Steven Spielberg and parents Arnold Spielberg and Leah Adler attend the American Jewish Committee’s 83rd Annual Executive Council - Presentation of the American Liberties Medallion to President Ronald Reagan on Nov. 4, 1989.Photo:Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Throughout his career,Steven Spielberg’s two biggest fans were always his parents, Arnold Spielberg and Leah Adler.
They helped him make his first film when he was just a teenager in high school. The movieFirelightended up being shown at a local theater in Phoenix, and centered around an alien invasion.
“The story was a forerunner to Steven’sClose Encounters of the Third Kind, with aliens landing on Earth, and I built the special effects," Arnoldtold theJewish Journalin 2012. “But while Steven would ask for my advice, the ideas were always his own.”
Spielberg’s mother was also an early supporter of his work, and was an artist herself.
In a 1994interview with theLos Angeles Times, Adler joked, “I told Steve, if I’d known how famous he was going to be, I’d have had my uterus bronzed.”
Here’s everything to know about Steven Spielberg’s parents, Arnold Spielberg and Leah Adler.
They are both from Cincinnati
Steven Spielberg with his mother Leah at the Shoah Foundation Gala benefit dinner.Evan Agostini/ImageDirect
Evan Agostini/ImageDirect
Arnold was born in 1917, and Leah was born in 1920, both in Cincinnati. Leah used to attend the Cincinnati Opera and performances at the Cincinnati Zoo, which helped her develop her love of music. She later attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music to study piano.
In the 1940s, she met Arnold, who had returned from serving in World War II and was studying electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. The two eventually married in 1945.
They had four children, including Steven
Sue Spielberg, Nancy Spielberg, Steven Spielberg, and Anne Spielberg attend the 2022 AFI Fest - “The Fabelmans”.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Steven was their first child and only son. The couple next welcomed three daughters: Anne Spielberg became a screenwriter and was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing the 1988Tom Hankshit,Big. Sue Spielberg is a marketing executive and Nancy Spielberg is a producer of indie films.
Steven said he is glad to be the oldest, as he often relied on his little sisters to be “talent” in his home movies.
Hetold theL.A. Times, “I’d be in big trouble if I had been born last.”
In a 1982interview withThe Washington Post, Sue talked about growing up and making films with her siblings.
“It’s easier to remember us making movies than going to the movies,” she said. “They were our summer projects. We stayed home and made movies with Steven.”
Sue also recalled that their father’s love of science fiction significantly influenced Steven’s filmmaking, as seen in his 1977 filmClose Encounters of the Third Kind.
“My father was a great sci-fi fan and had an enormous collection of stories and novels,” she recalled.
Arnold helped create the first personal computer
Steven Spielberg and his father Arnold Spielberg attend ‘The Land Before Time’ Los Angeles Premiere.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection/Getty
Arnold was interested in gadgets and electronics at a young age, building radios at just 9 years old. His skill with radios eventually led him to become a radio operator and communications chief during World War II, and he served during numerous bombing efforts in Asia.
After the war, Arnold became an accomplished computer scientist and engineer. He worked at RCA making circuits for missile systems and later got a job at GE. While there, hehelped create the GE-225 mainframe computerin the late-1950s. A group at Dartmouth University later used this computer to write BASIC, the code used to operate personal computers for decades afterward.
Arnold’s experience in engineering and computer science also led him to work on the filmInterstellar.
“I went to Caltech and met with the astrophysicists Kip Thorne and Lisa Randall and several other scientists, and we sat there and brainstormed ideas about black holes for the movieInterstellar,” hetoldGE Reportsin 2016.
“It was a lot of fun because we kicked around all kinds of ideas about the size of black holes and how feasible they are and how likely there actually may be one,” Arnold explained.
Leah was a musician and artist but became best known for her restaurant
Steven Spielberg and his mother Leah Adler attend the ADL Los Angeles Dinner Honoring Steven Spielberg.Michael Kovac/WireImage
Michael Kovac/WireImage
Leah studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was a well-regarded pianist. After the family moved to Phoenix, she continued playing solo piano shows around town. Leah also opened a gallery, The Village Shop, in Scottsdale, Arizona, which featured her artwork and works from other local artists and artisans.
