Oliver Stone

Attended Yale University and New York University.

Born at 9:58am-EDT

Did a tour of duty in Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Stone won the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart with First Oak Leaf Cluster. Stone was jailed for marijuana possession in Mexico at age 21.

Father of sons Sean Stone (born December 29, 1984) and Michael Stone with Elizabeth Stone and a daughter, Tara Stone with Sun-jung Jung.

His father Louis Stone was a successful stockbroker on Wall Street, then he suffered some financial setbacks due to bad investments and a bitter divorce from Olivers mother Jacqueline. The movie Wall Street is supposed to be modeled after Louis.

Olivers father met his mother while he was President Dwight D. Eisenhower aide in World War II in France. As a child, he was raised by a nanny because his mother frequently took vacations to France. He grew up as a child of privilege.

(June 1999) Arrested for drunken driving and possession of hashish.

Says he kicked a cocaine habit by moving to France while writing Scarface .

Friends since childhood with Lloyd Kaufman , founder and president of Troma.

Speaks French fluently.

Underwent infantry training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Shares the exact same birthday as good friend and star of some his films, Tommy Lee Jones. Both were born on September 15, 1946.

The same drum theme playing in the beginning of JFK (for which he was a producer), plays three times in The Day Reagan Was Shot (for which he was an executive producer).

Is a friend and admirer of Cuban Premier Fidel Castro , and shot a documentary about the worlds longest reigning Communist leader, titled Comandante . It was to air on HBO in May 2003, but due to fierce protests by anti-Castro Cuban-American activists, it was shelved and has never been aired on HBO or made available on home video in the United States. Stone then made a new, more pointed documentary titled "Looking for Fidel" that aired on HBO in February 2004, in which he asked Castro questions about his human rights record, and included interviews with anti-Castro activists.

Directed comedian Rodney Dangerfield in his first and only dramatic role in Natural Born Killers .

On September 14, 1967, he left for Vietnam and was assigned to the 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, stationed near the Cambodian border, as "Private Bill Stone" (fearing that "Oliver" was too effeminate).

Wrote a collegiate letter of recommendation for Claire Danes when she applied to his alma mater, Yale University. She was quickly accepted.

Often talks about the experience of his father Louis Stone taking him to lose his virginity to a prostitute in his mid-teens.

Was voted the 43rd Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Olivers American father, Louis Stone, who was born Louis Silverstein, was from a Jewish family (from Germany and Eastern Europe). Olivers mother, Jacqueline (Goddet), was French.

Was taught by Martin Scorsese at New York University Film School.

His 11-minute student film made at New York University is called Last Year in Viet Nam .

As of 2004, Stone is attached to direct several projects. "Spite House", which he wrote and will direct about Vietnam. "The Fountainhead", based on the Ayn Rand novel. "Lennon", a biopic of John Lennon , a biopic of Margaret Thatcher , and a biopic of sorts about an attempted assassination plot by the Republican party against President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Has directed eight different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: James Woods , Tom Berenger , Willem Dafoe , Michael Douglas , Tom Cruise , Tommy Lee Jones , Anthony Hopkins and Joan Allen. Douglas won an Academy Award for Wall Street .

Known for the political content of his films, Stone was a member of the Class of 1968 at Yale University along with US President Bill Clinton administration adviser Strobe Talbot and future President George W. Bush (John Kerry was also there at the same time as Stone, though he was several classes ahead of 68). Stone left Yale after only one year and ended up joining the army and fighting in Vietnam. He never returned to graduate from Yale.

Was attached to direct American Psycho with Leonardo DiCaprio in talks to star as Patrick Bateman. After DiCaprio left the project to make The Beach (2000/I) Stone left it also.

Received two Academy Award nominations for best original screenplay in the same year, 1987 ( Salvador and Platoon ) but lost to Woody Allen for Hannah and Her Sisters .

Has directed four actors into Best Actor Oscar nominations, and three actors to Best Supporting Actor nominations. Lead roles were James Woods ( Salvador ), Michael Douglas ( Wall Street ), Tom Cruise ( Born on the Fourth of July ) and Anthony Hopkins ( Nixon ). Supporting roles were Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger ( Platoon ) and Tommy Lee Jones ( JFK ).

Following the furor over JFK , Stone addressed the U.S. Senate over the continued secrecy of documents relating to the John F. Kennedy assassination. Partly through his efforts, the government began declassifying documents.

Interviewed in "Directors Close Up: Interviews with Directors Nominated for Best Film by the Directors Guild of America", ed. by Jeremy Kagan , Scarecrow Press, 2006.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7013 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 15, 1996.

Was planning to make a film about Eva Pern , but after several disagreements with Argentinian President Carlos Sal Menem he abandoned the project. He later received a token credit as a writer for Evita , despite having made no input to the script.

As of May 2008, World Trade Center is his first film rated "PG-13" and his only feature film to receive a rating of less than "R". As of September 2008, W. is his second film to receive a PG-13 rating.

