Cameron Crowe is one of Hollywood's premier filmmakers. He began his cinematic career by penning the screenplay for the wildly popular 1982 film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and he made his directorial debut in 1989 with Say Anything . . . , a sophisticated teen romance. Crowe is perhaps best known, though, for the 1996 film Jerry Maguire, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, and Almost Famous, which earned the Academy Award in 2001.

Crowe was born on July 13, 1957, in Palm Springs, California. His father was a real estate agent and his mother, according to Rachel Abramowitz in Premiere, "was a teacher, activist, and all-around live wire who did skits around the house and would wear a clown suit to school on special occasions." She worked as a psychology professor and family therapist, and often participated in peace demonstrations and causes relating to the rights of farm workers. He had two older...