Life and Career
In the 1980s, he worked as a grip on the syndicated anthology series Tales from the Darkside. In 1989, he produced the film Intruder, in which leading roles are Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. His films to date, including such hits as Inglourious Basterds, Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting, have been honored with 29 Academy Award nominations, including three for Best Picture, and have won 6. His film An Inconvenient Truth, which raised unprecedented awareness about climate change, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. His latest documentary, Countdown to Zero, features Tony Blair, Presidents, Musharef, Gorbachev, De Klerk and Carter among others, details the urgent risk posed by proliferation, terrorism, and accidental use of nuclear weapons. Other films include, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), Anna And The King (1999), The Mexican (2001), Innocent Voices (2004), and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 (2004). Lawrence has also produced, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights; Knockaround Guys; A Price Above Rubies; White Man's Burden; Killing Zoe; and Fresh. He produced the 2012 film Safe, which starred Jason Statham.
Bender makes cameo appearance in many of the films he produces: he was a police officer chasing Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, a guest billed as a "long-haired yuppie scum" in both Pulp Fiction and Four Rooms and a hotel clerk in Kill Bill Volume 2.
Since May 2005 Bender has been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post. He now works in Hollywood running the day-to-day operations of his own production company, Lawrence Bender Productions. Bender has been working with Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor to create a television TV series based on the 2007 album Year Zero.
Bender is also a passionate social and political activist and supports many causes. In addition, Bender is on the Advisory Board to the Dean at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and serves on the board of The Creative Coalition. He is a member of Council on Foreign Relations the Pacific Council. He is a recipient of the Torch of Liberty Award from the ACLU and spends much of his time throwing fundraisers for political and social causes in Los Angeles. Additionally, Bender is involved with the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
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