John Carpenter was educated at Western Kentucky university. He began making short films in 1962. He won an academy award for Best Live-Action Short Subject in 1970, for The Resurrection of Broncho Billy. Carpenter formed a band in the mid-1970s called The Coupe de Villes. Since the 1970s, he has had numerous roles in the film industry including writer, actor, composer, producer, and director.
Halloween (1978): $10,000

In the movie Change of Habit Elvis Presley plays a character named John Carpenter. In 1979 Carpenter directed the TV movie Elvis starring his good friend Kurt Russell. Is a fan of the Quartermass movies (The Creeping Unknown, Five Million Years to Earth), wrote Prince of Darkness under the pseudonym of Martin Quatermass, and the village in In the Mouth of Madness is named after a rail station in "Quatermass and the Pit". Appears in his own films under the name Rip Haight, appearing in in The Fog, Starman, Body Bags, and Village of the Damned. Considers it bad luck to wear the hat of the show he's working on. Will not wear a crew cap until the film is over. Loves Elvis Presley and old Cadillacs. Is a major NBA fan and has a satellite dish installed on his location trailer to keep up with the games. Always has a portable basketball hoop on location. Favorite meal of the day is breakfast - any time of day. He has a son named Cody (b. 1984) with Adrienne Barbeau. Is a great fan of Sergio Leone and cast Lee Van Cleef in Escape from New York because of his work with Leone. Frequently casts musicians (Ice Cube, Isaac Hayes, Alice Cooper, Jon Bon Jovi). Carpenter's character Snake Plissken (of Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.) is about to become a comic book. Published by theCrossGen imprint Code 6 Comics, the book will be known as "John Carpenter's The Snake Plissken Chronicles". It is set for publication beginning in 2003. With the exception of Escape from L.A., he has rarely made a sequel to any of his films. Biography in the following: John Wakeman, editor. World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985. pp. 184-189. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Praised longtime friend and frequent collaborator Kurt Russell for being a hard-working, professional actor who isn't afraid to take on roles that might hurt his image or make him look like a fool. Is a big fan of Howard Hawks. He is a big fan of The Beach Boys. Was originally supposed to direct Firestarter, and even had a screenplay written by Bill Lancaster. Both were replaced when The Thing, a film on which they both collaborated, did poorly at the box office. Said in a 1982 interview that he thought the R rating for Halloween was justifiable, but The Fog should've been rated PG.