Joe Eszterhas
Birthname József A. Eszterhas Birthdate November 23, 1944 Birthplace Csákánydoroszló, Hungary Education Ohio University Profession Author Net worth $18,000,000 Source of Wealth Film and Books Nationality Hungarian-American Country United States Marital Status Married (Naomi Baka) Children 6Quick Links
Hungarian-American writer, best known for his work on the pulp erotic films Basic Instinct and Showgirls, József A. "Joe" Eszterhas has an estimated net worth of $18 million.
This Hungarian-born began his journalistic career as a reporter for Rolling Stone. In 1974, Eszterhas authored the popular, award-winning novel Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse. The book was optioned by Hollywood, and though it has not as yet been filmed, it served as the key for Eszterhas' entree into scriptwriting. He is best known for his vicious, sexy, highly literate crime and mystery scripts: Jagged Edge (1985), Betrayed (1988), and the Sharon Stone Starmaker Basic Instinct (1989). At one point, Eszterhas was the highest-paid writer in Hollywood, receiving $3 million up-front money for Basic Instinct alone. Never one to shirk from a fracas, Eszterhas has fought publicly with producers, directors, powerful agents and even crime bosses (especially after accepting the responsibility of penning the John Gotti biopic). Given his reputation for censor-baiting, it is surprising to learn that one of Eszterhas' biggest battles was aimed at convincing director Paul Verhoeven to tone down the sex-and-violence excesses that Verhoeven had added to Basic Instinct. Nonetheless, it was Eszterhas who issued a sarcastic response to Senator Bob Dole's call for Hollywood to clean up its act; kidding on the square, Eszterhas argued that some of the political misdeeds of the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush administrations were far more "obscene" than anything found in an R-rated movie.
Joe Eszterhas was born on November 23, 1944 in Csákánydoroszló, Hungary.
Earnings & Financial Data
Date | Category | Description | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Sale of Asset | Sale of Joe Eszterhas' scripts on Basic Instinct, Sacred Cows, Original Sin, Sliver, Jade, Showgirls, One Night Stand, Male Pattern Baldness, Foreplay, Gangland and Beat The Eagle | $26,000,000 |
1996 | Salary | Salary from the film, One Night Stand | $4,000,000 |
1995 | Salary | Salary from the movie Jade as the film's executive producer and the writer of the film's two-page outline | $1,900,000 |
1994 | Others | Payment received to exclusive produce the film, Jade | $400,000 |
1992 | Salary | Salary from the film, Sliver | $1,000,000 |
1992 | Salary | Salary from the movie Basic Instinct as the film's writer | $3,000,000 |
1991 | Salary | Salary from the film, Original Sin (Shinde mo ii) | $1,500,000 |
1987 | Salary | Salary from the movie Big Shots as the film's storywriter | $1,250,000 |
1984 | Salary | Salary from the film, Jagged Edge | $500,000 |
1982 | Salary | Salary from Flashdance | $275,000 |
1978 | Salary | Salary from the movie F.I.S.T. as the film's novelist and screenwriter | $485,000 |
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