Tim Burton biography, wife, net worth, age, children, family, height 2025

Tim Burton’s biography

Tim Burton is an American director who proved himself as an animator. He often writes scripts for his films and also acts as producer. The gloom of presentation of the material in addition to specific humor is peculiar to Burton. He is told to have managed to rediscover Gothic. Net worth: $150 million.

Early years

Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank on August 25, 1958. His father Bill was a former baseball player and after completing his sports career he settled in the state unit responsible for the parks and recreation areas of the city. His mother Jean ran a shop selling products for cats.

Tim Burton in childhood with his mother and younger brother

Socialization at school passed mixed: Tim didn’t really want to study and communicate, however, he liked water polo, and he became a member of the local team. Being a loner by nature, Burton preferred to spend his free time at cinemas or developing his own film projects.

It is considered that the future director started shooting short films in his yard since 8 years old. Almost nothing from that material has remained. There was a cemetery near the house, probably it also left an imprint on Burton’s vision of the world.

In 1976 Tim entered the California Institute of the Arts, where he learned the basics of animation. Three years later he got a job at the Disney studio. It is hard to say his career in the company was right away, various things happened: misunderstandings with bosses, promotions, and moves to other departments. Burton released the Vincent cartoon-short film (1982) under the auspices of Disney. Even then, many noted how different are Tim’s and his employers’ styles.

The story of Frankenweenie (1984) pushed both sides to end relationship. The management of Disney found the cartoon about a dog’s reviving corpse too scary for children. Many years later the animated short film was refined to a full-length cartoon.

Career

The gap with Disney also had its positive side. Paul Reubens, a then-famous comedian, imbued with sympathy for the young talent, after watching his short films, and offered to shoot the Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) family comedy.

Tim Burton and Paul Reubens on the set of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

After finishing work on the debut Tim took up the Beetlejuice(1988) and invited Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton for the lead roles. The initial version of the script differed not only by the gloominess traditional for the director but also by serious immersion in the subject. Unwilling to complicate the plot, Burton gave up a number of lines and rotations, making the picture easier to understand. As a result, the director received the first nomination for a big award, but the statuette of the Saturn award went to Robert Zemeckis. The film also received an Oscar for best makeup.

According to Burton, the soon appeared option to take up comics and put Batman (1989) was a surprise. The cast of the picture is impressive, with the names of Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton. If the interview is about Tim’s authorial method of work, he often agrees with many of the features assigned to him, but he separates this picture from the rest. The director considers that in comparison with the current stories about the Dark Knight, his interpretation is a children’s matinee if we talk about the gloom and forcing of all the strange. Anyway, the picture became another step towards the development of the superhero movie.

The Edward Scissorhands (1990) film not only finally approved Burton’s style, but also allowed his duet with Johnny Depp to be formed for many years. The trust between the director and the actor is so great that the latter signed contracts for filming in his friend’s pictures either without reading the script at all or at times when works on the text still went on.

It’s interesting, but initially, Depp’s candidacy did not seem to Burton so obvious for the role of the cyborg with scissor arms. He could easily be replaced by Jim Carrey or Robert Downey Jr., who were also among the candidates.

According to Zoomboola.com, in 1992 Tim again took up the batman and his universe. Michael Keaton put on a superhero costume for the second time for Batman Returns (1992). The people surrounding his character had changed, hence the changes in the cast: Michelle Pfeiffer reincarnated into Catwoman and Danny De Vito into Penguin.

Tim Burton and Danny De Vito on the set of Batman Returns

Due to busyness, Burton couldn’t take the director’s chair of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), though the original story came from his pen. The cartoon was initially taken pretty cool, but subsequently adopted the status of a cult.

On the set of The Nightmare Before Christmas

The director wanted to slightly shift the focus of work and expand the horizons. He chose the story of the worst director in Hollywood as his next goal. This is how Ed Wood (1994) appeared, which was not very popular with the audience but was noted in various nominations at leading awards and festivals. Especially critics and colleagues liked the play by Martin Landau.

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp and Sarah Jessica Parker on the set of Ed Wood

After talking about serious topics in his usual manner, Tim plunged into the comedy fiction - Mars Attacks! (1996). For the first time, the director used computer graphics. He invited many actors whom he had worked with before, but there were also novices starring like Pierce Brosnan.

The director switched from comedy to horror, releasing Sleepy Hollow (1999). Johnny Depp was again in the foreground, and Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken helped him to frighten and amaze the audience. An entire village was built as scenery - Britain than didn’t know similar scope in filming.

Since Burton always loved the franchise about primates who swapped with people, he gladly responded to the request to take the helm of the new Planet of the Apes (2001). At the site where Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Paul Giamatti also worked, the director tied up the affair with Helena Bonham Carter, who became the beloved and the muse of Burton for many years.

Tim replaced fiction with the Big Fish (2003) - estimated by many amateurs and professionals as his best full-length film. This fantasy-style parable is a hoax including many subthemes: the relationship of fathers and children, love, acceptance of truth, and fiction. Ewan McGregor, Marion Cotillard and Jessica Lange helped Burton to present his thoughts to the audience and ideally fit into the adaptation of the novel by Daniel Wallace.

The next film by the director Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) turned out to be fantastic. Johnny Depp was noted in the image of eccentric manufacturer Willy Wonka, and the other lead role went to then very young Freddie Highmore. The process of the picture’s creation came out incredibly time-consuming, as much attention was paid to details. For example, it was necessary to train 40 squirrels for a short scene, and Deep Roy played many characters at once, because of which he repeated the text like a broken record. Apparently, the director was so tired that he wanted to take a break from the big cinema and switch to animation.

