BRUCKHEIMER, JERRY

BRUCKHEIMER, JERRY (1945– ), U.S. movie/TV producer. The son of German Jewish immigrants, Bruckheimer grew up poor in Detroit, Michigan. After graduating with a degree in psychology from the University of Arizona, he landed a job in advertising. He went from creating commercials to producing, first as an assistant producer on a few small-budget pictures to producing such films as American Gigolo (1980) and Thief (1981) and the remake of Cat People (1982) (as executive producer). In 1983 Bruckheimer partnered with former publicist Don Simpson to create Simpson-Bruckheimer Productions. Together they generated a string of high-concept hits at Paramount: Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), a streak that ended with the Tom Cruise car-racing picture Days of Thunder (1990). Simpson-Bruckheimer moved their operation to Disney's Hollywood Pictures in 1991, and after a shaky start with The Ref (1994), they found success with Bad Boys (1995), Crimson Tide (1995), and Dangerous Minds (1995). The Rock (1996) would be the last film the two produced together. One month after Bruckheimer ended the partnership, Simpson died from a drug-related heart attack. Bruckheimer continued to produce glossy high-octane thrillers and even family films with unparalleled success, including Con Air (1997), Armageddon   (1998), Enemy of the State (1998), Coyote Ugly (2000), Remember the Titans (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Black Hawk Down (2001), Bad Boys II (2003), and Pirates of the Caribbean (2003). Bruckheimer also is of the most successful television producers ever, producing such shows as the C.S.I. franchise (C.S.I., C.S.I. Miami, C.S.I. N.Y.), Cold Case, and the reality program The Amazing Race. (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)