Stephen King

Born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, Stephen King is one of the most prolific horror and fantasy novelists of our time. What makes Stephen King a household name, though, is his role as one of the main suppliers of blockbuster content to Hollywood. From his first novel, Carrie, published in 1974 and made into a movie just two years later, King has cranked out a string of hits, including The Shining (book 1977, film 1980), Cujo (book 1981, film 1983), and Christine (both 1983). In 1986, King expanded the audience for his books even further when actor and director Rob Reiner turned a 1982 King novella called The Body into his third feature film, Stand By Me. Set in the town of Castle Rock (Maine in King's novella, Oregon in Reiner's movie), the story follows a group of four 12-year-old boys, who discover the dead body of one of their friends on a railroad track. Though King did not write the screenplay, he felt it faithfully captured the spirit of his book. That may be why in 1990, Reiner, who named his production company after the name King's fictitious town, Castle Rock, directed another film, Misery, based on the 1987 King novel of the same name.