Later in her life, she became best known for owning and operating the West L.A. restaurantThe Milky Way. Leah was a staple at the eatery and was famous for her larger-than-life presence.
“My mom always wanted more, she was ‘the more mom,’ ” Steven toldCBS Sunday Morning. “Enough wasn’t enough for mom. That’s a wonderful thing for a kid because she inspired me to be ambitious.”
Arnold’s military service inspired many of Steven’s movies, includingSaving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg and his father Arnold during the 78th Annual Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon.SGranitz/WireImage
SGranitz/WireImage
Arnold’s experience in World War II had a massive impact on Steven, who was born just a year after the war ended.
“I picked World War II because, growing up, it was the seminal conversation inside my family,” Steventold theL.A. Timesin 2018. “My parents talked about the Holocaust and they talked about World War II.”
“I was born knowing this,” he said. “My dad was a veteran, he was in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to the beginning of 1945. He had many veterans over to the house, and I became absolutely obsessed with the Second World War, based on my father’s stories, recollections, and also based on all the World War II movies that eventually began playing on American television.”
World War II became an important setting for several of Steven’s films, including1941,Indiana Jones and theRaiders of the Lost Ark,Schindler’s Listand most notably,Saving Private Ryan, which hemade as a tribute to his father.
His parents inspired his 2022 filmThe Fabelmans
Steven Spielberg, winner of Best Director - Motion Picture and Best Picture - Drama for ‘The Fabelmans,’ poses in the press room during the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards.Frazer Harrison/WireImage
Frazer Harrison/WireImage
Steven’s filmThe Fabelmansbecame one of the biggest hits of 2022, earning seven Oscar nominations and five Golden Globe nominations — earning him the Golden Globe for best director.
The film is a retelling of his childhood, from his fond memories of making movies with his family to the trauma of discovering that his mother was having an affair.
Steven even says his parentspersuaded him to make a movie about their family.
HetoldThe Hollywood Reporter,“They were actually nagging me, ‘When are you going to tell that story about our family, Steve?’ And so this was something they were very enthusiastic about.”
He also recalled to theL.A. Timesone instance where his mother said, “I’ve given you so much good material.”
Leah’s affair caused the couple to divorce and inspiredE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Leah Adler, born 1920, is the mother of Steven Spielberg, was a restaurateur and concert pianist.Paul Harris/Getty
Paul Harris/Getty
Leah’s affair was a pivotal scene inThe Fabelmans— as well as one from Steven’s childhood. In the sameL.A. Timesinterview, he recalled the moment he learned that his mother was romantically involved with his father’s good friend, Bernie Adler.
Steven had captured the two on film during a camping trip and played the footage for his mother one night when he was 16. Leah collapsed in tears while watching the footage.
“My life ended in that moment,” he said. “Everything stopped. It was a freeze frame. She was on the floor, sobbing, saying, ‘Please don’t tell your father! Please don’t tell your father!’ ”
Arnold and Leah divorced, and Leah married Bernie in 1967.
“What if that little creature never went back to the ship?” he saidperThe Independent.“What if the creature was part of a foreign-exchange program? What if I turn my story about divorce into a story about children, a family, trying to fill the great need and creating such responsibility?”
Steven added, “A divorce creates great responsibility, especially if you have siblings; we all take care of each other. What if Elliott, or the kid — I hadn’t dreamt up his name yet — needed to, for the first time in his life, become responsible for a life form to fill the gap in his heart?”
They both left a lasting legacy
Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg and Arnold Spielberg attend the USC Shoah Foundation’s Inaugural Inspiration Award & Luncheon.FilmMagic/FilmMagic
FilmMagic/FilmMagic
Leahdied in 2017at age 97.
They both left a lasting legacy that includes their four children and11 grandchildren.
source: people.com
