Joe Eszterhas

In 2012 he wrote a book about working with Mel Gibson and his experiences with anti-Semitism entitled "Heaven and Mel".

Legendary, prolific screenwriter Joe Eszterhas has had 17 screenplays produced, and as of 2006, has at least 25 unproduced scripts and treatments collecting dust on Hollywood shelves.

Keeps a relatively low profile, having abandoned Hollywood for a quiet life in suburban Ohio. [2005]

Wrote and published his memoirs called "Hollywood Animal". [February 2004]

He lost four-fifths of his larynx in an operation for cancer. [November 2003]

In 2002, he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times apologizing for the glamorization of smoking in his movies.

He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2000. He blamed his illness on years of heavy drinking and smoking four packs of Salem cigarettes a day.

He is a writer and producer, known for Showgirls (1995), Sliver (1993) and Basic Instinct (1992).

In 1994, he sold a four-page outline of what eventually became One Night Stand (1997) to New Line for $4m. Adrian Lyne was originally attached to direct the finished script but dropped out. New Line then made a deal with Mike Figgis to direct. Although the studio was happy with Eszterhas' script, it allowed Figgis, who had just had a big hit with Leaving Las Vegas (1995), to do a rewrite. The rewrite was so radical that Eszterhas no longer recognized the script as his own and he took his name off the film.

His $3 million paycheck for Basic Instinct (1992) in 1990 was the highest amount of money ever paid for a screenplay until that time. However, Eszterhas was eclipsed in 1996 by Shane Black (who received $4 million for The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)), and again in 2002 by M. Night Shyamalan (who was paid $5 million for Signs (2002)).

Received upwards of $4 million in the mid-1990s for two scripts, a comedy called "Male Pattern Baldness" and a Russian mob tale titled "Evil Empire." Neither film has been made. "Male Pattern Baldness" was a dark, satirical comedy about a man in Cleveland fighting against the forces of political correctness. The script was purchased by Paramount for $2 million upfront, plus $2 million more upon commencement of principal photography. Betty Thomas and Mark Illsley have both been attached to direct at various points before the project was shelved by Paramount.

Eszterhas wrote Music Box (1989) in 1989 which is about a daughter whose father she defends against war crimes turns out to be guilty. Within a few years Eszterhas' real father turned out to be charged with the same crimes, anti-semitic propaganda in Hungary.

Three of his films - Jagged Edge (1985), Basic Instinct (1992) and Jade (1995) - are murder mysteries set in San Francisco, CA, with the protagonist in each tempted to fall in love with the prime suspect.

In 1981 he wrote a spec script called "Platinum," about a cop investigating the death of his rock singer brother, and finding himself out of his element in the process. The script failed to be bought by any studio or production company, the general consensus being that it was "too dark".

In 1980, he set a record for the sale of a spec script when he sold an as-yet-unproduced script called "City Hall" to Warner Bros for $500,000. He later set a new record when his screenplay for Big Shots (1987) was bought by Lorimar for $1.25 million. He set a further record for a spec script when he sold his screenplay for Basic Instinct (1992) to Carolco for $3 million. In 1994, in a landmark deal, his script "Foreplay," a dark comedy about serial killers, was purchased by Savoy Pictures for $1 million upfront, plus another $4 million when the film was made. Eszterhas was further entitled to 2½% of Savoy's income from the film and 1% of the soundtrack sales. The film has never been produced.

His non-fiction book "Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse" was nominated for a National Book Award in 1975. The book ended up indirectly leading to Eszterhas' career as a screenwriter. It was read by Marcia Nasatir, an executive at United Artists who considered the book cinematic. She contacted Eszterhas and asked him if he was interested in writing screenplays. Eszterhas then came up with the story for F.I.S.T. (1978) which the studio proceeded to greenlight.

Joe Eszterhas was born on November 23, 1944 in Csakanydoroszlo, Hungary as József Eszterhás.