years passed, the actors aged noticeably, and Tarantino remembered less and less about this idea. Now she is alive only in the fan fiction of particularly rabid Tarantinomaniacs.

John Travolta as Vincent Vega and Michael Madsen as Vic Vega

Joint projects

One of the fateful meetings occurred with the director at the Toronto Film Festival; he met the young and little-known Robert Rodriguez. Their collective work “Four Rooms” was not successful like Quentin’s previous works, although critics did not agree on a clear answer to their decision. At this time, he was working on writing From Dusk Till Dawn, having decided that he would give the post of director to Rodriguez, and he began to work on the details. As an actor, he played the role of Richie Gekko in this movie, a mentally ill person with paranoia disorder. Later, “Jackie Brown” was published and the director retired and helped write the sequel “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

Actor career

Tarantino is also remembered as an actor. Quentin's small roles, often in cameo or narrator format, have become a pleasant tradition in almost every one of his films.

Tarantino appeared as Mr. Brown in his first full-length project, Reservoir Dogs. It's hard to believe that the rehearsals of the actors in the now cult film lasted only 2 weeks.

In “Pulp Fiction” the director embodied the character of the whining and henpecked Jimmy Dimmick, in “American Girl” - a video tape salesman, and in “Desperado” he even tells an anecdote about a bartender.

Quentin Tarantino (from Dusk Till Dawn), 1996
Posted by Tarantinophile on Sunday, July 17, 2016

Quentin Tarantino in the film “From Dusk Till Dawn”
In the recognized cult horror film and one of the most famous films about vampires “From Dusk Till Dawn”, released in 1995, Quentin played Richie Gekko. This image became the most significant acting work for Tarantino, but as a reward for it, the artist was awarded a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Supporting Actor.

But the mentally unstable Richie Gekko is not the most original character in Tarantino's collection - his filmography includes the roles of the devil (Destiny Turns on the Radio), a priest (Nicky the Devil Jr.), a rapist (Planet Terror) and a corpse (Inglourious bastards").

Kill Bill

The return to the ranks of screenwriters and directors has become truly loud and outstanding. In 2003, he appeared before the world with his new magnificent creation, Kill Bill. This movie was a symbiosis of meaningful conversations and complex action scenes, with small moments of Western style. The continuation of this masterpiece movie was, on the contrary, more filled with dialogues with small inclusions of action scenes. In the second part, Quentin used the musical accompaniment of his friend Rodriguez and a little later repaid him for this with help in the filming of the film “Sin City”. In the spring of 2004, he filmed Jimmy Kimmel Live and worked on the script for the series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. The series he created was similar in theme to Kill Bill. It contained many references to his latest successful project, which in turn was noticed by many viewers, but was received with enthusiasm. Quentin's next creation as a director was the film "Grindhouse", which in its style of execution was reminiscent of films of the 70s. It consisted of a large number of references, one of which was later turned into a full-fledged film "Machete".

All films starring Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino's projects have become synonymous with the word "success". For a long time, his name in the credits meant 100% interest from viewers and critics. The best films are listed by year, in order of release. His filmography includes more than 100 projects.

As a director

Tarantino directed 21 films. The best of them:

• "Reservoir Dogs" (1991);
• "Pulp Fiction" (1994);
• "4 Rooms" (1995);
• "Jackie Brown" (1997);
• "Kill Bill" 1,2,3 (2003,2004, 2011);
• "Sin City" (2005);
• "Death Proof" (2007);
• "Inglourious Basterds" (2009);
• "Django Unchained" (2011);
• The Hateful Eight (2015);
• "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (2019).

As an actor

Films featuring Quentin as an actor still remain in the top ratings on movie portals. The most iconic can be called “From Dusk Till Dawn,” the script for which lay on the screenwriter’s shelf for many years, and then was given to Robert Rodriguez.

Tarantino appeared in Reservoir Dogs as Mr. Brown, played in Planet Terror, and also played a cameo role in Desperado, where Antonio Banderas starred.

As a producer

As a producer, Quentin acted in 29 projects. He supported all parts of From Dusk Till Dawn and produced Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 4 Rooms.

As an operator

In the second half of 2007, Quentin worked as a cameraman. His credits include Grindhouse and Death Proof.

