DIRECTOR · BORN 1963
Quentin Tarantino
- Born
- 27 March 1963, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Known for
- Taxi Driver (1976), Carrie (1976), Pulp Fiction (1994), Reservoir Dogs (1992)
90 archived facts 8 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Quentin Tarantino (born 27 March 1963) is an actor best known for Taxi Driver, Carrie and Pulp Fiction.
Quentin Tarantino over the years
90 Interesting Facts About Quentin Tarantino
Interesting Facts (22)
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Eli Roth wanted to have the world premiere of Hostel (2005) at the 2005 Iceland Film Festival. During the festival, Roth and Quentin Tarantino were made honorary Vikings at Viking Village in a ceremony arranged by Eyþór Guðjónsson. Roth's Icelandic name is Eli Sheldonsson, and Tarantino's Icelandic name is Quentin Conniesson.
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He is a huge fan of filmmaker Roger Christian and named Christian's film The Sender (1982) as his favorite movie of that year. He also attended the premiere of Battlefield Earth (2000) along with Christian, John Travolta and George Lucas, and according to Christian, Quentin really liked it, claiming it to be the kind of movie he always wanted to make but never could, since he knew it would kill his career given Hollywood's reputation.
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The cover photo of his 2022 book "Cinema Speculation" features director Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen on the set of The Getaway (1972) at Jack Benyon (Ben Johnson)'s ranch. "Katie's Personal Box" in the photo belonged to Peckinpah's personal assistant Katherine Haber, who worked on 8 of his films.
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He was working on a screenplay titled The Vega Brothers, which would follow Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction (1994) played by John Travolta, and Vic Vega from Reservoir Dogs (1992) played by Michael Madsen. However, when considering the current ages of the actors, he said "It's kind of unlikely now." Tarantino made Inglourious Basterds (2009) instead.
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Krishnan Guru-Murthy introduced the subject of movie violence during an interview, in the wake of Django Unchained (2012), with Quentin Tarantino on Channel Four News. Tarantino responded memorably that he refused the question, that he had given his opinion exhaustively in other settings and that he was "shutting [Krishnan's] butt down" about the matter.
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A vocal proponent of celluloid-over-digital filmmaking, Tarantino got his first experience with the latter technology by directing a segment of the film Sin City (2005) with his friend Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who lauds the technology at every opportunity, made this his mission to convert Tarantino as well. At the end of shooting, Tarantino is reported to have said simply, "Mission accomplished.".
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Was at one point in his life considering to become a novelist. He said that he tried writing two chapters of a novel about his experiences working at the Video Archives in Manhattan Beach. As can be immediately seen, novelistic narrative techniques bear a strong influence on his distinct filmmaking style.
Production Story (19)
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He has said that the three films that have most influenced him as a director are: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) (which he says "is obvious"), Mario Bava's Black Sabbath (1963) (because that taught him the importance of having a distinct directorial voice), and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) (because that taught him about mixing genres).
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He was working on a screenplay titled The Vega Brothers, which would follow Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction (1994) played by John Travolta, and Vic Vega from Reservoir Dogs (1992) played by Michael Madsen. However, when considering the current ages of the actors, he said "It's kind of unlikely now." Tarantino made Inglourious Basterds (2009) instead.
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Has signed on to direct a new "Star Trek" film for Paramount, which will be produced by J.J. Abrams. The two conditions he asked for and were granted by the studio were A) he would be able to choose the project's screenwriter, who ended up being "The Revenant" scripter Mark L. Smith, and B) the movie would be R-rated and not edited down to a PG-13 under any circumstances.
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Behind the Scenes (8)
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One of his biggest pet peeves while filming is actors and crew members napping on set. In his words, "It always kinda bugged me so I came up with something where it wouldn't bug me." That something was a huge purple dildo named "Big Jerry". Whenever an actor or crew member dozes off on set, Quentin puts "Big Jerry" as close to the offender's face as he can without waking them and snaps photos that are hung on "The Wall of Shame" on set. Several photos of A-list actors and "Big Jerry" exist. All in good humor and fun, according to the director.
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A vocal proponent of celluloid-over-digital filmmaking, Tarantino got his first experience with the latter technology by directing a segment of the film Sin City (2005) with his friend Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who lauds the technology at every opportunity, made it his mission to convert Tarantino as well. At the end of shooting, Tarantino is reported to have said simply, "Mission accomplished."
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One of his biggest pet peeves while filming is actors and crew members napping on set. In his words "It always kinda bugged me so I came up with something where it wouldn't bug me." That something was a huge purple dildo named "Big Jerry". When ever an actor or crew member dozes off on set Quentin puts "Big Jerry" as close to the offenders face as he can without waking them and snaps photos that are hung on "The Wall of Shame" on set. Several photos of A-list actors and "Big Jerry" exist. All in good humor and fun according to the director.
