Shane Black
Biography
Shane Black is an American screenwriter, director and actor known for action and action comedy films. Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Pennsylvania before moving to California, he studied film and theater at UCLA, graduating in 1983. He originated the Lethal Weapon franchise and helped Fred Dekker write The Monster Squad. After asking producer Joel Silver for a small role in Predator (1987), he appeared as Hawkins and made uncredited script contributions to that film; he also had a cameo in Dead Heat (1988). His screenplays include The Last Boy Scout (1991), a rewrite of Last Action Hero (1993) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). He directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), his debut, then wrote and directed Iron Man 3 (2013), The Nice Guys (2016), The Predator (2018) and Play Dirty (2025). He received a Best Original Screenplay award for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang from the San Diego Film Critics Association and the Austin Film Festival's Distinguished Screenwriter Award.
64years old
Turns 65 on December 16in 73 days
- Born Pittsburgh
- Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21
Movie Career
- Films
- 5
- Career span
- 35 years1987 to 2022
Every film, newest first
- 2022In Search of TomorrowIMDb rating 7.7
- 2013Marvel One-Shot: Agent CarterIMDb rating 7.4
- 2009Tales from the ScriptIMDb rating 7.1
- 1988Dead HeatIMDb rating 6.1
- 1987PredatorIMDb rating 7.8
Genres
Photos
Share
Did you know?!
First role
While rewriting a script, Black requested a minor acting part from producer Joel Silver in Predator, a movie Silver was then preparing and for which Black also did uncredited script work.
Early training
While a senior at UCLA, Black made up his mind to earn his living in film after Fred Dekker, a classmate, showed him a science fiction script written for an assignment.
A change of course
After he graduated, Black worked through a temp agency as a typist. He also did data entry for the 1984 Summer Olympics and worked as an usher at a movie theater in Westwood.
Shane Black movies on Netflix
Worked with
Shane Black shares two films with John Carpenter, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
John Carpenter's page
Keith David's page
Clancy Brown's page
Vincent Price's page
Ernie Hudson's page
Bradley Whitford's page
John McTiernanDirector, 1 film, 1987
All films by John McTiernan
All films by Louis D'Esposito
All films by Mark Goldblatt
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.