RON SHELTON (Director) was born in Whittier, California, and raised in Santa Barbara. A graduate of Santa Barbara High School and Westmont College, Shelton received a M.F.A. in art from the University of Arizona after several years of playing professional baseball in the Baltimore Orioles’ minor league system.
Shelton’s first film was 1983’s political drama Under Fire, set against the civil unrest of the Nicaraguan revolution and starring Gene Hackman, Nick Nolte and Joanna Cassidy. For the film, Shelton received his first credit as a screenwriter and directed second unit.
The 1988 Oscar nominated screenplay Bull Durham was Shelton’s directorial debut. The film garnered critical acclaim for Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Shelton, including Best Original Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America, the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Society of Film Critics.
Shelton made Blaze in 1989. The film starred Paul Newman as Louisiana Governor Earl Long and Lolita Davidovich as Blaze Starr, the stripper for whom he jeopardized his political career. Next, Shelton teamed with Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes and Rosie Perez in the 1992 basketball comedy White Men Can’t Jump about two basketball hustlers who run a scam on L.A.’s toughest courts.
1994’s Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Wuhl, was Shelton’s uncompromising depiction of one of baseball’s darkest heroes. Shelton and Costner reteamed in 1996 with the romantic comedy Tin Cup, also starring Rene Russo, Don Johnson and Cheech Marin. Shelton released Play It to the Bone in 1999, starring Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas, Lolita Davidovich and Lucy Liu.
Shelton’s next film, Hollywood Homicide, tells the story of two homicide cops – played by Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett – investigating a murder within the world of rap music. Hollywood Homicide is set for release in June of 2003.
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