Lawrence Bender facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lawrence Bender
Bender at a premiere for Inglourious Basterds in August 2009
Born	(1957-10-17) October 17, 1957 (age 67) New York City, U.S.
Education	University of Maine
Occupation	Film producer
Years active	1987–present

Lawrence Bender (born October 17, 1957) is an American film producer. He helps make movies happen! Throughout his career, films Bender has produced have been nominated for 36 Academy Awards, winning eight of them. That's a lot of awards!

Bender became well-known for producing Reservoir Dogs in 1992. He has since produced many films by famous director Quentin Tarantino, including Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2, and Inglourious Basterds. Bender has also produced three documentary films. The most famous is An Inconvenient Truth (2006), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He has been nominated for the Best Picture award three times for Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, and Inglourious Basterds.

Early Life and First Steps

Bender was born in The Bronx, New York City, and grew up in New Jersey. His father was a college history professor, and his mother was a kindergarten teacher.

He went to Cherry Hill High School East. At first, he wanted to be a civil engineer, like his grandfather. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1979 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

While in college, Bender discovered a love for dance. After graduating, he pursued dancing and even got a scholarship to a dance group. He worked as a dancer for some time. However, injuries eventually ended his dance career.

Making Movies and TV Shows

Film Production Journey

In the 1980s, Lawrence Bender worked as a grip on a TV show called Tales from the Darkside. A grip helps set up equipment on a film set. In 1989, he produced the film Intruder and helped write its story.

In 1990, he met director Quentin Tarantino. Bender agreed to produce Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs, which became a big success. Throughout the 1990s, Bender produced many other popular films. These include Pulp Fiction (1994), Fresh, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Jackie Brown (1997), and Good Will Hunting (1997).

In the early 2000s, Bender continued producing films. Some of these were The Mexican (2001), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).

In 2009, Bender produced Tarantino's film Inglourious Basterds. This movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. He also produced Safe (2012), starring Jason Statham. Later, he was an executive producer for The Forest (2016), Martin Scorsese's Silence (2016), and Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge (2016). In 2024, Bender produced the film How Kids Roll.

Bender sometimes makes a small appearance, called a cameo appearance, in the films he produces. For example, he was a police officer in Reservoir Dogs and a hotel clerk in Kill Bill: Volume 2.

Documentary Films

Lawrence Bender produced the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth. This film helped people learn a lot about climate change. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

In 2008, Bender helped start a group called Global Zero. This group works to get rid of nuclear weapons. His 2010 documentary, Countdown to Zero, talked about the dangers of nuclear weapons. It featured important leaders like British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Jimmy Carter. Bender was also an executive producer for the 2017 sequel to An Inconvenient Truth, called An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power.

Television Work

In the early 2000s, Bender started a production company called Bender Brown Productions. This company produced the CBS drama Dr. Vegas and the Syfy channel mini-series Earthsea.

Bender produced the 2015 Starz miniseries Flesh and Bone. In 2017, he became an executive producer for a new TV series based on Roswell. This show, called Roswell, New Mexico, started in 2018. Bender also executive produced the 2018 Netflix series Seven Seconds.

Personal Life and Activism

Lawrence Bender is very passionate about social and political causes. He supports many different groups and ideas. He is on the board of The Creative Coalition, which is a group of people in the entertainment industry who work on social issues. He is also a member of the Global Zero campaign, which aims to eliminate nuclear weapons.

In 2013, he returned to The University of Maine. He received an honorary degree and gave a speech at the graduation ceremony.

Awards and Special Recognition

In 1994, Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or award at the Cannes Film Festival. This is a very important award in the film world. In 2001, Bender received a producer of the year award at the Cannes Film Festival. He was only the third person ever to win it and the first American.

In 2005, the ACLU gave Bender the Torch of Liberty award. In 2011, the National Wildlife Federation named him a Wildlife Hero. Throughout his career, films Bender has produced or executive produced have won a total of eight Academy Awards.

Filmography

Films

Producer

Executive producer

Television

Executive producer

• Anatomy of a Hate Crime (2001)
• Lost in Oz (2002)
• Nancy Drew (2002)
• The Survivors Club (2004)
• Dr. Vegas (2004)
• Earthsea (2004)
• Build or Bust (2005)
• Flirt (2006)
• The Line-Up (2007)
• Long Island Confidential (2008)
• Seven Seconds (2018)
• Roswell, New Mexico (2019)

Producer

• Flesh and Bone (2015)

Images for kids

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  Bender at a premiere for Inglourious Basterds in August 2009

See also

In Spanish: Lawrence Bender para niños