Frank Darabont
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
Frank Darabont did not go to college, he explains, because "it was either be a bag person sleeping in a cardboard box, or make it in the film industry" --From Premiere, October 1994
"If you're going to succeed, you've got to be like one of those punch-drunk fighters in the old Warner Bros. boxing pictures: too stupid to fall down, you just keep slugging and stay on your feet." --Frank Darabont in Premiere, October 1994
Biography
A lifelong horror fan who possessed great love for the genre and the works of Stephen King in particular, Frank Darabont's career as a writer and director yielded three Oscar nominations and worldwide acclaim for "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "The Green Mile" (1999) and "The Mist" (2007). He began his filmmaking career after asking King's permission to shoot a short film based on one of his stories; the project led to scripting for several minor horror films and TV series before the bittersweet drama of "Shawshank" brought him to international attention. Darabont found the heart and the literacy at the center of King's works - something few other directors had achieved - and continued to mine success from the author's library with "The Green Mile" and the darker "Mist." In doing so, Darabont brought integrity artistic quality to a genre that had sorely lacked such laudable elements for decades.
Born in a refugee camp in Montbeliard, France on Jan. 28, 1956, he was the son of Hungarian parents who had fled the country after the failed revolution that year. The family immigrated to the United States when Darabont was a child, and eventually settled in Los Angeles shortly before he entered high school. After attending Hollywood High, he began working in the film industry as a production assistant and set dresser; his first screen credit was the 1981 slasher film "Hell Night," and he worked steadily in the horror and fantasy genre - his favorite - for the next few years.
However, Darabont's career as a filmmaker began a year earlier, when he sent an ambitious letter to best-selling horror novelist Stephen King, in which he asked permission to direct an adaptation of his short story, "The Woman in the Room," about a man's struggle to ease his terminally ill mother's pain. King was impressed by Darabont's drive and granted him the rights to the story for the price of one dollar - a policy he would later extend to other aspiring filmmakers wishing to adapt one of his short stories. "The Woman in the Room" took three years to complete, but was eventually a semi-finalist for the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar. It also began a long and fruitful relationship with King, who granted Darabont the rights to adapt his novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption after viewing "The Woman in the Room."
Darabont broke into screenwriting through a partnership with fellow aspiring filmmaker Chuck Russell, whom he had met while making "Hell Night." Together, the pair sold a script for the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise to New Line Cinema, which eventually became "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" (1987), with Russell in the director's chair. More scripts genre titles followed, including Russell's terrific updating of the '50s sci-fi classic "The Blob" (1988) and "The Fly II" (1989). The following year, Darabont made his directorial debut with "Buried Alive" (USA Network, 1990), a Hitchcockian thriller about a conniving wife (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who attempted to do away with her husband (Tim Matheson) by means of the title torture. It became one of the network's highest rated original productions, but did not further Darabont's directorial aspirations.
Instead, he turned back to writing, primarily for television. Darabont penned two episodes of the HBO horror anthology "Tales from the Crypt" (1989-1996) and five for George Lucas' "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" (ABC, 1992-93), which helped to establish a connection with Lucas and series producer Steven Spielberg. In 1994, Darabont began work on a film adaptation of Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Initially, he was slated to act only as the film's producer, with Rob Reiner - who had successfully brought another King novella, The Body, to the screen as "Stand By Me" (1986) - serving as writer and director. However, Darabont saw in the project an opportunity to give his own directorial career a boost, and took over both positions for "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994).
A period drama about the friendship between two convicts in a draconian prison - lifer Red (Morgan Freeman) and Andy (Tim Robbins), a straight-laced banker convicted of murdering his wife - the movie's message of hope in the face of overwhelming odds and misery struck a chord with critics, though moviegoers were slow to find it. However, its overwhelming showing at the 1994 Academy Awards - seven nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Darabont, as well as the Humanitas Award and PEN Center USA West Award - helped to build an audience through rentals and cable screenings. By 1997, it was a staple of TV broadcasts, and found its way onto numerous "best of" film lists. The picture also marked his first collaborations with character actors William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn and James Whitmore, all of whom would appear in his subsequent films.
After "Shawshank," Darabont returned to writing while honing his next effort as director. He was one of several credited writers on Kenneth Branagh's ill-conceived "Frankenstein" (1994), and penned all four of the popular "Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" features that played on The Family Channel between 1996 and 1999. He also broke his five-year directing hiatus in 1999 with the screen version of "The Green Mile," a story about prison life, again adapted from a Stephen King novella. The story here had more fantasy elements, specifically in regard to a prisoner (Michael Clarke Duncan) with miraculous healing powers. The drama was again embraced by audiences, who took to its theme of sacrifice and compassion. Darabont received his second Adapted Screenplay nomination from the Motion Picture Academy, as well as countless other significant laurels, while the film itself was nominated for Best Picture. Its Oscar nods put Darabont in august company; he was one of only six filmmakers to have their first two films receive Best Picture nominations.
