Biography for
Peter Hyams More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

26 July 1943, New York City, New York, USA

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

Peter Hyams was born in New York on July 26, 1943, and attended Hunter College Elementary School. He studied art and music at the Art Students League, and the high school of Music And Art, as well as at Syracuse University, where he majored in music and art. Even before he became a CBS-News anchor man in New York at the age of 21, Hyams had been a drummer with such important jazz musicians as Bill Evans and Maynard Ferguson and had played at Birdland, Small's Paradise and the Newport Jazz Festival. His paintings have hung in such prestigious galleries as the Whitney Museum of American Art. Hyams brings to film direction essential elements of music and painting. From music comes a special sensitivity to structure and rhythm; from painting a heightened sense of light and color. These important insights help Hyams to achieve his goal of creating films which "reach people's emotions, not their minds." Peter Hyams is six-foot-one-inch tall and lives in Brentwood California with his wife George-Ann. He has three sons, Chris, John, and Nick.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse

George-Ann Spota

(19 December 1964 - present) 3 children

Trade Mark

All his movies have a character (usually a minor one) named "Spota."

Shoots his movies in as close to natural light levels as possible, even during night and interior scenes. As a result his work is often criticized for being poorly lit.

Trivia

Onetime Chicago news anchorman.

Grandson of Sol Hurok.

One of the few writer/directors of major films who also serves as his own cinematographer.

"Spota" (the name used in most Hyams movies) is his wife's maiden name. His love for her and her family makes the fact that most of the "Spotas" in his movies are villains ironic.

Brother of Nessa Hyams.

Was considered as a director for Hellboy (2004), before Guillermo del Toro was involved.

Was asked to direct Night of the Living Dead (1990), but turned it down to work on Narrow Margin (1990).

Personal Quotes

I've never done anything that's totally worked for me. It has always been very painful to watch what I've done. Filmmaking, by definition, is a process of failure and because of that I always seem to be looking for the blemishes in my work.

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z