A leading producer of action-adventure movies of the 1980s and 90s, Silver has been dubbed by PREMIERE as "The Selznick of Schlock" for his splashy, crowd-pleasing fare. After producing and starring in student films at NYU, Silver began his career as an assistant to producer Lawrence Gordon. His first credit was as associate producer on "The Warriors" (1979). Soon, he was president of the motion picture division of Lawrence Gordon Pictures. With Gordon, Silver produced such hits as "48 Hrs." (1982) and the teen comedy "Weird Science" (1985), as well as such notable disasters as the musical "Xanadu" (1980), "Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again" (1982) and the umpteenth remake of "Brewster's Millions" (1985).
In 1985, Silver produced, under his newly formed banner, Silver Pictures, the highly profitable "Commando" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. He continued in the action genre, turning out some of the most profitable film franchises in recent history: the "Lethal Weapon" series (1987, 1989 and 1992 respectively); the first two "Die Hard" films (1988 and 1990); and "Predator" (1987) and "Predator 2" (1990). While most of his films were successful, he has had his fair share of memorable bombs, including the Andrew Dice Clay vehicle "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" (1990) and the appalling "Hudson Hawk" (1991). Among his more recent films have been the high-octane thrillers "Demolition Man" (1993), "Assassins" and "Fair Game" (both 1995) and the hijack drama "Executive Decision" (1996).
After creating a mold for shaping entertaining action fodder--his basic ingredients being quick cuts, big explosions and one-liners--Silver segued to TV production. Alongside Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill and Robert Zemeckis, he executive produced the long running HBO horror anthology "Tales From the Crypt". Silver made his first venture into directing with the "Tales" episode "Split Personality" (1992), starring Joe Pesci as a con man who marries a set of twins under the pretense that he too is a twin.
Silver has also worked on several other TV projects, including "Parker Kane" (NBC, 1990), "Two-Fisted Tales" (Fox, 1992), and "The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies" (HBO, 1995). Silver made his feature acting debut in a self-deprecating cameo in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988), as the director who yells at Roger for flubbing a line.