most recently produced "The Edge," starring Anthony
Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, released by Twentieth Century Fox. Linson's credits range
from such unusual classics as "Car Wash" and "Melvin and Howard" (winner of two
Academy Awards, for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress) to commercials hits
such as "The Untouchables," "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "Dick Tracy" and
"Scrooged" to the critically acclaimed "Casualties of War," "Singles," "This Boy's Life,"
and "Heat" starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
Born in Chicago, Linson grew up in Hollywood, at the Knickerbocker Hotel, a
name he fondly bestowed on his production. He went to the University of California at
Berkeley in 1960, finished his degree at UCLA and graduated from UCLA Law school in
1967, but opted not to practice law. Instead Linson took a job working for record producer
Lou Adler. For a brief period in the 1970s, Linson ran his own company, Spin Dizzy
Records, recording and managing such rock musicians as Spirit and Nils Lofgren.
In the 20 years since he produced his first motion picture, Art Linson has
distinguished himself in Hollywood by developing scripts and stories that attract the
highest caliber talent -- resulting in some of the most successful and admired motion
pictures in the last two decades.
Linson's pursuit of imaginative material led him to collaborate with many of
Hollywood's finest screenwriters including David Mamet, Bo Goldman, David Rabe,
Cameron Crowe, Mitch Glazer, Michael O'Donoghue and Robert Getchell. In addition, in
1993, Linson published his first book entitled A Pound of Flesh: Perilous Tales of How to
Produce Movies in Hollywood.
