Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion.[1] Grazer was personally nominated for four Academy Awards for Splash (1984), Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Frost/Nixon (2008).[2][3] His films and TV series have been nominated for 47 Academy Awards and 217 Emmy Awards.
Grazer was born in Los Angeles, California, to Arlene Becker Grazer and criminal defense attorney Thomas Grazer.[5][6] He is the older brother of Nora Beth Grazer (b. 1952) and actor/director Gavin Grazer (b. 1961).[7] He was raised in Sherman Oaks and Northridge, in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley.[6]
Grazer's father was Catholic and his mother is Jewish.[5][8][9] His parents divorced when he was in high school.[10] Grazer said "My best buddy, the most important person in my growing up, was my little 4-foot-10 [147 cm] Jewish grandmother, and she'd say, 'In order to get it, you got to do it. No one's going to get it for you, Brian.'"[5]
While in school, Grazer struggled with dyslexia. Grazer got through school by reading other students' papers and arguing his grades with his teachers.[11]
Grazer began his career as a producer developing television projects. While executive-producing TV pilots at Paramount Pictures in the early 1980s, he met current long-time friend and business partner Ron Howard.[4]
He produced his first feature-film, Night Shift, in 1982, directed by Howard.[4] Grazer and Howard teamed up again for Splash in 1984, which Grazer produced and co-wrote. Splash earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay of 1984.[4] Grazer went on to become an independent producer, teaming up with Tri-Star Pictures to set up plans for a film to star Richard Pryor, and had a continuing relationship with The Walt Disney Studios, and has plans to develop projects for Paramount Pictures.[16]
In November 1985, Grazer and Howard co-founded Imagine Entertainment, which became one of Hollywood's most prolific and successful production companies. Over the years, Grazer's films and TV shows have been nominated for a total of 43 Academy Awards, and 198 Emmys. At the same time, his movies have generated over $15 billion in worldwide theatrical, music, and video grosses.[4]
Grazer's early film successes include Parenthood (1989) and Backdraft (1991).[4] He produced Apollo 13 (1995), for which he won the Producers Guild of America's Daryl F. Zanuck Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award, as well as an Oscar nomination for Best Picture of 1995.[4]
In 1998, he earned two major honors: he was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and made a cameo appearance on the animated series The Simpsons.[17]
In 2015, Grazer published his book A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life, a #1 NY Times Bestseller, in which he discusses conversations with interesting people, many of whom inspired his work.[21] In 2019, Grazer released his second book Face To Face: The Art of Human Connection.
Grazer has been married three times: Corki Corman (1982–92; they have two children), and novelist and screenwriter Gigi Levangie (1997–2007; they have two sons).[6][17] In April 2014, Grazer became engaged to Veronica Smiley, chief marketing officer of SBE, a hotel management company.[23] They married on February 20, 2016.[24]
