Paul Verhoeven

Born in Amsterdam in 1938, Paul Verhoeven became interested in cinema during his six years at Holland’s University of Leiden, where he earned a doctoral degree in mathematics and physics. After directing three short films, he served with the Royal Dutch Navy as a documentary maker, a skill he put to use on his return to civilian life. Entering Dutch television, Verhoeven directed documentaries and the television hit “Floris” (1969), an adventure series starring Rutger Hauer. His first feature film was Business is Business (1971). His next film, Turkish Delight, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974. Soldier of Orange (1977), a World War II drama about the Dutch underground, won the L.A. Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film and was nominated for a Golden Globe. Spetters (1980), a controversial look at Dutch teenagers, was followed by the Film Noir The Fourth Man (1983), which won the L.A. Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film and the Toronto Film Festival’s International Critics’ Award. Robocop (1987) was his first Hollywood feature. His subsequent film, Total Recall (1990), was a box office smash. Verhoeven continued to work in Hollywood, directing Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995), Starship Troopers (1997), and Hollow Man (2000). Most recently, Verhoeven directed Black Book (2006), Tricked (2012), Elle (2016), and Benedetta (2021).