Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	Samuel M Raimi (1959-10-23) October 23, 1959 (age 57) Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Other names	Celia Abrams R.O.C. Sandstorm Roc Sandstorm
Occupation	Director, producer, screenwriter, actor
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Gillian Greene (m. 1993)

Samuel M "Sam" Raimi (born October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor, famous for creating the cult horror Evil Dead series, as well as directing the original Spider-Man trilogy (2002–07) and the 1990 superhero film Darkman. His most recent work is the 2013 Disney fantasy film Oz the Great and Powerful.

Raimi has also produced several successful television series and founded his own production company, Renaissance Pictures, in 1979. Recently, he worked as the producer of The Possession, and the 2013 remake of Evil Dead.

Raimi was born in Royal Oak, Michigan. He is the fourth of five children born to Celia Barbara (Abrams) and Leonard Ronald Raimi, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan. He was raised in Conservative Judaism; his ancestors emigrated from Russia and Hungary. Raimi graduated from Groves High School and later went on to attend Michigan State University, where he majored in English but left after three semesters to film The Evil Dead.

Raimi became fascinated with making films when his father brought a movie camera home one day and he began to make Super 8 movies with childhood friend Bruce Campbell. In college, he teamed up with his brother's roommate Robert Tapert and Campbell to shoot Within the Woods (1978), a 32-minute horror film which raised $375,000, as well as his debut feature film It's Murder!. Through family, friends, and a network of investors, Raimi was able to finance production of the highly successful horror film The Evil Dead (1981) which became a cult hit and effectively launched Raimi's career.