Jerry Bruckheimer

Jerome Leon “Jerry” Bruckheimer was born to German Jewish immigrants in Detroit, Michigan in 1945. At age 17, he moved to Arizona for college. After college, Bruckheimer worked in advertising, producing commercials. In the 1970s, Bruckheimer started producing films, working together with director Dick Richards on movies such as Farewell, My Lovely. Bruckheimer’s first major hit was Flashdance in 1983. Bruckheimer’s other major hits of the ‘80s and ‘90s included Top Gun, the Beverly Hills Cop films, and Days of Thunder. Since the mid-‘90s, Bruckheimer has produced many action films, often with director Michael Bay, including Armageddon, Black Hawk Down, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series.