Characters & Cast (2)
Easter Eggs & References (7)
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Each of his directed movies, with the exception of Death Proof (2007) and The Hateful Eight (2015), features someone from the cast of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets (1973): Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Inglourious Basterds (2009); Robert De Niro in Jackie Brown (1997); David Carradine in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004); Robert Carradine in Django Unchained (2012); and David Proval in Four Rooms (1995).
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Deeper Meaning (3)
Career & Awards (12)
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At one point in his life, he considered becoming a novelist. He said that he tried writing two chapters of a novel about his experiences working at the Video Archives in Manhattan Beach. As can be immediately seen, novelistic narrative techniques bear a strong influence on his distinct filmmaking style.
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While he was never accused of being part of Harvey Weinstein's massive record of sexual assaults, abuse, and harassment, Tarantino spoke publicly about his regrets over his long history of making movies for Weinstein at both Miramax and The Weinstein Company. After having a talk with his friend and outspoken advocate against sexual violence Tony Tamberelli, Tarantino apologized generally by saying "I knew enough to do more than I did." He also said he would make his ninth movie with a different studio, which turned out to be Sony.
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Krishnan Guru-Murthy introduced the subject of movie violence during an interview with Quentin Tarantino on Channel Four News in the wake of Django Unchained (2012). Tarantino responded memorably that he refused the question, that he had given his opinion exhaustively in other settings and that he was "shutting [Krishnan's] butt down" about the matter.
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Claims that Tarantino acted in the film Dawn of the Dead (1978) or the film King Lear (1987) are incorrect. Quentin falsely listed these credits years ago on his acting résumé to compensate for his lack of experience, and these incorrect credits have subsequently been attributed to him in such places as Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide and the Cinemania CD-ROM.
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He worked at Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, California, from 1985 to 1990 with future filmmakers Roger Avary and Daniel Snyder. He became well known to local residents for his extensive knowledge of world cinema and eclectic, customer-tailored video recommendations. He wrote several screenplays during his time at Video Archives, including Reservoir Dogs (1992), True Romance (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994). When the store closed, he purchased its entire video inventory of 8,000 titles, which he prefers watching to using video streaming services like Netflix.
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He considers Ride in the Whirlwind (1966) one of the finest Westerns ever made, even writing an extensive article about it for Sight & Sound magazine titled A Rare Sorrow. The article was featured in the Pulp Fiction (1994) Special Edition DVD as an extra and also appears in Paul A. Woods' Film Geek Files (pgs. 129-132). Interestingly, the director of Ride in the Whirlwind, Monte Hellman, was the executive producer of Reservoir Dogs (1992).
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In 1986, he got his first Hollywood job, working with Roger Avary as production assistants on Dolph Lundgren's exercise video "Maximum Potential".
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Eli Roth wanted to have the world premiere of Hostel (2005) at the 2005 Iceland Film Festival. During the festival, Roth and Quentin Tarantino were made honorary vikings at Viking Village, in a ceremony arranged by Eythor Gudjonsson. Roth's Icelandic name is Eli Sheldonsson, and Tarantino's Icelandic name is Quentin Conniesson.
Life & Family (17)
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He publicly supported President Barack Obama during his last few years in office and spoke out against racial incidents in the United States. The latter activity included him supporting Black Lives Matter and criticizing police for shooting and killing black civilians (though he later clarified that he had no issues with police in general) and lending his voice to the movement to take down Confederate flags and symbols through the United States in the aftermath of Dylann Roof's mass murder of African Americans, with Tarantino referring to the Confederate logo as "an American swastika".
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He owns the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, the theater where he often saw double features as a child. He helped the prior owner keep the theater afloat and stay open with a $5000/mo subsidy. Subsequently, he bought the building in December 2007 to save the revival theater from being redeveloped into a Supercuts. In October 2014, he assumed full ownership and programs the theater's slate personally with kid's matinées, double features nightly, midnight showings on the weekends, vintage shorts/cartoons and a commitment to always show in 35mm celluloid film.
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During his stay in the Philippines, Tarantino got trapped in traffic due to flooding as he was traveling to Malacanang Palace to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and receive a lifetime achievement award. Refusing to give up, he and his partner Tikoy Aguiluz got off their limousine and took a pedicab each to reach the palace. After arriving, Tarantino stated, "It was a lot of fun. It just took a long time but it was not bad at all."
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His mother reluctantly consented to allow him to drop out of Narbonne High School at age 16 on the condition he get a job. "I wanted him to see that life without education would not be a picnic." She thought he would return more focused and go onto college. Tarantino with a reported 160 IQ wanted to study acting and felt he could learn more following his own path.
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Related pages
- Memories of Murder — Quentin Tarantino comes up in the facts on that page
- Carrie Henn — Quentin Tarantino comes up in the facts on that page
- Frank Gorshin — Quentin Tarantino comes up in the facts on that page
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Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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