Quentin Tarantino is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor, who has written and directed ten films.
He first began his career in the late 1980s by directing, writing, and starring in the black-and-white My Best Friend’s Birthday, a partially lost amateur short film which was never officially released. He impersonated musician Elvis Presley in a small role in the sitcom The Golden Girls (1988), and briefly appeared in Eddie Presley (1992). As an independent filmmaker, he directed, wrote, and appeared in the crime thriller Reservoir Dogs (1992), which tells the story of six strangers brought together for a jewelry heist. It proved to be Tarantino’s breakthrough film and was named the “Greatest Independent Film of all Time” by Empire. His screenplay for Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993) was nominated for a Saturn Award.
In 1994, Tarantino wrote and directed the neo-noir black comedy Pulp Fiction, a major critical and commercial success. Cited in the media as a defining film of the modern Hollywood, the film earned Tarantino an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, a Best Director nomination and the « Palme d’Or » at the Cannes Film Festival. Also in 1994, he served as an executive producer for Killing Zoe and wrote two other films. The following year, Tarantino directed The Man from Hollywood, one of the four segments of the anthology film Four Rooms, and an episode of ER, entitled “Motherhood”. He wrote Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk till Dawn (1996)—one of the many collaborations between them—which attained cult status and spawned several sequels, in which they served as executive producers. His next directorial ventures Jackie Brown (1997) and Kill Bill (2003–04) were met with critical acclaim. The latter, a two-part martial arts film (Volume 1 and Volume 2), follows a former assassin, seeking revenge on her ex-colleagues who attempted to kill her.
Tarantino’s direction of “Grave Danger”, a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode, garnered him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series nomination. He directed a scene in Frank Miller and Rodriguez’s Sin City (2005). Tarantino and Rodriguez later collaborated in the double feature Grindhouse (2007); he directed the segment Death Proof. He next penned and directed the war film Inglourious Basterds (2009), a fictionalized account of the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. The critically and commercially successful film earned Tarantino two nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards—Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. His greatest commercial success came with the 2012 western film Django Unchained, earning $425.4 million worldwide; it also won him another Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He then wrote and directed another commercially successful western film The Hateful Eight (2015), whose screenplay was nominated for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. He then wrote the 2019 drama Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which follows an actor and his stunt double as they navigate 1969 Hollywood, an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Reservoir Dogs | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 1993 | True Romance | No | Yes | No | ||
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Yes | Yes | No | Story co-written with Roger Avary | |
| Natural Born Killers | No | Story | No | |||
| 1995 | Four Rooms | Partial | Yes | Executive | Segment: “The Man from Hollywood” | |
| 1996 | From Dusk till Dawn | No | Yes | Executive | ||
| 1997 | Jackie Brown | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2003 | Kill Bill: Volume 1 | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2004 | Kill Bill: Volume 2 | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2005 | Sin City | Partial | No | No | Special guest director | |
| 2007 | Grindhouse: Death Proof | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also cinematographer | |
| Grindhouse: Planet Terror | No | No | Yes | |||
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2015 | The Hateful Eight | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Executive producer only
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Killing Zoe | ||
| 1996 | Curdled | ||
| 1998 | God Said Ha! | ||
| 1999 | From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money | Direct-to-video | |
| From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter | |||
| 2002 | Hero | ||
| 2004 | My Name Is Modesty | ||
| 2005 | Daltry Calhoun | ||
| Hostel | |||
| 2006 | Freedom’s Fury | Documentary film | |
| 2007 | Hostel: Part II | ||
| 2008 | Hell Ride |
Uncredited writing roles
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Past Midnight | Also associate producer | |
| 1994 | It’s Pat | ||
| 1995 | Crimson Tide | ||
| 1996 | The Rock |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Eddie Presley | Asylum attendant | Cameo |
| Reservoir Dogs | Mr. Brown | ||
| 1994 | The Coriolis Effect | Panhandle Slim | Short film, voice cameo |
| Pulp Fiction | Jimmie Dimmick | ||
| Somebody to Love | Bartender | Cameo | |
| Sleep with Me | Sid | Cameo | |
| 1995 | Dance Me to the End of Love | Groom | Short film |
| Four Rooms | Chester Rush | Segment: “The Man from Hollywood” | |
| Desperado | Pick-up guy | ||
| Destiny Turns on the Radio | Johnny Destiny | ||
| 1996 | From Dusk till Dawn | Richie Gecko | |
| Girl 6 | Director #1 – NY | Cameo | |
| 1997 | Jackie Brown | Answering Machine | Voice cameo |
| 1998 | God Said Ha! | Himself | |
| 2000 | Little Nicky | Deacon | Cameo |
| 2003 | Kill Bill: Volume 1 | Crazy 88 member | Cameo |
| 2005 | The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz | Himself | Television film, cameo |
| 2007 | Death Proof | Warren the Bartender | |
| Sukiyaki Western Django | Piringo | ||
| Planet Terror | Rapist #1 / Zombie eating road kill | Cameos | |
| Diary of the Dead | Newsreader | Voice cameo | |
| 2008 | Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! |
Himself | Documentary film |
| 2009 | Inglourious Basterds | First scalped victim / American GI | Cameos |
| 2011 | POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold |
Himself | Documentary film |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Robert (Bag Head #1) / Frankie | Cameos |
| 2014 | She’s Funny That Way | Himself | Cameo |
| 2015 | The Hateful Eight | Narrator | Voice cameo |
| 2018 | What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael | Himself | Documentary film |
| 2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Red Apple Cigarettes commercial director | Voice cameo |
| QT8: The First Eight | Himself (archival footage) | Documentary film |
Television
| Year | Show | Functioned as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 1995 | ER | Yes | No | Episode: “Motherhood” |
| 2005 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Yes | Story | Episode: “Grave Danger” |
| 2014–2016 | From Dusk till Dawn: The Series | No | Story | Based on From Dusk till Dawn, story co-written with Robert Rodriguez |
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Golden Girls | Elvis Presley impersonator | Episode: “Sophia’s Wedding: Part 1” |
| 1995 | All-American Girl | Desmond | Episode: “Pulp Sitcom” |
| Saturday Night Live | Himself (host) | Episode: “Quentin Tarantino / The Smashing Pumpkins” | |
| 2002, 2004 | Alias | McKenas Cole | Episodes: “The Box (Part 1)”, “The Box (Part 2)”, “Full Disclosure”, and “After Six” |
| 2005 | Duck Dodgers | Master Moloch | Voice Episode: “Master & Disaster” |