Jan de Bont

Dutch-American film maker, a multimillionaire with his thriller hit movie "Speed" followed by "Twister." In 1996 he was working on "Godzilla" in an effort to make it a bigger attraction than "Jurassic Park."

The youngest of 19 kids born to a Roman Catholic wholesale meat merchant, de Bont told his parents at 12 that he wanted to attend a film academy; they told him that it was a one-way ticket to hell. In high school, he was the founder and only member of a 8-mm movie club. He did manage to go to the film academy, graduating in 1966.

de Bont made several very successful Dutch features with Paul Verhoeven. In 1976 he moved to Hollywood to work as a cameraman.

He was an attractive man until 1981 when a lion ripped his head open while he was filming "Roar;" he had 220 stitches. De Bont's films do seem to be accident prone. With his "Jewel of the Nile," four members of the film crew died in an air crash. In "Clan of the Cave Bear," a helicopter crashed, injuring two. Released in 1990, "Hunt for Red October" was another of his noted films.

De Bont was married in the U.S. to an American woman in 1992; two kids.