Christopher "Chris" Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an
American film director,
producer and
screenwriter. Columbus had most success with the
Home Alone film (1990), winning a
British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film.
Life and career
Columbus was born in
Spangler, Pennsylvania and raised in
Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Irene, a factory worker, and Alex Columbus, an
aluminum plant worker and
coal miner.
[www.filmreference.com/film/13/Chris-Columbus.html] Columbus is of Italian and Czech descent. His father died in 1995 and his mother died of cancer in 1997. Columbus married Monica Devereux in 1983 with whom he had four children: Eleanor, Violet, Brendan, and Isabella.
Columbus graduated from
Tisch School of the Arts and made his directorial debut with the teen comedy
Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus also created and wrote the first episodes of the animated series
Galaxy High (1986–87).