Ron Shelton American film director and screenwriter Date of Birth: 15.09.1945 Country: USA

Biography of Ron Shelton

Ron Shelton is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for a series of sports films. He attended college on a sports scholarship and joined the 'Baltimore Orioles' team right after completing his education. He quickly rose through the ranks and eventually joined the more prestigious 'Rochester Redwings'. However, Shelton decided that he couldn't progress further in baseball and left the sport. He then enrolled at the University of Arizona, where he obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture.

After some time, Shelton relocated to Los Angeles, where he achieved success as a sculptor. He even had an exhibition of his works at the 'Space Gallery'. However, he eventually left sculpture behind and began writing fiction and screenplays. Shelton was fortunate to have Roger Spottiswoode as his mentor, who helped him with his first two works and eventually became the director of Shelton's first two films, 'Under Fire' (1983) and 'The Best of Times' (1986).

The first film was a subtle and intelligent political thriller set in Nicaragua, while the second was a sports tragicomedy starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell. These two projects not only showcased Shelton's versatility as a director but also allowed him to work behind the camera as an assistant director. In 1988, he released another film, 'Bull Durham', once again displaying his talent as a director and screenwriter.

A year later, Shelton released the bold yet slightly underdeveloped project 'Blaze', a biographical film about the complicated relationship between Louisiana Governor Earl Long and stripper Blaze Starr. The film provided actress Lolita Davidovich with a leading role and sparked a romance between her and Shelton, which didn't hinder Shelton from casting her in several other films.

Shelton's true hit was the street basketball comedy 'White Men Can't Jump'. He followed it with the basketball comedy 'Blue Chips', which he produced and wrote the screenplay for, but it was notably less convincing. His next work, the biopic 'Cobb' about legendary baseball player Ty Cobb, was much more successful.

Shelton repeatedly attempted to replicate the success of 'Bull Durham' and 'White Men Can't Jump', but the formula for success eluded him. In 1996, he co-wrote the screenplay for 'The Great White Hype', but despite a strong ensemble cast, it didn't achieve the desired success. That same year, his film 'Tin Cup', exploring the theme of golf, was released. During the filming, Shelton had the opportunity to work with his 'Bull Durham' star Kevin Costner again, but unfortunately, the result didn't match their previous collaboration.

After releasing another sports film in 1999, Shelton took a break for some time and only returned in 2003 with the police drama 'Dark Blue', based on a original noir work by James Ellroy. Later, Shelton contributed to the screenplay of the big-budget action film 'Bad Boys 2'. Currently, Shelton is working on two projects, but no further details are available.