Ron Underwood

About Ron Underwood

Who is it?: Director, Writer, Producer
Birth Day: November 06, 1953
Birth Place:  Glendale, California, United States
Birth Sign: Sagittarius
Alma mater: University of Southern California
Occupation: Film director, producer and television director
Years active: 1980–present
Spouse(s): Sandy Underwood
Children: Larissa, Lana, Lauren

Ron Underwood Net Worth

Ron Underwood was born on November 06, 1953 in  Glendale, California, United States, is Director, Writer, Producer. A director who is equally adept at working in television as well as features, Southern California native Ron Underwood has been making films since 5th grade and was winning Eastman Kodak filmmaking awards by the time he was in his teens. After graduating from University of Southern California, he completed a fellowship at the American Film Institute and then began his professional career in educational films. He directed more than 100 educational films before turning his attention to children's television. Underwood's ABC Weekend Special, The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1986), earned both a Peabody Award and an Emmy nomination.The director made his feature film debut in 1990 with the science fiction comedy Tremors. The film, which starred Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, became a sleeper hit, spawning three sequels and a USA TV series. This success was followed with the blockbuster comedy City Slickers (1991), starring Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. One of the year's top grossing films, the film earned Palance an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Underwood also directed the bittersweet fantasy-comedy Heart and Souls (1993), which starred Robert Downey, Jr. and Charles Grodin. He then directed Michael Keaton and Geena Davis in the romantic comedy Speechless (1994).In 1998, Underwood directed a remake of the classic 1949 adventure film Mighty Joe Young, starring Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton, alongside a bigger-than-life gorilla, which earned the film an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. He then directed The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), starring Eddie Murphy, followed by the Showtime feature Stealing Sinatra (2003), starring David Arquette and William H. Macy, who received an Emmy nomination. Underwood re-teamed with Jack Palance on the Hallmark Hall of Fame production Back When We Were Grownups (2004), based on the popular Anne Tyler book and starring Blythe Danner, who received both Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for her performance.Underwood recently directed the romantic comedy In the Mix, starring Usher Raymond and Chazz Palminteri, which Lions Gate Films released in November 2005.In addition to directing feature films, Underwood has turned his talents to directing some of the most critically-acclaimed television series on the air. He has directed episodes of the USA network series Monk starring Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub, and recently finished directing his second episode of the hit David E. Kelley-created series Boston Legal starring Emmy winners James Spader, William Shatner and Candice Bergen.
Ron Underwood is a member of Director

💰 Net worth: Under Review

Some Ron Underwood images

Awards and nominations:

Peabody Awards:

Daytime Emmy Awards:

Saturn Award:

Golden Raspberry Awards:

Directors Guild of America Award:

Biography/Timeline

1976

Upon completion of his fellowship at the American Film Institute, Underwood began working as a staff Director for Barr films, a company specializing in the production of educational films. Underwood directed over one hundred short films, including an adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut short story, "Deer in the Works", starring Dennis Dugan. While directing and producing short films for the educational market, Underwood pursued work in the motion picture industry. One of the first movies Underwood worked on was Futureworld (1976) as a production assistant. The film starred Blythe Danner and Peter Fonda, actors he would later direct in 2004. During the filming of Futureworld, one of his tasks was to babysit a young Gwyneth Paltrow. Soon after Underwood served as the location manager on the Peter Hyams directed motion picture, Capricorn One (1978). Another early job was acting as an assistant Director to first-time Director David Schmoeller on Tourist Trap, a low-budget horror film. After this he continued to direct and produce educational films for the next seven years. In 1986 Underwood established himself as a Director when his animated special The Mouse and the Motorcycle won a Peabody Award, which was followed two years later by the sequel Runaway Ralph, for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination.

1990

Following his critically acclaimed venture into television, Underwood decided to have a go at directing feature films. His first effort was Tremors starring Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward and Reba McEntire in her acting debut. Written by his friends Brent Maddock & S. S. Wilson, it was released by Universal Studios in 1990. The film was well received by the critics and later established itself as a cult classic.

1991

Underwood received his first taste of commercial success with 1991's City Slickers, which starred Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Jack Palance, who won an Academy Award for his performance. The film made $179m worldwide with a budget of only $27m. It was the tenth most successful film released in 1991 (the fifth most successful in the US). His next film, also written by Brent Maddock & S. S. Wilson, Heart and Souls (1993), was again well-received by critics but struggled at the box office (making a total of $16m in the US). It starred Robert Downey, Jr., Charles Grodin, Tom Sizemore, Kyra Sedgwick, Elisabeth Shue and Alfre Woodard. He followed this with Speechless (1994), written by Robert King and starring Michael Keaton and Geena Davis.

1998

Given the opportunity to direct a big-budget film by Walt Disney Pictures in 1998, he was asked to direct Mighty Joe Young, a remake of the 1949 RKO film. The film, starring Charlize Theron in her first lead role, was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects and featured some of the most sophisticated special effects seen in film up to that point, paving the way for later ape films like Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005). The special effects drove production costs to around $90m.

2003

Underwood has returned to his roots, directing both low-budget films and television. He directed Stealing Sinatra (2003) for Showtime, for which william H. Macy received an Emmy nomination, Back When We Were Grownups (2004) for the Hallmark Hall of Fame which garnered star Blythe Danner nominations for the Golden Globe and the Emmy, and In the Mix (2005), starring R&B singer Usher, Chazz Palminteri and Emmanuelle Chriqui for Lions Gate Entertainment. He directed several holiday themed movies for television: The Year Without a Santa Claus, Holiday in Handcuffs, and Santa Baby. He has directed a number of episodic television dramas, including episodes of Monk, Boston Legal, Reaper, Ugly Betty, Heroes, Chaos, Grey's Anatomy, Burn Notice, Once Upon a Time, Desperate Housewives, Nashville, Scandal, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Quantico and The Good Fight.