Roger Avary

Best known for his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary has won a loyal fan following of his own for his darkly comedic style as both a screenwriter and director. Born in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada, on August 23, 1965, Roger Avary's father was a mining engineer, which caused his family to move a great deal when he was a child. By the 1980s, Avary had settled in Manhattan Beach, CA, and had developed a passionate interest in movies. In 1984, Avary wrote and directed a short film, The Worm Turns, which was named Best Film in the 16-19 age group at the LAFTA Teen Film Expo. A few years later, as Avary was struggling to get a career as a writer and director off the ground, he took a job at a video rental shop, where one of his co-workers was a like-minded film enthusiast named Quentin Tarantino. It wasn't long before Avary and Tarantino began comparing notes on the sort of films they hoped to make; Avary gave Tarantino a copy of a short screenplay he'd written called "The Open Road," and Tarantino returned it with extensive revisions. Avary began working with Tarantino on a further draft of the script, and in time the project became the film True Romance, though Avary did not receive credit for the final product. Avary also contributed material which was used in the screenplays for Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers, and in 1992 Tarantino was finally able to bring Reservoir Dogs to the screen. After Reservoir Dogs became an independent success story, Avary helped Tarantino write his follow-up, Pulp Fiction; credited with the film's story, Pulp Fiction earned Avary an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay of 1994. In 1994, Avary was able to use his new success as a screenwriter to launch his career as a director; he helmed the offbeat crime thriller Killing Zoe, which Tarantino helped to produce. In 1995, Avary turned his attentions to television, writing, and directing a quirky made-for-TV sci-fi film called Mr. Stitch, which was created as a pilot for a series. The Mr. Stitch series didn't sell, and neither did Odd Jobs, a noir-influenced television project Avary wrote and directed in 1997. While preparing new projects, Avary dabbled in film production, working behind the scenes on Boogie Boy in 1997 and The Last Man in 1999. In 2002, Avary made his long-awaited return as a director with a screen adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel The Rules of Attraction; once again, Avary also wrote the screenplay. In his personal life, Avary is married, and is an outspoken vegetarian.

~ All Movie Guide