CHUCK RUSSELL began his Hollywood career working on Roger Corman films as a production assistant and assistant director. He quickly established himself as a screenwriter on such pictures as the cult hit Dreamscape while he continued to develop his career in film production. Russell served as producer on Back to School, starring Rodney Dangerfield, and Girls Just Want to Have Fun, starring Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker. Russells directorial debut, Nightmare on Elm Street III, which he co-wrote with Frank Darabont, renewed the Elm Street franchise and was the highest grossing independent film ever made at the time of its release.
More recently, Russell directed the box-office hit The Mask, which launched Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz into international stardom and set a new standard in the world of visual effects. Russell followed that up with a second major international hit, Eraser, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams.
Russell was raised in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.A. in liberal arts and sciences.