Jon Peters

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Jon Pagano Peters (born on 2 June 1945 in Van Nuys, California to Jack Peters and Helen Pagano) is a former hairdresser turned movie producer. He used to be Barbra Streisand's hairdresser, dated her, and eventually entered the movie industry with her help.

[edit] Career

Partnered with Peter Guber, he ran Sony Pictures for a time during the 1980s and 1990s.

[edit] Criticism

Peters has been often criticized by many in and out of the movie industry for his perceived egomaniacal actions, eccentricity and tendency to go for style over substance, particularly in the action films he produces.

[edit] Peters and Superman Lives

In his Q&A/comedy DVD, An Evening With Kevin Smith, writer/director Kevin Smith relates an anecdote about when he was hired to write a draft for the new Superman movie, which would have been called Superman Lives. According to Smith, Peters demanded that Superman was not to appear in his iconic costume, nor fly. He also instructed Kevin Smith to include a gay robot sidekick to Brainiac voiced by Dwight Ewell and a fight scene involving Brainiac and a pair of polar bears, and insisted that the final act of the film must consist of Superman fighting a giant spider which would be unveiled to Superman in a scene reminiscent of King Kong's reveal in his titular film. Later on in the DVD, Smith notes that the summer after he worked with Peters, he saw Wild Wild West, a movie produced by Peters, which similarly contained a giant mechanical spider.

Many fans blamed Peters for the almost two decade long absence of Superman on film, as well as the nearly $50 million loss that Warner Brothers took as a result of several failed attempts to reignite the franchise. In Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman, Jon Peters admits "the elements that I was focusing on were away from the heart, it was more leaning towards Star Wars in a sense, you know. I didn't realize the human part of it, I didn't have that." He subsequently served as Executive Producer for Superman Returns, the 2006 movie directed by Bryan Singer.

[edit] Personal

Peters has been married to(and divorced from) Marie Zampirella, Lesley Ann Warren, Christine Forsyth, and Mindy Peters. He has a son, Christopher Peters, from Lesley Ann Warren, three daughters, Caleigh Peters and Skye Peters.

[edit] Selected filmography as producer and executive producer

• Superman Returns (2006)
• Ali (2001)
• Wild Wild West (1999)
• Money Train (1995)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
• Tango & Cash (1989)
• Batman (1989)
• Rain Man (1988)
• Caddyshack II (1988)
• The Color Purple (1985)*
• Clue (1985)
• Flashdance (1983)
• An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• A Star Is Born (1976)

*Director Steven Spielberg specifically had it written into his contract that Jon Peters not be allowed onto the set. ^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jon Peters at the Internet Movie Database
• Showbiz Notes Article critical of Jon Peters^{[dead link]}