John Carpenter was born in Cathage, New York. From there, his family moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky. There, his father was the head of the music department at Western Kentucky University. He attended that university and then transferred to the USC film school in Los Angeles. He made his first short film in 1962. He won an academy award for Best Short Subject in 1970. This was for "The Resurrection of Bronco Billy". He formed a band in the middle seventies called "The Coupe De Villes" Since 1970, Carpenter has been very involved in the film industry. The roles he has taken on include: writer, actor, composer, producer, and director.

Personal quotes:
"In France I'm an auteur, in Germany a filmmaker, in England, UK a genreafilm director, in USA a bum."
"We're a violent country. We always have been. We embrace our individuality and our violence."

Dark Star (1974)

Assault On Precinct 13 (1973)

Halloween (1978)

The Fog (1978)

Elvis: The Movie (1979)

Escape From New York (1981)

The Thing (1982)

Starman (1984)

Christine (1984)

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Prince of Darkness (1987)

They Live (1988)

Memoirs of the Invisible Man (1992)

Body Bags (1993)

Village of the Damned (1995)

In The Mouth of Madness (1995)

Escape from L.A. (1996)

John Carpenter's Vampires (1997)

Ghosts of Mars (2001)