Becker, Josh 1958-

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BECKER, Josh 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born August 17, 1958.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Santa Monica, CA. Office—Panoramic Pictures, 3315 Little Applegate Rd., Jacksonville, OR 97530.

CAREER:

Director and screenwriter. Film credits include (as unit sound and lighting director) The Evil Dead (also known as Book of the Dead and The Evil Dead, the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror), New Line Cinema, 1981; (as director, cinematographer, and editor) Stryker's War (also known as Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except), Film World Distributors, 1985; (as director) Lunatics: A Love Story, RCA Home Video, 1991; (as director, camera operator, and editor) Battle the Big Tuna (documentary), 1991; (as camera operator) Hawg Wild in Sturgis (documentary), 1992; (as producer and director) Running Time, Panoramic Pictures, 1997; (as producer and director) If I Had a Hammer, Panoramic Pictures, 1999.

Actor in films, including (as Fake Shemp) Evil Dead II (also known as Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn and Evil Dead II, the Sequel to the Ultimate Experience in Grueling Horror), Rosebud Releasing, 1987; (as Fake Shemp) Army of Darkness (also known as Army of Darkness, the Ultimate Experience in Medieval Horror, Army of Darkness: Evil Dead 3, Bruce Campbell vs. Army of Darkness, Captain Supermarket, Evil Dead 3, and The Medieval Dead), Universal, 1993; (as Camper Steve) Mosquito (also known as Blood Fever and Nightswarm), Hemdale Home Video, 1995; and (uncredited, as voice of heroin dealer) Running Time, Panoramic Pictures, 1997.

Director of episodes of television stories, including Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, 1993; "A Fistful of Dinars," "Warrior … Princess … Tramp," "For Him the Bell Tolls," "Blind Faith," "Fins, Femmes, and Gems," "In Sickness and in Hell," "If the Shoe Fits," "Kindred Spirits," and "Soul Possession," Xena: Warrior Princess, syndicated, 1996-2001; and "The Return of the Dragoon" and "The People's Dragoon," Jack of All Trades, syndicated, 2000. Unit director of the television movie Hercules and the Amazon Women, 1994; director of the television movie Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, syndicated, 1994.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS

(With Bruce Campbell, Sheldon Lettich, and Scott Spiegel) Stryker's War (also known as Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except), Film World Distributors, 1985.

(And lyricist) Lunatics: A Love Story, RCA Home Video, 1991.

(With Peter Choi) Running Time, Panoramic Pictures, 1997.

If I Had a Hammer, Panoramic Pictures, 1999.

Author, with others, of the episodes "Chariots of War" and "Locked Up and Tied Down," Xena: Warrior Princess, syndicated, 1995 and 1998 respectively. Also author of short stories, essays, and magazine articles.

SIDELIGHTS:

Director and screenwriter Josh Becker got his start in cinema as a teenager in suburban Detroit. He made Super 8 home movies with other local teenagers who went on to become famous Hollywood figures, including director Sam Raimi (of Spider-Man), actor Bruce Campbell (of the Evil Dead films), and producer Rob Tapert (of Xena: Warrior Princess). Finally, in their twenties, the group decided to try making a "real" movie. The result was The Evil Dead, filmed on a shoestring budget in miserable weather. "Not quitting during the production of the first Evil Dead" was the hardest thing he ever did, Becker told Whoosh! interviewer Amy Murphy, but sticking with it paid off, as the film became a cult classic and launched Becker's and his friends' careers. Even after becoming successful, the group has often continued to work on projects together. Campbell has appeared in several of Becker's films, including Stryker's War (which Campbell also cowrote), Lunatics: A Love Story (which was executive produced by Raimi and Tapert), and Running Time, and Becker has directed numerous episodes of the Tapert-produced series Xena.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Variety, September 30, 1987, review of Thou Shalt Not Kill … Except, p. 22; September 16, 1991, Daniel M. Kimmel, review of Lunatics: A Love Story, p. 88; January 5, 1998, Leonard Klady, review of Running Time, p. 80; January 17, 2000, Laura Fries, review of Jack of All Trades, p. 72.