Last works

Although this film project failed, the director was not upset and began work on the long-planned project “Inglourious Basterds”. Filming took much longer than the director initially expected and was eventually completed only in 2009. The cast changed several times and in the end we saw Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, and Elijah Roth on the screens. After the release of this film, the director again retired for a while and began promoting quality Asian films to the American audience. All the films that he presented were truly successful and exceeded the original box office plans several times thanks to his patronage. His latest work as a director at the moment is “The Hateful Eight,” which was released in theaters in 2015.

Interesting Facts:

• Quentin Tarantino does not have a higher education. Moreover, he did not even finish high school.
• Tarantino wrote and directed the final two episodes of the fifth season of CSI. The director shot the series based on the second part of “Kill Bill” - a pile of guts, buried alive and a confusing narrative.
• For the German release of Inglourious Basterds, the film's posters, trailers and official website were censored, as the use of Nazi symbols is prohibited in Germany. The swastika was removed from the logo, leaving holes in its place... from bullets.
• In the famous "adrenaline shot through Mia Wallace's heart" scene, John Travolta actually pulls the needle out of Uma Thurman's chest. When editing the film, the scene was played in reverse, and thus the desired effect was achieved.

Tarantino, Quentin

Origin and education Quentin Tarantino (full name Quentin Jerome Tarantino) was born on March 27, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. His father, actor Tony Tarantino, was of Italian descent, and his mother's ancestors, nurse Connie McHugh, included Irish immigrants and Cherokee Indians. The parents separated before the birth of their son. When Tarantino was two years old, his mother moved to the Los Angeles suburbs, where she remarried. Until his late teens, Tarantino bore his stepfather's last name, Kurt Zastusta, and later adopted his father's last name, as he considered it more suitable for his desired career as an actor. Despite his abilities, Tarantino had no interest in studying, but from childhood he was interested in cinema, spending most of his free time watching TV shows and series. The family often visited cinemas. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and changed several low-paying jobs, one way or another related to cinema. He later called the best of them work at a video rental store, where he got a job in 1985. At the same time, he attended acting classes and began writing scripts, but he could not sell them. Creativity In 1987, together with his friends, he created the script and directed the film “My Best Friend's Birthday,” the editing of which was not completed. In 1992, he co-wrote the script for the crime thriller Reservoir Dogs with Roger Avary, which they intended to produce independently on a minimal budget. But after the project managed to interest the famous actor Harvey Keitel, its funding increased significantly. The film was called by critics one of the most successful directorial debuts and received several independent film awards. Tarantino became famous in 1994 after the release of the film “Pulp Fiction,” for which he directed and wrote the script (also together with Avery). The film, which had a budget of eight million dollars, brought in $100 million in profit, won the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival - the Palme d'Or, an Oscar for original screenplay and a number of other film awards. It captured the main features of Tarantino’s recognizable cinematic style, which is characterized by aestheticization of violence, non-linear chronology, special elaboration of dialogues, dark humor and numerous film quotes, and also became a turning point in the careers of many of the actors involved in it. Tarantino's next work, the crime drama Jackie Brown (1997), based on Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, enjoyed less success. Subsequently, he released the film duology “Kill Bill” (2003 and 2004), the action film about World War II “Inglourious Basterds” (2009; was nominated for an Oscar in the categories “best film of the year” and “best director”), spaghetti westerns “Django Unchained” (2012; Oscar and Golden Globe awards for best screenplay) and “The Hateful Eight” (2015). At the end of the 1990s. Tarantino met the then-novice director Robert Rodriguez, with whom they became close friends and released a number of joint projects. The most famous of them are the films “Four Rooms” (1995, Tarantino acted as the film’s producer, as well as an actor, director and screenwriter of one of the short stories) and “From Dusk Till Dawn” (1996, screenwriter and producer). In 2007, they produced the Grindhouse project (named after a popular type of cheap movie theater in the 1970s that showed two films in a row for the price of one), which included Rodriguez's horror film Planet Terror and Tarantino's thriller Death Proof " However, the project was a commercial failure. In addition to his work as a screenwriter and director, Tarantino has repeatedly acted as a producer and actor, often in episodic roles, including in most of his own films. He directed individual episodes of popular TV series, in particular “ER” (1995) and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (2005). He headed the jury of the Cannes Festival in 2004 and the Venice Festival in 2010. Personal information Quentin Tarantino has repeatedly stated in interviews that between family and work he made a choice in favor of cinema. However, on July 1, 2021, he announced his engagement to Israeli singer and model Daniela Pick (they met in 2009), and in November 2021, a wedding ceremony took place in Los Angeles.