Oliver Stone Net Worth

Oliver Stone's Quotes

• I consider my films first and foremost to be dramas about individuals in personal struggles and I consider myself to be a dramatist before I am a political filmmaker. I'm interested in alternative points of view. I think ultimately the problems of the planet are universal and that nationalism is a very destructive force. I also like anarchy in films. My heroes were Luis Buñuel and Jean-Luc Godard. Breathless (1960) was one of the first pictures I really remember being marked by, because of the speed and energy. They say I'm unsubtle. But we need above all, a theatre that wakes us up: nerves and heart.
• 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.
• [on legacies] Alexander's lasted 2,300 years. Why? He's remembered because of his vision, because of his compassion, because of his generosity, because of his spirit, because he was different. He was a general, a man who was able to weep over his [dead] soldiers on the battlefield. Never before had that happened. So this is a special man who has been remembered. There is a reason this film [Alexander (2004)] was made. It is bigger than us, bigger than me, bigger than Colin [Colin Farrell] and all our team.
• [on Alexander (2004)] But I always liked the Greek outfits. They were sexier than the Romans', you've got to admit. And they didn't wear sandals. They wore boots. So don't call it a sword-and-sandal [movie], for Christ's sake! It's sword-and-boot, okay?
• [on Alexander the Great] This was the golden boy of all history. I've been trying to make Alexander (2004) for a long time. In 1991 with Val Kilmer, in 1996 with Tom Cruise. Then Colin Farrell came along, and he was perfect. He was a tough, Tyrone Power, barstool-looking boy from Dublin. We made him a blond, which was perfect for him, and he became Alexander.

Interesting Facts about Oliver Stone

1. Attended Yale University and New York University.
2. Born at 9:58am-EDT
3. Did a tour of duty in Vietnam.
4. In Vietnam, Stone won the Bronze Star for Valor and the Purple Heart with First Oak Leaf Cluster.
5. Father of sons Sean Stone (born December 29, 1984) and Michael Stone (born 1991) with Elizabeth Stone and a daughter, Tara Stone (born November 3, 1995) with Sun-jung Jung.
6. 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 Oliver's mother Jacqueline. The movie Wall Street (1987) is supposed to be modeled after Louis.
7. Oliver's 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.
8. Arrested for drunken driving and possession of hashish. [June 1999]
9. Says he kicked a cocaine habit by moving to France while writing Scarface (1983).
10. Friends since childhood with Lloyd Kaufman, founder and president of Troma.
11. Speaks French fluently.
12. Underwent infantry training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
13. Shares the exact same birthday as good friend and star of some his films, Tommy Lee Jones. Both were born on September 15, 1946.
14. The same drum theme playing in the beginning of JFK (1991) (for which he was a producer), plays three times in The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001) (for which he was an executive producer).
15. Was a friend and admirer of Cuban Premier Fidel Castro, and shot a documentary about the world's longest reigning Communist leader, titled Comandante (2003). 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.
16. Directed comedian Rodney Dangerfield in his first and only dramatic role in Natural Born Killers (1994).
17. 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).
18. Wrote a collegiate letter of recommendation for Claire Danes when she applied to his alma mater, Yale University. She was quickly accepted.
19. Often talks about the experience of his father Louis Stone taking him to lose his virginity to a prostitute in his mid-teens.
20. Was voted the 43rd Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.