- Born
- Birth nameJohn Pagano Peters
- Nickname
- Hairdresser Jon
- Peters made his Hollywood debut in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956) as the boy on the donkey crossing the Red Sea. He went on to be a hard-case kid who spent his formative years in and out of reform school. Peters entered the family business of hairdressing at age 14. Armed with an instinctive genius for self-promotion, he amassed a huge celebrity clientele at his trendy Jon Peters Salon on Rodeo Drive, raking in millions by merchandising the salon's ancillary cosmetic products. Privy to confidences that the rich and famous only reveal to their hairdressers, Peters became hip to the ways and means of Hollywood. In 1973, he fell in love with his client Barbra Streisand and proceeded to manage her early music and film career. He produced her 1976 remake of A Star Is Born (1976) which yielded over $100 million at the box office and four Oscar nominations including the Oscar-winning song, "Evergreen". Peters went on to produce a string of best-selling Streisand albums, "The Main Event", The Eyes of Laura Mars" and "Caddyshack". Peters blossomed into an A-list producer, a status he's maintained over 30 years.
In 1980, Peters teamed with former Casablanca Records and Filmworks exec Peter Guber; together with Neil Bogart, Peters and Guber formed the Polygram Productions, later renamed the Boardwalk Company. A series of mergers and sell-offs later, Guber-Peters was born in 1983. The team's willingness to take enormous chances with huge amounts of money transformed Guber and Peters into the wunderkind of Hollywood, especially after such critical and financial successes as Missing (1982), Flashdance (1983), The Color Purple (1985), Witches of Eastwick (1987), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), and Rain Man (1989). Guber-Peters acquired Chuck Barris Productions (The Gong Show, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game), cementing their role in television as Guber-Peters-Barris. The partnership took its biggest risk and scored its biggest hit with Batman (1989) which won Peters and his partner a multimillion-dollar seven-year WB contract. Within months, they were wooed away by Sony Corporation, which offered Guber and Peters one billion dollars to assume chief executive posts.
Peters left to start Peters Entertainment which has produced such blockbusters as Batman Returns, Wild Wild West, Ali, and Superman Returns. Peters has received over 254 nominations, and won multiple Oscars, Golden Globes, and Grammys. The producer's combined grosses exceed $6 Billion worldwide and will continue to soar with two Superman sequels and a Star is Born remake in development. Peters is the proud father of five children: Christopher, Caleigh, Jordan, Skye, and Kendyl. Through the Peters Family Foundation he supports the Christopher Reeve Foundation, Life Rolls On, Homeboy Industries, My Friend's Place, Cambodian Children's Fund, Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, Heartfelt Foundation, The Laurence School, the Sheriff's Youth Foundation, and countless other youth charities.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Brian Quintana
- SpousesPamela Anderson(January 20, 2020 - February 1, 2020) (annulled)Mindy Williamson(May 2001 - 2004) (divorced, 1 child)Christine Peters(June 9, 1987 - 1993) (divorced, 2 children)Lesley Ann Warren(May 13, 1967 - 1975) (divorced, 1 child)Henrietta Zampitella(April 24, 1962 - November 1966) (divorced)
- Children
- ParentsHelen PaganoJack Peters
- When Kevin Smith was hired as writer for the "Superman Reborn" movie back in 1997, he had several discussions with Peters about the film. Peters told Smith that he didn't want Superman to wear the suit, he didn't want him to fly, and he wanted Superman to fight a giant spider in the end. When Smith left the project, the "Superman Reborn"" movie by Smith never got made but, in 1999, Jon Peters produced Wild Wild West (1999) which had the heroes attacked by a giant spider in the end.
- With partner Peter Guber, was head of Sony Pictures. The pair were the subject of the book "Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber Took Sony for a Ride in Hollywood" by Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters. The book suggests that despite Jon Peters' success as a producer, he is prone to violence and is barely able to read.
- Got his break into producing while working as a hair stylist for Barbra Streisand, whom he dated from 1973 to 1982.
- Was credited as a producer on A Star Is Born (2018) only because he held the rights to the previous version, A Star Is Born (1976). Bradley Cooper stated in several interviews that Peters had no involvement with his version and was in fact barred from the set.
- Purchased the film rights to the Superman franchise in the early 1990s from Warner Bros. For Man of Steel (2013), he was paid a seven figure fee up front and promised a percentage of the profits, in exchange for being banned from the set and doing no publicity for the film. This was reportedly at the behest of producer Christopher Nolan.
- When I was in the hair business I produced huge spectacular shows. Film is just another form of production.
- Dear Mindy I love you with all my heart and have for 14 years. You are my best friend and my partner. Therefore, I want you to have 10% of my take of Superman 2-3-4. I give you all my love. --Love J.P.
- Something about marijuana makes me talkative and communicative and present, and without it I get very quiet and watch movies and I'm kind of distracted.
- I voted for Trump because I felt in my heart that he could really actually do a great job, but I thought Hillary was going to win. I thought that every time he said stupid things and he acted like a fool, and all the women and things, I thought it was going to kill him. It didn't because a lot of people are like him. Like to look at pretty girls. Wish they could talk to a pretty girl. Wish they could do this. I've been a Democrat my whole life. I voted for Obama twice. But this is a brilliant man. I saw a brilliant man who ran an empire, and I thought that he could run the country.
- "I am the Trump of Hollywood".
- Money Train (1995) - 5% of gross
- Rain Man (1988) - $150,000 +% of gross
- A Star Is Born (1976) - $15,000,000
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