Ron Shelton
| Ron Shelton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 15, 1945 Whittier, California, United States |
| Occupation | Film director, screenwriter |
Ron Shelton (born September 15, 1945) is an American Oscar-nominated film director and screenwriter. Shelton is known for the many films he has made about sports.
A former minor league baseball infielder in Baltimore's farm system, he played with the Bluefield Orioles (Rookie), Stockton Ports (A), Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs (AA) and Rochester Red Wings (AAA) between 1967-1971.
After working on the scripts for a number of films, including co-writing the Nick Nolte and Gene Hackman political drama Under Fire, Shelton made his directorial debut with Bull Durham in 1988. Set in the world of minor league baseball, the romantic comedy stars Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon. Shelton's screenplay netted him multiple awards, including Best Original Script from the Writer's Guild of America, and Best Script from the US National Society of Film Critics. It was also nominated for an Academy Award.
Shelton worked with Costner again on the 1996 golf-themed romantic comedy Tin Cup. Other films as writer and director included the boxing comedy Play It to the Bone, a critical and commercial flop, and acclaimed 1992 comedy White Men Can't Jump, starring Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes as two basketball hustlers. Calling the latter film "very smart and very funny", and "not simply a basketball movie," critic Roger Ebert wrote that Shelton "knows how his characters talk and sound, and how they get into each other's minds with non-stop talking and boasting."
Shelton has also written and directed two biopics: Cobb, in which Tommy Lee Jones portrayed record-breaking baseballer Ty Cobb, and Blaze, which starred Paul Newman as colourful Louisiana Governor Earl Long. He wrote or co-wrote other sports-themed films including The Best of Times, starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as former football teammates; the basketball drama Blue Chips, starring Nick Nolte, and a boxing comedy, The Great White Hype, starring Samuel L. Jackson.
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