16.08.

1954: James Cameron – Director of Many of the Highest-Grossing Movies in History

Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/James Cameron at a ceremony for Gale Anne Hurd to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Story Highlights

Historical event

16 August 1954

It is interesting that Cameron’s ancestors were of Scottish heritage, from the Cameron clan. That clan originated from the Scottish Highlands, near Ben Nevis, the highest peak of Great Britain.

James Cameron, one of the most celebrated film directors of today, was born on this day in 1954.

He was born in Canada, in Kapuskasing, Ontario, some 200 km from the U.S.-Canada border.

It is interesting that Cameron’s ancestors were of Scottish heritage, from the Cameron clan. That clan originated from the Scottish Highlands, near Ben Nevis, the highest peak of Great Britain.

Cameron spent a part of his youth working as a truck driver (after graduating from college – many famous businessmen and actors have had a similar experience in unusual jobs before they became famous).

Already when he was working as a truck driver, Cameron took the time to learn about special effects in the movie industry.

He allegedly quit his job as a truck driver after seeing the movie Star Wars in 1977, and decided to make science fiction movies.

His first work was the short film Xenogenesis (1987), which he filmed together with a few friends. He then started working in the movie industry, at various jobs.

In the early 1980s Cameron wrote the script for the movie Terminator. He offered it to various houses, under the condition that he can direct the movie himself.

Several companies showed interest, but were reluctant to have the relatively inexperienced Cameron direct it. He eventually found a company who agreed to his conditions – Hamdale Pictures.

Terminator (1984) was a huge hit and made Cameron famous. The movie cost around 6.4 million U.S. dollars to produce, but made around 78 million worldwide.

The producer was Gale Anne Hurd, whom Cameron soon married. He later married Linda Hamilton, the leading actress from Terminator.

In 1986 Cameron was made the director of Aliens. The filmmakers allegedly considered him a poor substitute for Ridley Scott, who directed the Alien, but Aliens proved very successful, even winning two Oscars.

In 1997 Cameron set a new record with Titanic, which made over two billion dollars. In 2009, Avatar made even more – nearly 2.8 billion.