Question: What was the first film directed by Penelope Spheeris?

Penelope Spheeris


Penelope Spheeris (born December 2, 1945 or 1946; sources differ)[1][2][3] is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.  She has directed both documentary film and scripted films.  Her best known works include the trilogy titled The Decline of Western Civilization, each covering an aspect of Los Angeles underground culture,[4] and the film Wayne's World, her highest-grossing film.[5]
Early life
Spheeris was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to a Greek immigrant father who owned the Magic Empire Shows carnival and was a side-show strong man. Her mother was a ticket taker for a traveling carnival.[1] Spheeris has three full siblings and a number of older half-siblings from her father's first marriage.[6]  She is a sister of singer Jimmie Spheeris[7] and a first cousin of musician Chris Spheeris,[7] and the Greek-French director Costa Gavras,[7] which she says has made her consider that there is a genetic component to her vocation.[7]
Spheeris spent her first seven years traveling around the American South and American Midwest with her father's carnival.[8]  Her father was shot and killed in Troy, Alabama after intervening in a racial dispute.  In a 2015 interview, Spheeris stated that her father had come to the aid of an African American man who had been struck on the back of the head with a cane by a white man over a dispute about cutting in front of him in line.  The white man soon after returned and shot Spheeris' father dead.  She states that her father's killer served no jail time, the man's legal defence apparently resting entirely on the claim that he was justified in murdering Spheeris senior as "he was defending a black."[6]
After her father's death, Spheeris and her three siblings moved with their mother to California, generally living in trailer parks with a succession of stepfathers.[9]  She spent her teenage years in Orange County, graduating from Westminster High School with a daunting 'most likely to succeed' label. 
After high school, Spheeris attended Long Beach State College where she majored in art. She admired the teachings of George Falcon, a behavioural scientist. From his influence, Spheeris went on to study psychobiology at the University of California, Irvine, in Orange County, California, southeast of Los Angeles.[10]
Working as a waitress at Denny's and IHOP, she put herself through film school. She majored in film and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater Arts from UCLA in Los Angeles, California.[11]
Career
Spheeris launched her career by producing short subjects for comedian Albert Brooks, many of them being highlights in the first season of the television series Saturday Night Live. Her first feature film was The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), a punk rock documentary that she produced as well as directed. She followed up with The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, this time about the Los Angeles heavy metal scene of 1988, with footage and interviews of legendary metal bands such as Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Megadeth and Motörhead. She later returned to the streets of Los Angeles and the punk rock scene in 1998 for the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. She was offered the chance to direct This is Spinal Tap, but declined.[12]
In addition, she worked as a writer for the television series Roseanne (1988-1997). In the 1990s, she directed Wayne's World, a comedy based on Mike Myers' skits from Saturday Night Live. The movie grossed over $183 million and became a popular hit. She directed the Wayne's World music video work for Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which earned a Grammy Award nomination.[11] She had difficulty working with Myers, while acknowledging him as "profoundly talented," and in an Entertainment Weekly article stated she believes Myers dissuaded Paramount Pictures from hiring her for the sequel.[13]
In 1996, she directed We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll, a documentary about the Ozzfest, produced by Sharon Osbourne, which explored life on the road.[11]
Other films Spheeris has directed include The Beverly Hillbillies; The Little Rascals (for which she co-wrote the screenplay); the Chris Farley comedy Black Sheep; the Marlon Wayans-David Spade team-up Senseless;[11] and The Kid & I starring Tom Arnold.[11] In 2006, she was set to direct the still-unfilmed Gospel According to Janis, about Janis Joplin.[11]
The Portland Oregon Women's Film Festival named Spheeris its guest of honor for 2013.[14]
The moving image collection of Penelope Spheeris is held at the Academy Film Archive.[15] The Academy Film Archive has preserved several of Penelope Spheeris' films, including "Bath," "Hats Off To Hollywood," and "Shit."[16]
Personal life
Spheeris has a daughter, director Anna Spheeris Fox, born in 1969.[17]
Since 1998 Spheeris has been in a relationship with Sin whom she met while filming the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization III.[18]
Radio and Podcast Appearances
Spheeris appeared on WTF with Marc Maron on June 29, 2015.[19]
She appeared on Ken Reid's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on October 18, 2016.
Awards
Spheeris work has received recognition from the Directors Guild of America, The Recording Academy, Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the Chicago International Film Festival, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Deep Ellum Film Festival, the LA Femme International Film Festival, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival, the Melbourne International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Temecula Valley International Film Festival.[20]
1983 WON - Chicago International Film Festival award - Silver Hugo for Best First Feature Film (Suburbia)
1992 Nominated - Grammy award for Best Music Video - Long Form ("Bohemian Rhapsody (Wayne's World Version)")
1993 WON - The Stinkers Bad Movie award for Worst Resurrection of a Television Show (The Beverly Hillbillies)
1998 WON - Chicago Underground Film Festival award - Jury award for Best Documentary (The Decline of Western Civilization Part III)
1998 Nominated - Sundance Film Festival award - Grand Jury award for Documentary (The Decline of Western Civilization Part III)
1998 WON - Sundance Film Festival award - Freedom of Expression Award (The Decline of Western Civilization Part III)
2001 WON - Deep Ellum Film Festival award - Pioneer Filmmaker award
2001 WON - Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival award - Spirit of Silver Lake award
2001 WON - Melbourne International Film Festival award - Most Popular Documentary (We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n Roll)
2003 WON - Temecula Valley International Film Festival award - Lifetime Achievement Award
2005 WON - LA Femme International Film Festival award - Maverick Award
2009 WON - Los Angeles Greek Film Festival award - Honorary Award
2012 Nominated - Directors Guild award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Miniseries (Five)
Filmography
Film

Television

Music Videos

Reception
Critical, public, and commercial reception to films Spheeris has directed.






 on IMDb
 at the TCM Movie Database