Jon Avnet
American filmmaker (born 1949)
title: "Jon Avnet" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1949-births", "film-producers-from-new-york-(state)", "afi-conservatory-alumni", "american-television-directors", "jewish-american-screenwriters", "living-people", "writers-from-brooklyn", "sarah-lawrence-college-alumni", "john-l.-miller-great-neck-north-high-school-alumni", "film-directors-from-new-york-city", "21st-century-american-jews", "21st-century-american-male-writers"] description: "American filmmaker (born 1949)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Avnet" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American filmmaker (born 1949) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Jon Avnet |
| image | Jon Avnet.jpg |
| caption | Jon Avnet presenting Art Directors Guild award in 2014 |
| birthname | Jonathan Michael Avnet |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| spouse | |
| occupation | Film director, screenwriter, film producer |
| education | Sarah Lawrence College (BA) |
| American Film Institute (MFA) | |
| relatives | Charles Avnet (grandfather) |
| children | 3 |
| known_for | Risky Business, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Black Swan. |
| :: |
| name = Jon Avnet | image = Jon Avnet.jpg | caption = Jon Avnet presenting Art Directors Guild award in 2014 | birthname = Jonathan Michael Avnet | birth_date = | birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | spouse = | occupation = Film director, screenwriter, film producer | education = Sarah Lawrence College (BA) American Film Institute (MFA) | relatives = Charles Avnet (grandfather) | parents = | children = 3 | known_for = Risky Business, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Black Swan. NOTOC Jonathan Michael Avnet (born November 17, 1949) is an American director, writer, and producer.
Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha (née Grossman) and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive with Avnet (a global distributor of IT & electronics) founded by his paternal grandfather, Charles Avnet. He has two siblings, Carole Avnet Rocherolle and Rosalind Avnet Lazarus. He entered the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, and he earned a B.A. degree in film and theater arts from Sarah Lawrence College in 1971. He is Jewish.
Avnet addressed political issues with his fourth film Red Corner in 1997, a movie about the Chinese legal system, starring Richard Gere and Bai Ling. Because of Gere's presence and support for Tibet and the Dalai Lama, they could not film in China, and instead filmed in Southern California. Avnet, however, did film a few scenes in Beijing and included some footage of actual Chinese executions.
Personal life
Avnet has been married to the artist Barbara Brody since 1975. They have three children, Alexandra Avnet Costantino, Jacob Avnet, and Lily Avnet; and six grandchildren.
Filmography
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Risky Business | |||
| 1983 | Deal of the Century | |||
| 1987 | Less than Zero | |||
| 1990 | Men Don't Leave | |||
| 1991 | Fried Green Tomatoes | |||
| 1992 | The Mighty Ducks | |||
| 1993 | The Three Musketeers | |||
| 1994 | D2: The Mighty Ducks | |||
| 1994 | The War | |||
| 1994 | When a Man Loves a Woman | |||
| 1995 | Miami Rhapsody | |||
| 1996 | Up Close & Personal | |||
| 1996 | D3: The Mighty Ducks | |||
| 1997 | Red Corner | |||
| 1997 | George of the Jungle | |||
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | |||
| 2000 | Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her | |||
| 2000 | Steal This Movie | |||
| 2004 | Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow | |||
| 2006 | Land of the Blind | |||
| 2007 | 88 Minutes | |||
| 2008 | Righteous Kill | |||
| 2010 | Black Swan | |||
| 2017 | Three Christs | |||
| 2020 | Four Good Days | |||
| 2025 | The Last Rodeo | |||
| :: |
Television
- Call to Glory (1984–1985)
- The Burning Bed (1984)
- Between Two Women (1986)
- Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge (1995)
- Mama Flora's Family (1998)
- Uprising (2001)
- Boomtown (2002–2003)
- The Starter Wife (miniseries) (2007)
- Justified (2010–2015)
- Have a Little Faith (2011)
- Sneaky Pete (2018-2019)
- Manhunt (2020)
- Justified: City Primeval (2023) Broadway Plays
- Spamalot (2004)
- The Pillowman (2005)
- The History Boys (2006)
- The Seafarer (2007)
- The Country Girl (2008)
References
References
- "Jon Avnet Biography (1949-)".
- Reif, Rita. (January 15, 1994). "Joan Avnet, Dealer, Collector and Donor Of Art, Is Dead at 80". [[The New York Times]].
- (January 4, 1970). "L.F. Avnet Dead; Industrialist, 57". [[The New York Times ]].
- He attended [[Great Neck North High School]] in [[Great Neck, New York]].[http://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/gnps/pages/famous/famous60.html Famous Great Neck Alumni from the 1960s] {{Webarchive. link. (May 28, 2017 , [[Great Neck School District]]. Accessed July 21, 2007.)
- . ["Jon Avnet: Biography"](https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800035352/bio). *Yahoo Entertainment*.
- Weinraub, Bernard. (November 4, 2001). "Television/Radio; A Seldom-Seen Holocaust Image: The Resister". [[The New York Times]].
- "Barbara Brody Avnet".
- "Avnet, Jon 1949–".
- (May 15, 2010). "Alexandra Avnet, Thomas Costantino". [[The New York Times]].
- [http://www.tiff.net/tiff/three-christs/?v=three-christs "Three Christs"] Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved 2017-09-19.
- Grobar, Matt. (2024-10-31). "Angel Studios Sets Memorial Day 2025 Release For Bull Riding Drama 'The Last Rodeo' From 'Fried Green Tomatoes' Helmer Jon Avnet & Neal McDonough".
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