Richard Linklater
- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most
successful talents to emerge during the American independent film
renaissance of the 1990s. Typically setting each of his movies during
one 24-hour period, Linklater's work explored what he dubbed "the youth
rebellion continuum," focusing in fine detail on generational rites and
mores with rare compassion and understanding while definitively
capturing the 20-something culture of his era through a series of
nuanced, illuminating ensemble pieces which introduced any number of
talented young actors into the Hollywood firmament. Born in Houston,
Texas, Linklater suspended his educational career at Sam Houston State
University in 1982, to work on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of
Mexico. He subsequently relocated to the state's capital of Austin,
where he founded a film society and began work on his debut film,
1987's It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988). Three years later he released the sprawling Slacker (1990), an
insightful, virtually plotless look at 1990s youth culture that became
a favorite on the festival circuit prior to earning vast acclaim at
Sundance in 1991. Upon its commercial release, the movie, made for less
than $23,000, became the subject of considerable mainstream media
attention, with the term "slacker" becoming a much-overused catch-all
tag employed to affix a name and identity to America's disaffected
youth culture.
