JAY ROACH
Date of Birth: June 14, 1957
Born in New Mexico, Roach graduated from Stanford University and received his master's degree in film
production from the University of Southern California. While at USC, his short subject film Asleep at
the Wheel was nominated for a Student Academy Award.
His first professional experience was as a cinematographer for the film Odyssey in 1986. Roach later
moved to television, where he co-produced and was a second unit director on the television movie
Lifepod (1993), a sci-fi adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat. That the same year, he also
co-produced a television series called Space Rangers and in 1994 he wrote, and was the associate
producer of the film Blown Away, starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones.
It wasn't until 1997 that he got his first chance to direct a feature-length film. The
highly successful Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), starring Mike Myers and Elizabeth Hurley.
Working under a tight budget of only 17 million, Roach and Myers were stunned by the popularity of the film,
and followed it up with a sequel two years later. Although the sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,
was up against the much anticipated Star Wars prequel, it held its own, taking in over $54 million in its first
weekend and coming in number one at the box office.
Roach's next project was not as successful. Mystery, Alaska (1999) starring Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria
and Burt Reynolds had a dismal opening and faded from theatres with little notice from audiences.
For 2000, Roach directed yet another comedy, Meet The Parents (2000). Starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro, the film tells the tale of a man trying to get along with his future father-in-law. The film was a huge success and spawned a sequel, Meet the Fockers (2004).
For his work on the TV movie Recount (2008), Roach won two Emmys and a 2009 Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement.
Roach presently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Susanna Hoffs, who is an actress and the ex-lead singer of the 80's band The Bangles, and their two children.
Filmography:
Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Meet The Parents (2000)
Mystery, Alaska (1999)
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)