Because of his specialty with Vietnam era period pieces, he was one of the first directors to be offered American Gangster in 2001. After long consideration, he decided to pursue making his passion project, Alexander , instead.

Although he is a three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker, its been consistently difficult for him to acquire actors of his preference for most of the films he has directed. Casting Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday , Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Snowden , and Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July are the most significant exceptions where Stones top choice was either available or agreed to partake in an Oliver Stone production.

Has sought Warren Beatty for three of his movies ( Wall Street , Nixon and W. ). Beatty declined them all, and the roles went to Anthony Hopkins , Michael Douglas and James Cromwell respectively. Hopkins and Douglas received Oscar nominations for their roles.

As of May 2008, World Trade Center is the only one of his war-related films to be made with government cooperation (by the Port Authority).

Was set to begin filming his fourth Vietnam film "Pinkville" in late 2007. However, after the Writers strike began, the producers pulled out, and Bruce Willis moved on. Stone then turned his attention to making W. which will star Josh Brolin.

Took a years absence from Yale University in 1965 to teach at a Catholic private school in Vietnam.

Sought Marlon Brando for two of his films: U Turn and Salvador . James Woods who played the character in Salvador that Brando had turned down, received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Jon Voight , who played the role meant for Brando in U Turn , received a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor.

After graduating from New York University, he worked as a cabdriver and a xerox messenger to support himself.

Has worked with two generations of two different acting families. Worked with Jon Voight and his daughter Angelina Jolie in U Turn and Alexander respectively. He has also worked with Martin Sheen and his son Charlie Sheen in Wall Street .

As of 2016, has directed six films where people he based the main characters on were still alive and participated in the making of the film. These are Born on the Fourth of July , World Trade Center , JFK , Snowden , Salvador and Heaven & Earth . He also worked on W. , a film about George W. Bush while he was still in office.

Aside from directing James Woods in three of his films, Stone has also produced Indictment: The McMartin Trial and Killer: A Journal of Murder , both starring James Woods.

Has worked with all of the Baldwin brothers. He cast Alec in Talk Radio and the other brothers made appearances in Born on the Fourth of July .

Was flown to Vietnam traveling west from Sacremento, California on the evening of September 14, 1967 and crossed the international date line, arriving in Vietnam September 16, losing his 21st birthday.

Wrote a short film while still a student that was recently turned into a short film by his son Sean Stone. The title of the film is Singularity (2008/III) and is Seans first fiction film.

Midnight Express and Scarface were written by him, and in both films, Giorgio Moroder composed the score.

In the 1992 Sight & Sound poll, Oliver Stone listed these as his top ten films of all time: The Best Years of Our Lives , Lawrence of Arabia , Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb , Novecento , Raging Bull , Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) , On the Waterfront , Paths of Glory , Citizen Kane , The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II .

Had previously directed six of the acting nominees of the 81st Academy Awards: Sean Penn , Angelina Jolie , Viola Davis , Josh Brolin , Michael Shannon and Robert Downey Jr. as well as having worked as screenwriter for Mickey Rourke. He directed Brolin and Shannon in W. that same year.

Returned to America from his teaching job in Vietnam by serving on board a Merchant Marine vessel that came to port in Oregon.

Is one of nine directors to win the Golden Globe, Directors Guild, BAFTA, and Oscar for the same movie, winning for Platoon . The other directors to achieve this are Mike Nichols for The Graduate , Milos Forman for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest , Richard Attenborough for Gandhi , Steven Spielberg for Schindlers List , Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain , Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire , Alfonso Cuarn for Gravity , and Alejandro G. Irritu for The Revenant .

Credits his tour of duty in Vietnam for turning him toward film instead of literature, which was his education. He found that cameras were much more practical to use in the jungle than books and paper, which got soaked.

Shia LaBeouf , who acted in Stones Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps , described him as "Orson Welles and the Easter Bunny all in one guy".

Dedicated Wall Street to his father, and Heaven & Earth to his mother.

His father, a retired Army Colonel, opposed his decision to enlist in the Army to fight in Vietnam, and tried to get him assigned non-combat duty. After being transfered out of Bravo Company, Stone was offered a job with the CIA, which he declined, opting to finish his tour of duty in the 1st Cavalry Division.

His familys name was originally Silverstein. It was his father Louis Stone who made the decision to change his name to Stone.

(March 23, 2009) Attended the 3rd Annual Asian Film Awards, in which he presented with Joan Chen the award for Best Director to Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Rang the NASDAQ opening bell on September 20, 2010 to celebrate the N.Y.C. premiere of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps .

Three of his movies were nominated for AFIs 100 Years...100 Thrills: Platoon , JFK and Natural Born Killers . "Platoon" made the list at #72.

Began producing his documentary series "The Untold History of the United States" in 2008 and continued working on it between other projects it until 2012, making it a four year production, the longest of his career. He also put up $1 million of his own money into the projects budget.

