Certainly idiosyncratic as a writer, Cameron Crowe has created a series of scripts that, while liked by the critics, were considered offbeat and difficult to market. He began his writing career as a 15-year-old high-school student, with articles on music submitted to Rolling Stone magazine, and only a few years later had his first script, for Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This movie was important for more than his career - his future wife Nancy Wilson had a small role in the film. Music remained important to him, with the rock band Pearl Jam playing a bit role in Singles well before they were "discovered". His next movie, Jerry Maguire, took over five years to develop - a chance photograph of a football player and his agent was the initial inspiration. It took some 20 drafts and near terminal discouragement that he would ever get it right before the film finally made it to the screen. And this time his wife composed the music.
Early career as a journalist included 4 years as the rock music critic for the San Diego Union (the city's major daily). Former journalist for Rolling Stone magazine. Son of Alice Marie Crowe. Attended University of San Diego High School. Attended Indio High School. Attended San Diego City College. His wife is Nancy Wilson from the rock group Heart. Wrote liner notes for Peter Frampton's breakthrough album "Frampton Comes Alive". Wrote liner notes for Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same" live record. Often refers to the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" in his films. Steven Spielberg did a cameo in Crowe's Vanilla Sky and Crowe did a cameo in Spielberg's Minority Report; both films starred Tom Cruise. Admires Billy Wilder very much and uses a lot of what Wilder taught him in his films. In addition, his favorite movie is Wilder's The Apartment. He and his wife have 4 springer spaniels. He wrote the screenplay to Fast Times at Ridgemont High based on his book. He wrote the book after posing as a student at his old high school to see how student life had changed. Five of the films that he directed (Say Anything..., Singles, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous and Elizabethtown) have scenes with characters on airplanes or walking through airports. Wrote the liner notes for "Anthology: Through the Years" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Wrote the liner notes for "Biograph" by Bob Dylan. Wrote the foreword for "Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe" by Jerry Ziesmer (Scarecrow Press, 2003). Brother-in-law of Ann Wilson.