Burr Steers
Steers at ComicCon 2015
Born
Burr Gore Steers

(1965-10-08) October 8, 1965 (age 58)
Washington, D.C., US
EducationSt. Albans School
Hotchkiss School
Culver Military Academy
Alma materNew York University
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, actor
Parent(s)Newton Steers
Nina Gore Auchincloss
RelativesHugh Auchincloss Steers (brother)
Gore Vidal (half-uncle)
Hugh D. Auchincloss (grandfather)
Nina S. Gore (grandmother)
Thomas Gore (great-grandfather)

Burr Gore Steers[1] is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. His films include Igby Goes Down (2002) and 17 Again (2009). He is a nephew of writer Gore Vidal.

Family

Steers was born in Washington, D.C.[2][3] His father, Newton Ivan Steers, Jr. (1917–1993), was a businessman and politician who briefly served as a Republican congressman from Maryland. Through his mother, Nina Gore Auchincloss (born 1937),[4] he is a grandson of stockbroker and lawyer Hugh D. Auchincloss,[5] a cousin of Louis Auchincloss. Nina is also the stepsister of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and younger half-sister of the writer Gore Vidal.[6] Steers is a relative of vice president Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States.[1][7] Steers's great-grandfather Thomas Gore served as Oklahoma's first Democratic senator, from 1907 until 1921 and from 1931 until 1937, while his great-great-grandfather Oliver Burr Jennings was a founder of Standard Oil. Steers's godfather was former Virginia Senator John Warner.

His brother Hugh Auchincloss Steers (1963–1995) was an American figurative painter whose later works often focused on AIDS as a theme. He has another brother, Ivan Steers, and five stepsiblings from his mother's second marriage to editor Michael Whitney Straight.[8]

Education

Steers grew up living in Bethesda, Maryland and Georgetown, Washington, D.C., where he attended St. Albans School. Steers was expelled from both the Hotchkiss School and Culver Military Academy. He eventually earned his GED and attended New York University.[1]

Career

Steers has had minor roles in a few of Quentin Tarantino's films, playing Roger (or "Flock of Seagulls") in Pulp Fiction and providing one of the radio voices in Reservoir Dogs.[9] He also has appeared in The Last Days of Disco,[9] Fix[10] and Gore Vidal's Billy the Kid.[11]

He wrote and directed Igby Goes Down in 2002, a coming-of-age film that starred Kieran Culkin and Susan Sarandon.[3] Steers also was the screenwriter of the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which starred Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. He has directed episodes of the television series Weeds, The L Word, Big Love, and The New Normal.[9] Steers also directed the 2009 teen comedy film, 17 Again starring Zac Efron.[12]

In 2010 Steers directed the drama Charlie St. Cloud, also starring Efron. Also in 2010, there was media coverage for Steers having been hired to direct an epic film about the early life of Julius Caesar to be based on the novels by Conn Iggulden as adapted from the first two novels of Iggulden's series, The Gates of Rome and The Death of Kings, and covering the years from 92 BC to 71 BC. Exclusive Media Group hired Steers after having the adaptation written by William Broyles and Stephen Harrigan.[13][14][15] Steers directed the 2016 film adaptation of the parody novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.[16][17]

Filmography

Year Title Writer Director Producer Actor Notes
1989 Intruder[18] Yes
Billy the Kid[11] Yes
1990 The New Adam-12[19] Yes
Room for Romance Yes
1992 Reservoir Dogs[9] Yes voice work
1993 Silk Stalkings[20] Yes
Naked in New York[21] Yes
1994 Pulp Fiction[9] Yes
1998 Fix[10] Yes
The Last Days of Disco[9] Yes
2002 Igby Goes Down[3] Yes Yes
2003 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days[22] Yes
2005 The L Word[23] Yes 1 episode
Weeds[9] Yes 1 episode
2007 Big Love[9] Yes 1 episode
2009 17 Again[12] Yes
2010 Charlie St. Cloud[12] Yes
2012 The New Normal[9] Yes 1 episode
2013 Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia[24] Yes
2016 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies[16] Yes Yes
2018 Elemental: Hydrogen Vs. Hindenburg[25] Yes

References

  1. ^ a b c "Film; A Family's Legacy: Pain and Humor (and a Movie)", New York Times, September 15, 2002.
  2. ^ Baskin, Ellen (August 28, 2002). "A Family Resemblance; The creator of 'Igby Goes Down' drew on the genteel poverty of his past". Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (September 13, 2002). "FILM REVIEW; On the Outs With Almost Everything". The New York Times.
  4. ^ The Kennedy White House: Family Life and Pictures, 1961-1963 By Carl Sferrazza Anthony, page 149
  5. ^ "Steers, Newton Ivan, Jr. (1917-1993)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
  6. ^ "First Lady Biography: Jackie Kennedy". First Ladies' Biographical Information. Archived from the original on 2017-05-23. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
  7. ^ "Ascending Steers". The Age. Melbourne. May 11, 2003.
  8. ^ *Nigel West and Oleg Tsarev, The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets at the Heart of the KGB Archives (London: HarperCollins, 1998; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pg., 130.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Eisenberg, Eric (January 26, 2016). "The Pulp Fiction Scene That Burr Steers Kept Screwing Up, And Why". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  10. ^ a b New York Times Staff (2016). "Fix (1997)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b Pitts, Michael R. (2013). Western movies : a guide to 5,105 feature films (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0786463725. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  12. ^ a b c Radish, Christina (July 30, 2010). "Director Burr Steers Exclusive Interview CHARLIE ST. CLOUD; Plus Updates on THIS MEANS WAR and EMPEROR". Collider. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  13. ^ Bettinger, Brendan (June 26, 2013). "17 AGAIN Director Burr Steers Will Depict a Teenage Julius Caesar in EMPEROR: YOUNG CAESAR". Collider. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  14. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 26, 2010). "Burr Steers To Direct Julius Caesar Film Based On Conn Iggulden Novels". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  15. ^ Hazelton, John (May 27, 2010). "Steers signs to direct Young Ceasar [sic]". Screen Daily. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  16. ^ a b Cook, Tommy (Feb 3, 2016). "Burr Steers on the Elaborate "Oner" He Cut from 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'". Collider. Retrieved Feb 7, 2016.
  17. ^ Whittaker, Richard (Feb 4, 2016). "Adapting Pride and Prejudice and Zombies". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved Feb 7, 2016.
  18. ^ Muir, John Kenneth (2012). Horror Films of the 1980s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 744. ISBN 978-0786455010. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  19. ^ "New Adam-12". tvguide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  20. ^ "Silk Stalkings (TV Series)". filmaffinity.com. Film Affinity USA. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Ascending Steers". Washington Post. May 11, 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  22. ^ New York Times Staff (2015). "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  23. ^ Bolonik, Kera (2005). The L word : welcome to our planet ; [the official companion book to the Hit Showtime series. New York [u.a.]: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743291336. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  24. ^ Holden, Stephen (May 22, 2014). "An Intellectual and His Lofty Contempt". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  25. ^ "Burr Steers Director". www.dga.org. Directors Guild of America. Retrieved 30 January 2020.

External links

Films directed by Burr Steers
Gore Vidal
Authority control databases
Categories