Overview (4)

Mini Bio (1)

Michael Crichton was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in Roslyn, New York. His father was a journalist and encouraged him to write and to type. Michael gave up studying English at Harvard University, having become disillusioned with the teaching standards--the final straw came when he submitted an essay by George Orwell that was given a "B-." After giving up English and spending a year in Europe, Michael returned to Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Havard Medical School to train as a doctor. Several times, he was persuaded not to quit the course but did so after qualifying in 1969.



During his medical-student days, he wrote novels secretly mainly under the pseudonym of John Lange in reference to his almost 6ft 9 height. (Lange in German means long) One novel, "A Case of Need," written under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson, (Sir Jeffrey Hudson was a famous 17th century dwarf) contained references to people at Harvard Medical School, but he couldn't hide his identity when the novel won an award that had to be collected in person. After giving up medicine, Michael moved to Hollywood, California, in the early 1970s and began directing movies based on his books, his first big break being Westworld (1973).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Rob Hartill

Spouse (5)

Trade Mark (5)

Cautionary tales about the dangers of technology



Tells the story through multiple characters' viewpoints



Towering height and slender frame



Often expresses complex scientific terminology and theories in more layman's terms



Known for doing exhaustive research



Trivia (25)

Michael was exorcised in 1986.



Visiting writer, MIT. [1988]



Mystery Writer's of America Edgar award for "A Case of Need." [1968]





Mystery Writer's of America Edgar award for Der erste große Eisenbahnraub (1978). [1980]

Association of American Medical Writers award for "Five Patients." [1970]



Education: Harvard Medical School.



Raised in Roslyn, New York.



Played basketball at Roslyn High School



Was tied up and robbed at gunpoint by masked men in his home in Santa Monica, California, on 23 September 2002. No one was harmed.



Biography in John Wakeman, editor, "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985," pp. 248-250. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.





Emergency Room: Die Notaufnahme (1994) began its life in the early 1970s as E.W.: Emergency Ward, which was what they were called at the time, and was a full-length film script. He was unable to get it produced. Steven Spielberg contacted him about it in 1989, expressing interest in turning it into a movie. It was dropped when Spielberg heard about Jurassic Park (1993). During the film's production, someone else at Amblin Entertainment read it and suggested that it was better suited for a television series.



He has related the story of his first visit to a movie studio, Universal, which was about to produce Andromeda - Tödlicher Staub aus dem All (1971). A young novice director named Steven Spielberg was assigned the task of giving him a tour of the studio. It was almost 20 years later that he was contacted by Spielberg for a potential project that was dropped in favor of another of his stories, Jurassic Park (1993).



When writing a script or book, he always eats the same thing for lunch to aid his concentration. When writing Jurassic Park (1993), for example, he ate egg salad sandwiches with lots of pepper.



After failing to get producers interested in Emergency Room: Die Notaufnahme (1994) in 1970, the script sat in a metal safe for twenty years until Steven Spielberg heard about it.



Frequently hired Jerry Goldsmith to compose the scores for his films.

Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, volume 127, pages 65-72. Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, 1994.



His first child and daughter, Taylor Anne, was born in 1989.



Original Job: Anthropology professor.



Became a vocal skeptic of environmentalism and global warming later in his career.



Son, John Michael Todd Crichton, was born February 12, 2009, three months after his death.



He wrote a screenplay about a genetically engineered dinosaur in 1983 but it was never produced.





Of all the film adaptations made from his novels, he said that the best was Jurassic Park (1993) and the worst was Der Killer im Kopf (1974).

Personal Quotes (17)

[First line of his autobiography] It's not easy to cut through a human head with a hacksaw."



I went to a museum and they had this sideshow. There was a little boy who couldn't have been more than six. His feet didn't even touch the ground. Each time they showed a dinosaur he would shout, "Tyrannosaurus!" "Stegosaurus!". He did that for an hour and I thought, "What is it about dinosaurs that's so fascinating?" That's when I decided to write "Jurassic Park".



In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought.



We all live every day in virtual environments, defined by our ideas.



I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.



Readers probably haven't heard much about it yet, but they will. Quantum technology turns ordinary reality upside down.



I tended to faint when I saw accident victims in the emergency ward, during surgery, or while drawing blood.



Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.



They are focused on whether they can do something. They never think whether they should do something.



Human beings never think for themselves; they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told - and become upset if they are exposed to any different view.



The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity, and the characteristic result is religious warfare. Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their 'beliefs.'



We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.



Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had.



I want a news service that tells me what no one knows but is true nonetheless.



The belief that there are other life forms in the universe is a matter of faith. There is not a single shred of evidence for any other life forms, and in forty years of searching, none has been discovered. There is absolutely no evidentiary reason to maintain this belief.



The American media produce a product of very poor quality. Its information is not reliable, it has too much chrome and glitz, its doors rattle, it breaks down almost immediately, and it's sold without warranty. It's flashy, but it's basically junk.



Books aren't written - they're rewritten. Including your own. It is one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn't quite done it.



Salary (1)