John Carpenter
John Carpenter is an American filmmaker, composer and actor. Born January 16, 1948, in Carthage. Known for Halloween, The Fog and The Thing. Educated at University of Southern California and USC School of Cinematic Arts. Awards include Time Machine Award, The George Pal Memorial Award and Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Facts
47 facts · 1 confirmed by two sources · 4 cited · 41 from one source · 1 where the sources disagree
What’s different
- Born in: we show Carthage (Sources disagree). Wikidata also lists Jefferson County
Where this comes from
Papalocal keeps its own record. It started from these sources; what each one said is kept here as it was copied, so a change on their side never changes this page by itself. Tap one to read its version.
What Wikipedia says · copied November 13, 2026 · revision 1384979189
John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre. At the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, the French Directors' Guild gave him the Golden Coach Award and lauded him as "a creative genius of raw, fantastic, and spectacular emotions". On April 3, 2025, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Carpenter's early films included critical and commercial successes such as Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), and Starman (1984). Though he has been acknowledged as an influential filmmaker, his other productions from the 1970s and the 1980s only later came to be considered cult classics; these include Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), and Escape from L.A. (1996). He returned to the Halloween franchise as a composer and executive producer on Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022).
Carpenter usually composes or co-composes the music in his films. He won a Saturn Award for Best Music for the soundtrack of Vampires (1998) and has released five studio albums: Lost Themes (2015), Lost Themes II (2016), Anthology: Movie Themes 1974–1998 (2017), Lost Themes III: Alive After Death (2021), and Lost Themes IV: Noir (2024). He also produces horror, science fiction, and children's comics through Storm King Comics, the publisher founded by his wife, Sandy King, in 2013.
- Born, in its opening lines
- January 16, 1948
From the Wikipedia article “John Carpenter” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.
What Wikidata says · copied November 14, 2026 · revision 2569036874
- Described as
- American filmmaker, composer and actor (born 1948)
- Other names
- John Chance, John T. Chance, Martin Quatermass, John Howard Carpenter
- Born
- January 16, 1948 · 10 references
- Born in
- Carthage; Jefferson County
- Name at birth
- John Howard Carpenter
- Citizen of
- United States
- Occupation
- film director; screenwriter; composer · 1 reference; director · 1 reference; film producer · 1 reference; actor; film score composer; film screenwriter
- Education
- University of Southern California; USC School of Cinematic Arts; Western Kentucky University
- Member of
- Writers Guild of America West
- Genre
- horror film; science fiction film; science fiction horror film; thriller film; mystery film; fantasy film
- Instrument
- piano; ARP Quadra; keyboard instrument; synthesizer; guitar
- Record label
- Sacred Bones Records
- Known for
- Halloween; The Fog; The Thing; Escape from New York; Christine; They Live; In the Mouth of Madness; Vampires; Big Trouble in Little China; Prince of Darkness
- Awards
- Time Machine Award (2008); The George Pal Memorial Award; Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (2007) · 1 reference
- Spouse
- Adrienne Barbeau (1979–1984); Sandy King (1990–)
- Children
- Cody Carpenter
- Lived in
- Los Angeles
- Height
- 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
- Website
- https://www.theofficialjohncarpenter.com/
- Wikipedias with a page
- 59
Wikidata item Q95008 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q95008), public domain (CC0). Copied November 14, 2026.
Confirmed Two sources agree. Cited One source, and it names where it got it. One source One source, without a reference of its own. Sources disagree The sources disagree. We show the best-supported value and keep theirs below.