Wrote the novel "A Childs Night Dream" when he was 19 years old. The novel was not published until 1998.

Has been friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger since writing the script for Conan the Barbarian . At one point, they both had offices on the same floor of the same building with Stones on the left and Schwarzeneggers on the right, which they joked represented their respective political viewpoints.

Parallels with Steven Spielberg : Both directors were born in 1946, to fathers who had served in World War II. Both frequently make historical films, often about U.S. Presidents ( JFK , Nixon , Amistad , W. , Lincoln ). They have both directed Tommy Lee Jones in an Oscar-nominated performance (JFK and Lincoln). They have both earned an Oscar nomination for the actor playing the President (Daniel Day-Lewis and Anthony Hopkins once each). They have cast David Paymer and Bruce McGill as members of a Presidents cabinet. They both frequently use John Williams to score their films. Both also received two Directing Oscars for war films ( Platoon , Schindlers List , Born on the Fourth of July , and Saving Private Ryan ). Interestingly, in both cases, the former two also won Best Picture while the latter two did not.

Has done a directors cameo in Savages . Dances on the map of France.

In 2016, Oliver Stone gave the graduate school commencement address at University of Connecticuts main campus in Storrs. He told the graduates of his academic failures that led him to drop out of Yale University before starting fresh at a different university and ultimately launching a successful film career. Stone told graduates he flunked out of Yale, where former President George W. Bush was a classmate. After joining the Army and serving in the Vietnam War, he said a filmmaker friend suggested he go to film school. He did, earning a degree from New York University. Stone encouraged graduates to not be too down on themselves if things dont go their way early on [Hollywood Reporter, 2016].

After his Army service, Stone attended NYU Film School on the governments dime, as about 80% of his tuition was funded by the G.I. Bill. His instructors included Martin Scorsese [2016].

(May 2016) Received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

Currently writes the first drafts of his scripts in longhand [2016].

Endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the 2016 US Presidential election.

He is a supporter of fellow soldier and military whistle blower Chelsea Manning.

Supported Barack Obama in the 2008 and 2012 Presidential elections and Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein in 2016.

In 2001 there were plans for he and Sid Luft, Judy Garlands ex husband to executive produce Rainbows End focusing on the behind the scenes story of Judys disastrous weekly television variety series in the early 1960s. Annette Benning was considered for the role of Judy but it didnt get beyond the planning stage.

His films have occasionally been criticized by those on the political right as, among other things, disrespectful to veterans of the U.S. Military, despite Stones own service in the Vietnam War.

He stated in an interview that Heaven & Earth is his favorite of his own films.

Born on the exact same day as actor and good friend Tommy Lee Jones.

Nationalism and patriotism are the two most evil forces that I know of,in this century or in any century and cause more wars and more death,and more destruction to the soul and to human life than anything else.

If we had to do things the American PG way, then we were screwed.

The Cold War has been the most irritating thing to me personally.

Alexander to me is a perfect blend of male-female, masculine-feminine,yin-yang. He could communicate with both sides of his nature.

[on the September 11 terrorist attack on New York City] This attack was,pure chaos, and chaos is energy. All great changes have come from,people or events that were initially misunderstood, and seemed,frightening, like madmen.

They make prostitutes of us all.

The film business? I love film, but the film business is shit.

[on his Vietnam War experience] You get to a point where you can smell,them [the enemy]. . . I got to a place where I was using all my senses.

No man dies in vain. You die because you believe for something. You hope,that the cause is worth it. And in Vietnam we have reasons to question,it. But you die hopefully with honor and with courage. And you should,be remembered for your sacrifice. That is not to say the war was right,but you honor the men who fought in the war.

I thought we [the United States] were going to go to war in Iran. If we,had been more successful in Iraq, I have no doubts that we would have,been more involved in the Iranian situation now.

I agree with my father that the foundation of a healthy, prosperous and,relatively free society is capitalism. The whole Alexander Hamilton,idea of capitalism was to make the country grow, and he was essentially,right that banks could be used to make the country grow, because we,need capital and we need credit. And that is fundamental, and somehow,people when they attack Wall Street so blindly, so ignorantly, they,lose sight of that function.

When I did Platoon (1986) in 1986, I was saying very openly that,marijuana helped me survive the war. It helped me keep my humanity in a,situation that was dehumanizing.

[on his film Wall Street (1987) and its leading character, the,reptilian Gordon Gekko] When I made the movie I thought greed was NOT,good. But I learned people really like money. They like to make money.

They will even admire the villain with the money - even when he breaks,the law.

I study history in order to give an interpretation.

Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that.

I think experience will teach you a combination of liberalism and conservatism. We have to be progressive and at the same time we have to retain values. We have to hold onto the past as we explore the future.

I do believe that movies are subject to a million interpretations.

One of the joys of going to the movies was that it was trashy, and we should never lose that.