The acclaim quickly put Darabont at the forefront of Hollywood's screenwriting community, where he worked on drafts of such major features as "Saving Private Ryan" (1998) and "Minority Report" (2002). He also penned a script for a fourth Indiana Jones film, which Spielberg reportedly loved, but was allegedly axed by producer George Lucas. Undaunted, he set forth to direct his third feature, "The Majestic" (2001), a Capra-esque fable about a screenwriter (Jim Carrey) who fled the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s and found a safe haven - albeit in the mistaken identity of a missing war hero - in a picturesque seaside town. However, Carrey's turn in a dramatic role, as well as the film's unabashedly old-fashioned feel, failed to find an audience, and it failed miserably in the Christmas season of 2001.
Darabont, who also acted as producer on "The Green Mile" and "The Majestic," served in that capacity for several films by other directors, including D.J. Caruso's "The Salton Sea" (2001) and Michael Mann's "Collateral" (2004), the latter of which reteamed him with Chuck Russell. He also made a foray into network television with "Raines" (NBC, 2007), a detective series with Jeff Goldblum as a homicide cop who hallucinates visions of crime victims, but the series, for which he also directed the pilot, lasted less than seven episodes.
In 2007, he returned to feature directing with another Stephen King adaptation - the novella "The Mist," which paid homage to science fiction of the 1950s with its story of shoppers trapped inside a supermarket by a mysterious fog filled with monstrous creatures. A favorite of the author's vast network of fans, its release was eagerly anticipated, though audiences and critics alike were split over Darabont's decision to alter the story's original ending from an oblique finale to a decidedly downbeat note. The picture was a modest success, and preserved the director's reputation as one of the most consistent translators of King's work to the screen.
While working on several long-gestating projects, including adaptations of fantasy legend Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451, Darabont announced that he was adapting the popular Image Comics series "The Walking Dead" into a weekly series for AMC. The show, about humans contending with a zombie apocalypse, featured many of Darabont's regular players, including Laurie Holden from "The Majestic" and "The Mist" and Jeffrey DeMunn, The show was virtually an overnight success following its debut in the fall of 2010, with a rabid fan base making it that season's water cooler program along the lines of "The X-Files" (Fox, 1993-2002) and "Lost" (ABC, 2004-2010).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Art Department (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Writer (Special)
Special Thanks (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Writer (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1981
Had his first film credit working as a production assistant on the horror film, "Hell Night"
1983
With a group of friends, acquired the rights to a Stephen King short story, "Woman in the Room"; eventually wrote, produced and directed a 30-minute adaptation of the story which was later aired on some cable stations and released to video
1984
Received credit as a set dresser on Ken Russell's "Crimes of Passion"
1987
Had his first screenplay credit with "A Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors"
1990
Had his first credit as producer on the USA Network TV-movie, "Buried Alive"; also directed
1990
Received a nomination for a Writers Guild of America Award for "The Ventriloquist's Dummy," an episode of the HBO horror anthology series, "Tales from the Crypt"
1992
Wrote several episodes of the ABC adventure series "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles"
1993
Was offered $2.4 million for his screenplay adaptation of Stephen King's short story, "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by Rob Reiner of Castle Rock Productions, with the chance to also direct another film; Darabont turned it down because he wanted to direct the film based on his screenplay
1994
Did screenplay rewrites for Kenneth Branagh's feature, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein"
1994
Made his feature directorial debut with "The Shawshank Redemption"; film earned seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Darabont
1997
Had small role in the TV miniseries version of King's "The Shining," directed by Mick Garris
1998
Executive produced and scripted the HBO film "Black Cat Run"
1998
Reportedly worked on the script to "Saving Private Ryan," starring Tom Hanks; Robert Rodat, however, received sole credit
1999
Returned to filmmaking at the helm of "The Green Mile," an adaptation of Stephen King's novel starring Hanks; also produced and scripted; received Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Screenplay
2001
Returned to filmmaking at the helm of "The Majestic," starring Jim Carrey; also co-wrote screenplay
2005
Published the novella "Walpuski's Typewriter"; originally written in his early twenties, it first appeared in Jessie Horsting's magazine <i>Midnight Graffiti</i>
2007
Adapted and directed "The Mist," a horror film based on the 1980 novella by Stephen King
2010
Created and executive produced the AMC series, "The Walking Dead"; also directed the pilot episode; left the show just before the second season began
2011
Nominated for the 2011 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series ("The Walking Dead")
2013
Created, wrote, directed, and produced on the series "Mob City"
2014
Was an executive producer on the "Green Mile" behind-the-scenes documentary "Walking the Mile (Director's Cut)"
Videos
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Bibliography
Notes
Frank Darabont did not go to college, he explains, because "it was either be a bag person sleeping in a cardboard box, or make it in the film industry" --From Premiere, October 1994
"If you're going to succeed, you've got to be like one of those punch-drunk fighters in the old Warner Bros. boxing pictures: too stupid to fall down, you just keep slugging and stay on your feet." --Frank Darabont in Premiere, October 1994
Darabont earned nominations from the DGA in both 1994 and 1999 for "The Shawshank Redemption" and "The Green Mile" respectively. In both instances, he was overlooked in the Oscar category of Best Director, but received nods for Best Picture and Best Screenplay.
