Spheeris, Penelope 1945- (P. Spheeris)

PERSONAL

Born December 2, 1945, in New Orleans, LA; father, a circus carnival owner and side-show "strong man"; mother, a ticket taker for a traveling circus side show; children: Anna Schoeller. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. and M.F.A., film; also studied at American Film Institute, Los Angeles.

Addresses:

Agent—Gersh Agency, Inc., 232 North Canon Dr., Beverly Hills, CA 90210-5302.

Career:

Director, producer, and writer. Rock 'n' Reel (music video production company), founder, 1974, and producer of music videos; Spheeris Films, filmmaker; appeared in print ads for the Directors Guild of America, 2001. Worked as a waitress for twelve years.

Member:

Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America.

Awards, Honors:

Freedom of Expression Award and Grand Jury Prize nomination, both Sundance Film Festival, and Jury Award, best documentary, Chicago Underground Film Festival, 1998, all for The Decline of Western Civilization Part III; Most Popular Documentary Award, Melbourne International Film Festival, 2001, for We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll; Spirit of Silver Lake Award, Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival, 2001; Pioneer Filmmaker Award, Deep Ellum Film Festival, 2001; Lifetime Achievement Award, Temecula Valley International Film Festival, 2003; Maverick Award, LA Femme Film Festival, 2005.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Editor, Uncle Tom's Fairy Tales, 1968.

Director, I Don't Know, 1971.

Producer, Real Life, Paramount, 1979.

Director, producer, additional photography, and (as P. Spheeris) additional cinematographer, The Decline of Western Civilization (documentary), Spheeris Films, 1981.

Director, Suburbia (also known as Rebel Streets and The Wild Side), New World, 1984.

Director, The Boys Next Door (also known as Big Shots), New World, 1985.

Director, Hollywood Vice Squad (also known as The Boulevard), Cinema Group, 1986.

Director, Dudes, Cineworld, 1986.

Director, The Decline of Western Civilization II: The Metal Years (documentary), New Line Cinema, 1986.

Director, As Nasty As We Want to Be, 1990.

Director, Thunder and Mud, 1990.

Director, Wayne's World, Paramount, 1992.

Director and producer, The Beverly Hillbillies, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1993.

Director, The Little Rascals, Universal, 1994.

Director, Black Sheep, Paramount, 1996.

Director, Senseless, Miramax/Dimension Films, 1998.

Director and camera operator, The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (documentary), Spheeris Films, 1998.

Director, The Thing in Bob's Garage, Act III Productions, 1998.

Director, No Use Walking When You Can Stroll, 1998.

Director, Hollywierd, 1999.

Director and cinematographer, We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll (documentary), Divine Pictures, 2001.

Director, Posers, Miramax, 2001.

Director, Closers, Dimension Films, 2001.

Director and producer, The Kid & I, Slowhand Cinema Releasing, 2005.

Also made Lifers Group: World Tour (documentary short).

Film Appearances:

Naked Angels, 1969.

Star the witch, The Ski Bum (also known as Point Zero), 1971.

Margo, The Second Coming of Suzanne (also known as Suzanne), 1974.

Calling the Shots, 1988.

Nicky's mom, Wedding Band, 1990.

(Uncredited) Cameo, Wayne's World, Paramount, 1992.

Penelope Spheeris, The Kid & I, Slowhand Cinema Releasing, 2005.

Television Work; Movies:

Director, The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, CBS, 2003.

Television Work; Specials:

(With others) Director, Decade, MTV, 1989.

Segment director, "New Chicks," in "Prison Stories: Women on the Inside," HBO Showcase, HBO, 1991.

Director, Visitors from the Unknown, CBS, 1991.

Director, UFO Abductions, 1991.

Segment director, The 75th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 2002.

Segment director, Oscar Countdown 2003, 2003.

Cinematographer, Mississippi Rising, 2005.

Television Work; Pilots:

Cocreator, executive producer, and director, Danger Theatre, Fox, 1993.

Director, Dear Doughboy, The WB, 2000.

Television Work; Episodic:

Producer: film segments, Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL), NBC, 1975-76.

Story editor, "One for the Road," Roseanne, ABC, 1990.

Director, "Prom Night," Cracking Up, 2004.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Decade, MTV, 1989.

VH1 Presents the '70s, VH1, 1996.

Canned Ham: Senseless, Comedy Central, 1998.

Intimate Portrait: Lea Thompson, Lifetime, 1998.

100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, VH1, 2000.

Ernest Goes to Hollywood: Jim Varney, the E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 2001.

VH1 Presents the '80s, VH1, 2001.

The Beverly Hillbillies: The E! True Hollywood Story, E! Entertainment Television, 2001.

Herself, Hollywood High, AMC, 2003.

When Metal Ruled the World, VH1, 2004.

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession, Independent Film Channel, 2004.

The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody, BBC, 2004.

Heavy: The Story of Metal, VH1, 2005-2006.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Independent View, PBS, 2002.

"Penelope Spheeris/John Doe," The Henry Rollins Show, Independent Film Channel, 2006.

WRITINGS

Film Scripts:

The Decline of Western Civilization (documentary), Spheeris Films, 1981.

Suburbia (also known as Rebel Streets and The Wild Side), New World, 1984.

(With Bert Dragin) Summer Camp Nightmare (also known as The Butterfly Revolution), Concorde, 1987.

(And story) The Little Rascals, Universal, 1994.

Television Pilot Stories:

Danger Theatre, Fox, 1993.

Television Episodes:

"Fender Bender," Roseanne, ABC, 1990.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 46, Gale Group, 2002.

International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, St. James Press, 1996.

Newsmakers 1989, Issue 4, Gale, 1989.

Women Filmmakers and Their Films, St. James Press, 1998.

Periodicals:

People Weekly, July 4, 1988, pp. 52-54.