About this user
Guillermo Del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, Del Toro started shooting his own super-8 short films when he was very young and in his teens he developed his hobby into a passion.
Later, he learned about makeup and effects from Dick Smith (THE EXORCIST) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, Del Toro executive produced his first feature, DONA HERLINDA AND HER SON (1986).
Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980's. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time and taught film at the University of Guadalajara. At 26, he wrote an extensive study of the films of Alfred Hitchcock, which has been published in Mexico and Spain.
Del Toro got his first big break when CRONOS (1992) won nine Academy Awards in Mexico, then went on to win the International Critics Week Prize at Cannes (the first Mexican film to receive an award at Cannes in over three decades) and multiple awards across Europe and America. It was selected as one of the most important genre films both by Shivers magazine and Fangoria. Following this success, Del Toro made his first Hollywood film, MIMIC (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.
After working with a demanding Hollywood studio on MIMIC, Del Toro returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang. In 1998, his father was kidnapped in Mexico, which prompted Del Toro to move abroad to live as an expatriate.
Next for Del Toro was THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story produced by Pedro Almodovar. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and Del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel BLADE II, which was a box-office hit worldwide.
Del Toro followed BLADE II with another successful, comic book-inspired film, HELLBOY, starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.
In 2006 came Del Toro's masterpiece, PAN'S LABYRINTH. Taking nearly two years to make the film, Del Toro put his heart and life into this film, and even forfeited his salary in order to make sure the end product matched his vision. His efforts paid off - the film, an "adult fairy tale" which takes place during the Spanish Civil War, won critical praise and became the highest grossing Spanish film ever at the U.S. box office. It went on to win three Academy Awards for Best Makeup, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography (for Guillermo Navarro). It collected well over 50 awards worldwide and was voted #2 among the 10 most important Latin American films ever. It remains among the top #100 top movies on IMDB.
Del Toro followed up PAN'S LABYRINTH with the commercial success of HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, which was released in July of 2008. HELLBOY 2 reached #1 at the box office its opening weekend. In 2010, Del Toro will begin production on the two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, which will be produced by Peter Jackson.
Del Toro has been named by Time magazine as one of the up-and-coming young leaders for the new millennium. Del Toro has also created a production company, Tequila Gang, that specializes in supporting up and coming filmmakers from Latin America and Spain. Juan Antonio Bayona's THE ORPHANAGE, co-produced and presented by Del Toro, went on to become the highest grossing Spanish film of all time in its native country and garnered multiple awards.
Del Toro has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from both the Sitges Film Festival and the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films. He has also earned the top prizes in fantasy: the Nebula, the Saturn, the Hugo and the Bram Stoker Award.
Thanks to Lucia Bozzola (All Movie Guide) for her support.
