Paul Verhoeven.net - all about a unique director

At the 1996 Golden Raspberry Awards, Paul Verhoeven showed up to collect his Showgirls razzies, the first director ever to do so. The Razzies are given each year for the worst in film. Showgirls was nominated 13 times (with only 12 categories voted that year!) and won 7, one of them for worst director.

Paul Verhoeven received a PhD in math and physics from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He never used his degree, opting instead to invest his energies in a career in film.

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Paul speaks four languages: English, French, Dutch, and German.

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In the US Paul Verhoeven is often referred to as 'The Mad Dutchman'.

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Paul is a longtime member of the Jesus Seminar, a group devoted to the scholarly, secular study of Jesus Christ as a historical figure. Verhoeven is the only "layman" member (meaning he doesn't have a degree in some field of religious study) who is considered informed enough to vote with the governing board. Paul has often talked about doing a film on the life of Jesus, but now says he will probably write a book.

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When Stanley Kubrick was making Eyes Wide Shut, he called Verhoeven for advice.

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When Paul was still making Dutch films, Steven Spielberg called him and encouraged him to try his hand in America.

Verhoeven is unusually loyal in terms of his crew. He has only used two cinematographers over the course of his professional film career: Jost Vacano and Jan de Bont. He worked with the same writer, Gerard Soeteman for all of his major Dutch films. And his American films (excluding Showgirls but including Flesh + Blood) have been scored exclusively by Basil Poledouris and Jerry Goldsmith. Alan Marshall has produced Paul's last four films.

1. La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini
2. Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder
3. Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean
4. Doctor Zhivago, David Lean
5. Touch of Evil, Orson Wells
6. Ivan the Terrible, Sergei Eisenstein
7. North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock
8. Ben-Hur, William Wyler
9. Metropolis, Fritz Lang
10. Gone with the Wind, Fleming, Selznick

Rutger Hauer, the Dutch actor, has appeared in several of his films: Turks Fruit (1973), Keetje Tippel (1975), Soldaat van Oranje (1977), Spetters (1980), and Flesh & Blood (1985).

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Notice on his American films, see any type of numerical pattern? Look carefully it goes like this in years between each movie. (2,3,2,3,2,3 ext.)

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Of all his films, claimed that Starship Troopers (1997) was the only one he would be interested in revisiting for a true sequel (the 2004 Phil Tippett directed Starship Troopers 2 does not involve him) but at one point he wanted to do Minority Report (2002) (directed by Steven Spielberg) as a follow-up to his Total Recall (1990).

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A lot of his films include media-coverage of some kind, ranging from real archive footage (Soldaat van Oranje (1977) ) to fictional news - (Robocop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997)) and sports-casts (Spetters (1980)).

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Says to have declined the offer to direct three back-to-back sequels to The Fast and the Furious (2001) and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003).

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	Biography > Trivia Spouse: Martine Verhoeven 7th April 1967 - present - 3 children ---- At the 1996 Golden Raspberry Awards, Paul Verhoeven showed up to collect his Showgirls razzies, the first director ever to do so. The Razzies are given each year for the worst in film. Showgirls was nominated 13 times (with only 12 categories voted that year!) and won 7, one of them for worst director. ---- Turkish Delight (1973) received an Academy Award nomination for best foreign language film. ---- Paul Verhoeven received a PhD in math and physics from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He never used his degree, opting instead to invest his energies in a career in film. ---- Paul speaks four languages: English, French, Dutch, and German. ---- In the US Paul Verhoeven is often referred to as 'The Mad Dutchman'. ---- Paul is a longtime member of the Jesus Seminar, a group devoted to the scholarly, secular study of Jesus Christ as a historical figure. Verhoeven is the only "layman" member (meaning he doesn't have a degree in some field of religious study) who is considered informed enough to vote with the governing board. Paul has often talked about doing a film on the life of Jesus, but now says he will probably write a book. ---- When Stanley Kubrick was making Eyes Wide Shut, he called Verhoeven for advice. ---- When Paul was still making Dutch films, Steven Spielberg called him and encouraged him to try his hand in America. ---- Director Paul Verhoeven and cinematographer Jost Vacano shot one take of the co-ed shower scene in Starship Troopers in the nude themselves (on a dare from star Dina Meyer). ---- Paul served in the Dutch navy, where he made a famous, award winning documentary called "Het Korps Mariners." ---- Verhoeven is unusually loyal in terms of his crew. He has only used two cinematographers over the course of his professional film career: Jost Vacano and Jan de Bont. He worked with the same writer, Gerard Soeteman for all of his major Dutch films. And his American films (excluding Showgirls but including Flesh + Blood) have been scored exclusively by Basil Poledouris and Jerry Goldsmith. Alan Marshall has produced Paul's last four films. ---- Pauls Movie Top 10 (from page 237 of the English language version biography, 1996) 1. La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini 2. Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder 3. Lawrence of Arabia, David Lean 4. Doctor Zhivago, David Lean 5. Touch of Evil, Orson Wells 6. Ivan the Terrible, Sergei Eisenstein 7. North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock 8. Ben-Hur, William Wyler 9. Metropolis, Fritz Lang 10. Gone with the Wind, Fleming, Selznick ---- Director Cameo in RoboCop: Paul Verhoeven dancing in the disco, looking into the camera hysterical, when Leon is arrested. Second cameo in 6000 SUX commercial, looking into camera. ---- Was a member of the Leiden students body 'Minerva', which played a central roll in his famous Soldaat Van Oranje (1977) (Soldier of Orange / Survival Run, after Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema's book) - produced by Rob Houwer. ---- Rutger Hauer, the Dutch actor, has appeared in several of his films: Turks Fruit (1973), Keetje Tippel (1975), Soldaat van Oranje (1977), Spetters (1980), and Flesh & Blood (1985). ---- Notice on his American films, see any type of numerical pattern? Look carefully it goes like this in years between each movie. (2,3,2,3,2,3 ext.) ---- Of all his films, claimed that Starship Troopers (1997) was the only one he would be interested in revisiting for a true sequel (the 2004 Phil Tippett directed Starship Troopers 2 does not involve him) but at one point he wanted to do Minority Report (2002) (directed by Steven Spielberg) as a follow-up to his Total Recall (1990). ---- A lot of his films include media-coverage of some kind, ranging from real archive footage (Soldaat van Oranje (1977) ) to fictional news - (Robocop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Starship Troopers (1997)) and sports-casts (Spetters (1980)). ---- Says to have declined the offer to direct three back-to-back sequels to The Fast and the Furious (2001) and 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). ---- thanx to The Paul Verhoeven Fan Page