John Milius

John Milius
Milius in 1981
Born
John Frederick Milius

(1944-04-11) April 11, 1944 (age 81)
Alma materUSC School of Cinema-Television
Occupations
  • Screenwriter
  • director
Years active1966–present
Spouses
  • Renee Fabri
    (m. 1967; div. 1978)
  • (m. 1978, divorced)
  • Elan Oberon
    (m. 1992)
Children3
AwardsBronze Wrangler for Theatrical Motion Picture
1972 Jeremiah Johnson
1993 Geronimo: An American Legend

John Frederick Milius (/ˈmɪliəs/; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers.[1]

He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (also 1972), and the first two Dirty Harry films. He made his directorial debut with the film Dillinger (1973), followed by The Wind and the Lion (1975) and Big Wednesday (1978). In 1980, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Apocalypse Now, which he co-wrote with Francis Ford Coppola.

During the 1980s, Milius established himself as a director of action and adventure films, with Conan the Barbarian (1982) and Red Dawn (1984). He was also a prolific script doctor. He later served as the co-creator of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series Rome (2005–2007).

Off-screen, Milius is known for his eccentric personality and libertarian political views, variously and contradictorily self-described as a "Zen anarchist," "right-wing extremist," and "Maoist."[2] He served as a director of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA).[3]

  1. ^ Walker, Jesse (June 5, 2014). "John Milius, Hollywood Maverick". Reason.com. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
  2. ^ White, Allen, & Milius, John. ( 8 March 1999). Joy in the Struggle: A Look at John Milius Film Threat. (Interview) accessed 5 January 2012.
  3. ^ Meroney, John (July 2000). "Milius the Moviemaking Maverick". The American Enterprise (TAE). Vol. 11, no. 5. Gale General OneFile. p. 50. ISSN 1047-3572. In the 1980s, when filmies seemed more troubled by Ronald Reagan describing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" than by actual Soviet expansionism, dovish propaganda movies like The Day After and Testament were being churned out by most of the industry. John Milius, however, was busy making Red Dawn, a picture about how a Soviet invasion and occupation of the U.S. plays out in the heartland.

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