Sam Raimi

Born: 23rd October 1959
Where: Franklin, Michigan

Originally known for the cult hit The Evil Dead, Raimi has established himself as a top flight director with the Spider-Man movies.

He began shooting films at the age of eight with an 8mm film camera and, in his late teens, financed his first feature, The Evil Dead, with investments from local businesses.

The over-the-top horror film became a hit at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival and went on to enjoy a successful theatrical and video life.

He met future collaborators Bruce Campbell, Scott Spiegel and John Cameron in junior high school, then attended Michigan State University as an English major.

Whilst there, he founded the Society of Creative Film-making with brother Ivan and room-mate Robert Tapert.

In 1979, with Tapert and Campbell, he co-founded Renaissance Motion Pictures, and served as vice president.

After he made the action comedy Crimewave, Raimi then went on to direct Evil Dead II, a sequel to his first film.

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as an actor as well as director.

Winning a reputation as one of the most visually inventive cult directors, in 1990 he was finally tapped for his first major studio deal, co-writing and directing the action fantasy Darkman.

He then moved to TV as executive producer on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.

Back on the big screen, he oversaw the US debut of celebrated Hong Kong action filmmaker John Woo, as an executive producer on Hard Target.

He also co-wrote The Hudsucker Proxy with his friends Joel and Ethan Coen.

Sam finally graduated to big-budget film-making and A-list stars (Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio) as a director on The Quick and the Dead.

In 2000, Sam directed the thriller The Gift, after which he made a hit feature version of the comic Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire.

The sequel Spider-Man 2 - starring Maguire and Alfred Molina as the villain Doc Ock - has been hailed as the best adaptation yet of a comic book.