John McTiernan
John Campbell McTiernan, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 8, 1951 |
| Occupation(s) | film director and producer |
John Campbell McTiernan, Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American movie director, best known for his action films. He was born in Albany, New York and was an M.F.A. graduate of the AFI Conservatory. Most action cinema fans agree that the director's best works have been Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October. McTiernan directed these three films back-to-back. He was once discussed as being involved in a fourth Die Hard movie, but the producers stated in early 2006 that they were pursuing a new director, who eventually was announced to be Len Wiseman.
Partial filmography
Movies directed by McTiernan include:
- Nomads (1986)
- Predator (1987)
- Die Hard (1988)
- The Hunt for Red October (1990)
- Medicine Man (1992)
- Last Action Hero (1993)
- Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1996)
- The 13th Warrior (1999)
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
- Rollerball (2002)
- Basic (2003)
Criminal proceedings and related civil lawsuit
On April 3, 2006, McTiernan was charged in federal court with lying to the FBI during an interview in the wiretapping investigation involving Anthony Pellicano. He was arraigned and pleaded guilty on April 17, 2006, and is the 14th person charged in this case.
McTiernan was charged with an information, rather than in grand jury indictment, which means he waived his right to an indictment and suggests he may have reached either a prior plea agreement with prosecutors or some sort of cooperating agreement.[1]
McTiernan will be sentenced on July 31, 2006, and faces a maximum of five years in federal prison. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he more likely will receive six months or less, plus three years probation and a $250,000 fine.[2]
On July 3, 2006, McTiernan's former wife, producer Donna Dubrow, filed suit against him for invasion of privacy and other claims, arising from his hiring Pellicano to wiretap her telephone illegally.[3][4][5][6]
On September 24, 2007, McTiernan's bid to have his guilty plea withdrawn was denied by Federal District Judge Dale S. Fischer. She sentenced McTiernan to four months in prison for lying about his relationship with Pelicano. Through his lawyers, McTiernan asked for no jail time as his ranch in Wyoming would suffer from his absence. The judge said she found his arguments “completely lacking in credibility.” She noted that the ranch had easily survived his multi-year absences to make films. She further found his assertions that his desire to make a patriotic film and his previous refusal to film stories that cast FBI agents in a bad light as reasons for him not to receive jail time as specious. He must surrender by January 15, 2008. His lawyers have stated he will appeal his conviction. [7]
External links
- John McTiernan at IMDb
- "Filmmaker Says He Lied in FBI Probe" The Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2006.
- "Links Between Pellicano, Director Come Into Focus" The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2006.
- "Pellicano Inquiry Expands to Snare Director of 'Predator'" The Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2006.
- "Film Director Accused of Lying to FBI in Pellicano Scandal" The LA Weekly, April 3, 2006.