Joe Eszterhas facts for kids

József Antal Eszterhás (born November 23, 1944), known as Joe Eszterhas, is a famous Hungarian-American writer. He was born in Hungary but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

Joe started his career as a journalist. Later, he began writing for movies. His first movie script was for F.I.S.T. in 1978. He also helped write Flashdance, which was a huge hit in 1983. This made him very successful in Hollywood. By the early 1990s, he was one of the highest-paid writers in the film industry.

Later in the 1990s, some of his movies, like An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997), did not do well. After this, he mostly stopped working in Hollywood. However, he has written several books. These include American Rhapsody (2000) and two books about his life: Hollywood Animal (2004) and Crossbearer (2008). Crossbearer talks about his return to the Catholic faith.

Joe Eszterhas's Early Life

Joe Eszterhas was born in Csákánydoroszló, a small village in Hungary. His parents were Roman Catholic. He was born during World War II. As a child, he lived in a refugee camp in Austria.

Later, his family moved to the United States. They first lived in Pittsburgh and then settled in Cleveland in 1950. Joe grew up in Cleveland and went to Ohio University. He decided to become a writer after winning a writing contest in 1966. The prize was given to him at the White House.

When Joe was 45, he found out some difficult information about his father's past. His father had been involved with the Arrow Cross Party government in Hungary during World War II. After this discovery, Joe decided to stop contact with his father.

Family Life

Joe Eszterhas had a daughter in 1967 who was adopted at birth. They met again in 1996. He had two children with his first wife, Gerri Javor. They were married for almost 24 years before divorcing in 1994.

In the same year, he married Naomi Baka. They have four sons together. As of 2022, Joe Eszterhas lives in Bainbridge Township, Ohio. He and his wife moved there in 2001 from Malibu, California. They felt Bainbridge was a better place to raise their children.

Journalism Career

Joe Eszterhas started his writing career as a journalist. He worked for the Dayton Journal Herald and then The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. He was one of the first reporters to cover the Kent State shootings in 1970. He and another journalist wrote a book about it called Thirteen Seconds: Confrontation at Kent State. Joe later worked for Rolling Stone magazine.

One of his articles for The Plain Dealer led to a legal case. He wrote about a family after a bridge collapsed. The article contained some mistakes. The family sued for invasion of privacy. This case, Cantrell v. Forest City Publishing (1974), became an important example in law.

In 1974, Joe Eszterhas was nominated for a National Book Award for his book Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse. A movie executive read the book and thought it would make a great movie. This encouraged Joe to start writing movie scripts.

Screenwriting Success

Joe Eszterhas's first movie script to be made into a film was F.I.S.T. (1978). He also helped write Flashdance (1983). He wrote the scripts for other popular movies like Jagged Edge (1985) and Betrayed (1988).

In 1989, Joe Eszterhas decided to leave his talent agency. The head of the agency, Michael Ovitz, tried to stop actors from working on Joe's future movies. Joe wrote a strong letter to Ovitz, which was shared widely in Hollywood. This letter helped to change how much power agencies had in the film industry.

In 1997, two movies he wrote were released: Telling Lies in America and An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn. Burn Hollywood Burn was about a director who tries to destroy his own bad movie. It did not do well at the box office and won several "Golden Raspberry Awards" for being a very bad film. Joe himself won five of these awards for the movie.

After Burn Hollywood Burn failed, Joe Eszterhas did not have any of his scripts made into movies for a while. However, in 2006, a Hungarian film called Children of Glory was released. It was based on his script. The movie is about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and a famous water polo match from the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Children of Glory was shown at the 2007 Berlin Film Festival.

Other Books by Joe Eszterhas

Joe Eszterhas has written several popular books. His book Hollywood Animal is about his life and experiences in Hollywood. It talks about his journey from being a young immigrant to a powerful person in the film world.

In 2008, he published Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith. This book shares his story of returning to the Roman Catholic Church. It also talks about his strong belief in God and family after he survived throat cancer in 2001.

He also wrote a book called Heaven and Mel. This book is about his experiences with actor Mel Gibson.

Selected Movies Joe Eszterhas Wrote

• F.I.S.T. (1978)
• Flashdance (1983)
• Blue Thunder (1983) – he helped rewrite parts of this film
• Jagged Edge (1985)
• Big Shots (1987)
• Hearts of Fire (1987)
• Betrayed (1988)
• Checking Out (1988)
• Music Box (1989)
• Nowhere to Run (1993)
• Telling Lies in America (1997)
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997)
• Children of Glory (2006)

Books by Joe Eszterhas

• 13 Seconds: Confrontation at Kent State (1970), with Michael Roberts
• Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse (1973)
• Nark! (1974)
• American Rhapsody (2001)
• Hollywood Animal (2004)
• The Devil's Guide to Hollywood (2006)
• Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith (2008)
• Heaven and Mel (2012)

See also

In Spanish: Joe Eszterhas para niños