John McTiernan

John McTiernan
Born	John Campbell McTiernan, Jr.
Occupation(s)	film director and producer
Spouse(s)	Carol Land (1974-?) Donna Dubrow (1988-1997) Kate Harrington (2003-present)
Children	Truman Elizabeth McTiernan
Parent	John McTiernan Sr

John Campbell McTiernan, Jr. (born January 8, 1951) is an American movie director, best known for his action films and his criminal conviction in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal.

Overview

McTiernan was born in Albany, New York and was an M.F.A. graduate of the AFI Conservatory. He arguably is most identifiable with the three films he directed back-to-back: Predator, Die Hard, and The Hunt for Red October. McTiernan was once discussed as being involved in a fourth Die Hard movie, but the producers stated in early 2006 that they were pursuing a new director, who eventually was announced to be Len Wiseman.

Partial filmography

Movies directed by McTiernan include:

• Nomads (1986)
• Predator (1987)
• Die Hard (1988)
• The Hunt for Red October (1990)
• Medicine Man (1992)
• Last Action Hero (1993)
• Die Hard with a Vengeance (1996)
• The 13th Warrior (1999)
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
• Rollerball (2002)
• Basic (2003)
• The Camel Wars (2008)
• Deadly Exchange (2009)
• Run (TBA)
• High Stakes (TBA)

Criminal conviction

On April 3, 2006, McTiernan was charged in federal court with lying to the FBI during an interview in the wiretapping investigation involving Anthony Pellicano. He was arraigned and pleaded guilty on April 17, 2006, and is the 14th person charged in this case.

McTiernan was charged with an information, rather than in grand jury indictment, which means he waived his right to an indictment and suggests he may have reached either a prior plea agreement with prosecutors or some sort of cooperating agreement.[1]

Some time later, upon retaining new counsel, McTiernan attempted to withdraw his guilty plea. On September 24, 2007, this bid was denied by Federal District Judge Dale S. Fischer. She then proceeded to sentence McTiernan to four months in prison for lying about his relationship with Pellicano. McTiernan's lawyers had asked for no jail time, claiming his ranch in Dayton, Wyoming, would suffer from his absence. The judge said she found this argument "completely lacking in credibility." She further noted the ranch had easily survived his multi-year absences in the past to make films. She found specious his assertions that his desire to make patriotic films and his previous refusal to film material casting FBI agents in a bad light meant he should not receive jail time. The judge further characterized McTiernan as someone who "lived a privileged life and simply wants to continue that." He was ordered to surrender for incarceration by January 15, 2008. His lawyers stated thereafter he planned to appeal this conviction.[2]

Invasion of privacy civil suit

On July 3, 2006, McTiernan's former wife, film producer Donna Dubrow, filed suit against him for invasion of privacy and other claims arising from his hiring Pellicano to wiretap her telephone illegally.[3][4]

External links

• John McTiernan at IMDb
• "Filmmaker Says He Lied in FBI Probe" The Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2006.
• "Links Between Pellicano, Director Come Into Focus" The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 2006.
• "Pellicano Inquiry Expands to Snare Director of 'Predator'" The Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2006.
• "Film Director Accused of Lying to FBI in Pellicano Scandal" The LA Weekly, April 3, 2006.