Ron Underwood: Movies & Box Office

Ronald Brian Underwood, born on November 6, 1953 in Glendale, California, is an American film and television director whose career spans over four decades. Growing up the son of Ella Julia (née Green) and Laurence Joseph Underwood, he spent part of his youth as an American Field Service exchange student in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), an experience that sparked his curiosity about diverse cultures and later influenced his cinematic storytelling. After a brief pre‑medicine stint at Occidental College, he transferred to the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema, majoring in cinema with a minor in anthropology, and produced his first short documentary, Hang Gliding: The New Freedom, which was distributed by Paramount’s short‑film division. Following a fellowship at the American Film Institute, Underwood cut his teeth directing educational shorts for Barr Films, amassing over a hundred titles including an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s “Deer in the Works,” and earning a Peabody Award for the live‑action/stop‑motion adaptation of The Mouse and the Motorcycle. His breakthrough into mainstream cinema arrived with the 1990 cult classic Tremors, a creature‑feature that showcased his skill in blending humor, tension, and inventive special effects, and was later cemented as a beloved genre staple. The subsequent box‑office hit City Slickers (1991) propelled him into commercial success, grossing $179 million worldwide and earning Jack Palance an Academy Award. Underwood continued to direct a varied slate of films such as Heart and Souls (1993), Speechless (1994), and the visually ambitious Mighty Joe Young (1998), the latter garnering an Oscar nomination for Visual Effects. Though The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002) faltered commercially, he rebounded by focusing on television, directing episodes of acclaimed series including Monk, Boston Legal, Ugly Betty, Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Fear the Walking Dead. His TV movies—Stealing Sinatra (2003) and Back When We Were Grownups (2004)—earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for their leads, underscoring his enduring versatility across mediums.