On the set of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Tim received his first nomination for an Oscar in 2006 for the Corpse Bride (2005) cartoon. It fully corresponded to the way once chosen by the animator: from drawing the characters to the general oppressive atmosphere.

Top 10 Tim Burton Movies

A year had passed and Burton had already received the Golden Lion in Venice for his contribution to the cinematography. By that time, he had just finished the Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007). Familiar faces again could be met in the cast, including Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, as well as the favorite manner of talking about death as something workaday, and the habit of adding color to it.

On the set of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Who else but Burton was supposed to take over Alice in Wonderland (2010)? He was given a large budget and allowed to fully fill the cast and wasn’t limited at all during the production process. Collections have exceeded one billion and the film itself tried to pass the sweet madness and nonsense of the book.

Burton eagerly gave interviews after the premiere, from which it followed that he was assigned to the Maleficent. At that time Angelina Jolie was just taking a close look at the project. As a result, those, expressing each other sympathy through the media, failed to cooperate: the film was released in 2014 and was directed by Robert Stromberg.

Burton is told to have managed to rediscover Gothic

Burton’s Dark Shadows (2012) reminded many of The Addams Family (1991). Periodically rumors occur that if the series is rerun, it is Tim who will lead the process, so perhaps some of the similarities are partially a hint. The collections did not cover a large budget of 150 million, and not only the director but also Johnny Depp, who plays the leading role was criticized.

Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter at the premiere of Dark Shadows

After nearly thirty years, the director returned to one of his first and favorite characters, whom he considered undervalued. He released a new version, now the full-length cartoon Frankenweenie (2012). The plot differed from the original, and Burton explained it quite simply: he wouldn’t work with the same material and repeat it. The animation film was nominated for a number of awards including the Oscar.

The trailer of Tim Burton’s cartoon Frankenweenie

Then Burton chose another biography, willing to tell it in cinematic language. Not the most typical film for the director the Big Eyes (2014) with Amy Adams in the lead role sheds light on the life of a real artist, faced with injustice and fighting for recognition of merit.

Tim Burton and Amy Adams on the set of Big eyes

There were some difficulties yet since writing the script with the screening of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016). The plot of the book was mostly based on the photos found by the hero Asa Butterfield. Their description and other details related to the photos didn’t fit into the cinema format. Original steps had to be made and the original text by young playwright Ransom Riggs had to be adapted in all available ways.

Tim Burton on the set of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Either the lack of time or other reasons affected Burton’s decision to give up the director’s chair to James Bobin in the Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) film and remain only among the producers. A long break after the release of the original film didn’t prevent the authors from retaining the main cast. The motley company was joined by racy Sasha Baron Cohen. According to many articles, the film is called a failure. It was impossible to even get close to the success of the first part.

Tim Burton’s personal life

Tim was officially married only once: his marriage with German artist Lena Gieseke lasted from 1987 to 1991.

Tim Burton with Lena Gieseke and Lisa Marie (photo from the right)

After that, the director was linked to a relationship with the model and actress Lisa Marie for 13 years. They even got engaged and Tim shot his beloved in bit parts. The couple put an end in 2001, and the separation was accompanied by financial claims from Lisa. She received about five and a half million and wanted to increase the compensation but the court dismissed the claim. Marie arranged an auction in 2005, putting Tim’s personal belongings on it. He was angry and upset, but couldn’t do anything.

Tim Burton with Helena Bonham Carter and children

The preparation for the new film of the Planet of the Apes (2001) franchise marked the beginning of a romance with actress Helena Bonham Carter. In 2003 she gave birth to son Billy and daughter Nell in 2007. Johnny Depp, a longtime friend of Burton, the number of common films with whom confidently strives for a dozen, baptized both children. Rumors occurred in the press about the imminent wedding of the director and the actress. Bells didn’t ring: the civilian spouses announced that they parted and remained friends in 2014.

Tim Burton nowadays

It is worthwhile for the director not to appear in public for some time, as various rumors about his potential projects arise.

One of Burton’s last major works was the film Dumbo (2019). In addition to Danny De Vito, Michael Keaton and Colin Farrell, Eva Green also participates in the creation of the picture. Burton considers the actress the embodiment of the style of old Hollywood, why he is glad to return to cooperation again and again.

The trailer of Tim Burton’s Dumbo

In 2020, it became known that Tim Burton is going to make his own cartoon about Batman, the main character in which Johnny Depp can play.

Tim Burton: latest news and articles

What Connects Jenna Ortega to Wednesday Addams and How She Landed that Role

24 May 2023

Let’s choose the best director of our time

1 Mar 2019

Michelle Crawford

Burton has the best version of Alice in Wonderland! I don`t think somebody will do it better then him.

2021-05-17 20:15:38
Edward Cole

Miss Peregrine`s Home for Peculiar Children is, if not the pinnacle of his filmmaking, then definitely a very close point. The movie is cool. I don`t understand why some people don`t like him so much. Burton is a genius.

2021-05-12 22:15:32
Juanita Smith

I love cartoons by Burton! I watched all of them and many times. The Nightmare Before Christmas I reviewed in the New Year holidays with The Irony of Fate.

2021-04-27 18:31:28
Dorothy Hall

I love Burton, because he`s a big fan of Johnny Depp. As I`m! :D If he has a new movie coming out, then with probability 60% of it there will be Johnny.

2021-02-26 08:39:36
Jeffrey Underwood

Who doesn`t know Tim Burton at all? Ask anyone for a list of his favorite films and there will definitely be one from this director :)

2021-02-19 16:28:44