Cameron Crowe was born on July 13, 1957 in Palm Springs, CA, and raised in San Diego, CA. Best known as a director, Crowe began work as a music journalist at the age of 15 before becoming a contributing editor for the music magazine, Rolling Stone. His film career was jump started at the age of 22 when he returned to high school to research for a book which resulted in the best-selling novel Fast Times at Ridgemont High book. The film adaptation was equally successful. The film Jerry Maguire launched Crowe into equal recognition, netting five Oscar nominations, including a win for Cuba Gooding Jr for best supporting actor. Almost Famous and his subsequent film of the American adaptation of Abre los Ojos, Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise, both were quite successful.

Filmography