Son of Hollywood choreographer Nick Castle Sr., this writer-director has crafted a variety of mainstream entertainments for film and TV. Castle's most memorable works include his sly screenplay for John Carpenter's "Escape from New York" (1983), his own "The Boy Who Could Fly" (1986), a slightly flawed, but well-intentioned "small movie", and his old-fashioned homage to black dancers, "Tap" (1989). He has also earned a small footnote to the history of the horror film for playing "The Shape," writer-director John Carpenter's nickname for the masked silent stalker of his "Halloween" (1978).
Credited for providing the original story for Steven Spielberg's "Hook" (1991), Castle was also slated to helm that quirky Peter Pan update until Spielberg came aboard. He did return to the director's chair for John Hughes' production of "Dennis the Menace" (1993), the film version of the venerable children's comic strip.
- Also Credited As:
Nick Castle, Nick Castle Jr
- Born:
September 21, 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA
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Job Titles:
Director, Screenwriter, Camera assistant, Camera operator, Dancer
Family
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Father: Nick Castle. Born on March 21, 1910; choreographer for motion pictures, television, and the stage; died in 1968
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Mother: Millie Castle.
Education
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University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, film
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Santa Monica City College, Santa Monica, CA
Milestones
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1970 With USC classmates (including John Carpenter), worked on the Oscar-winning short, The Resurrection of Bronco Billy
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1978 Appeared as The Shape in John Carpenter s Halloween
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1979 Feature film screenwriting debut, Skatetown, U.S.A
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1982 Feature film directing debut, Tag: The Assassination Game
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1984 Helmed The Last Starfighter an adventure film, using computer graphics for its special effects
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1986 Helmed the family film, The Boy Who Could Fly
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1987 Helmed an episode of Steven Spielberg s anthology series Amazing Stories (NBC)
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1989 Directed Tap, co-starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. in his final film appearance
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1993 Directed the live-action film, Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip
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1995 Directed Damon Wayans in the comedy, Major Payne
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2001 Helmed Delivering Milo, starring Anton Yelchin and Albert Finney
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2007 Wrote the screenplay for August Rush, a musical-drama starring Freddie Highmore, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Keri Russell
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As a child appeared as a dancer in a few films that his father choreographed, such as Artists and Models (1955)