Samuel Marshall Raimi was born on 23 October 1959, in Royal Oak, Michigan USA, to Celia Barbara and Leonard Ronald Raimi, of Russian and Hungarian descent. He is a director, producer, screenwriter and actor, probably best known for the cult horror “Evil Dead” series, which he created, and for directing the “Spider-Man” trilogy.
A noted filmmaker, how rich is Sam Raimi now? According to sources, Raimi has established a net worth of over $55 million, as of mid-2016. His fortune has been earned through his involvement in the film and television industry, as a director, producer, writer and actor.
Sam Raimi Net Worth $55 Million
Raimi grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, along with his four siblings, one of them being the actor Ted Raimi, and another the screenwriter Ivan Raimi. After matriculating from Groves High School, he enrolled at Michigan State University to study filmmaking, but dropped out after three semesters.
Raimi became involved in filming during his teenage years, being inspired by his father who enjoyed making home movies. During his time at Michigan State, he shot two short horror films, “Within the Woods” and “Clockwork”, followed by another horror, “It’s Murder!” He eventually left college to start working on “The Evil Dead” project, which was released in 1981. The film went on to become a cult classic, bringing Raimi a lot of attention from Hollywood and considerably adding to his net worth.
In 1987 he created the sequel “Evil Dead II”, achieving modest success. His 1990 superhero film “Darkman” was also a modest hit. In 1993 Raimi released “Evil Dead III”, the last installment of the “Evil Dead” series. However, the film, retitled “Army of Darkness”, failed to achieve the success of its predecessors.
Raimi’s 1995 film “The Quick and the Dead” marked his transition from horror to the western genre, but it proved to be a box office failure. However, his next project, the 1998 crime thriller “A Simple Plan” was extremely successful, as well as his 1999 romantic drama “For Love of the Game”. The films boosted Raimi’s directing career, greatly contributing to his wealth.
Raimi enjoyed astonishing popularity during the early 2000s. In 2001 he created one of the biggest hits ever, an adaptation of the Stan Lee comic book superhero, “Spider-Man”, which became a massive box office success, grossing over $800 million worldwide. It was followed by two sequels, the 2004 “Spider-Man 2” and the 2007 “Spider-Man 3”, both scoring the box office success of the first film. The “Spider-Man” triology made Raimi a star, significantly improving his net worth.
In 2013 he directed the big-budget adventure film “Oz, the Great and Powerful”, a prequel to the classic “The Wizard of Oz”, and went on to direct two episodes of the 2015 television series “Rake”.
Aside from being a director, Raimi has also released numerous projects through his production company Ghost House Pictures, including the 2013 remake of “Evil Dead” and the entire “The Grudge” franchise. He has also produced many television series, such as “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and its spin-off “Xena: Warrior Princess”, “M.A.N.T.I.S.”, “American Gothic” and “Jack of All Trades”. He is currently working on a film adaption of the hit video game “The Last of Us”.
As an actor, he has made cameo appearances in films such as “Miller’s Crossing”, “The Hudsucker Proxy”, “Indian Summer” and “Spies Like Us”, as well as television films “Body Bags” and “Indian Summer”. All added to his wealth.
In his personal life, Raimi has been married to Gillian Dania Greene, daughter of the late actor Lorne Greene, since 1993. The couple has five children.
Full Name
Sam Raimi
Net Worth
$55 Million
Date Of Birth
October 23, 1959
Place Of Birth
Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Height
5' 11" (1.8 m)
Profession
Producer, Writer, Actor, Director
Education
Groves High School, Michigan State University
Nationality
American
Spouse
Gillian Dania Greene (m. 1993-)
Children
Emma Raimi, Lorne Raimi, Henry Raimi, Schooley Raimi, Dashiell William Raimi
Parents
Leonard Ronald Raimi, Celia Barbara Abrams
Siblings
Ted Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Sander Raimi, Andrea Raimi Rubin
Facebook
IMDB
Allmusic
Awards
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films: Saturn Award (2005), George Pal Memorial Award (2001), Golden Raven Award, Empire Award (2005), Critics' Award (Fantasporto), Filmmaker's Award (2016), Sitges - Time-Machine Honorary Award/Best Director/Prize of the International Critics' Jury
Nominations
Hugo Awards, Empire Awards, UK, Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival, Grand Prize (1993)
Movies
"The Possession" (2012), "Evil Dead" (2013), "Hercules and the Lost Kingdom" (1994), "Drag Me to Hell" (2009), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), "Spider-Man 3" (2007), "Army of Darkness", "Don't Breathe" (2016), "The Last of Us" (2017)
TV Shows
"It's Murder!" (1977), "M.A.N.T.I.S." (1994-1997), "Spy Game" (1997), "Evil Dead 2" (1987), "Ash vs Evil Dead" (2015-), "Oz, the Great and Powerful"
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Trademark
1
Close up or zoom into a character's eyes or mouth before said character is attacked or inflicted/inflicting pain.
His characters are often ordinary individuals caught up in extraordinary circumstances
4
Unflinchingly graphic and brutal depiction of violence
5
References to classic comedy films, horror films and the works of Alfred Hitchcock
6
Frequently films scenes in which a main character is on the receiving end of an extremely brutal attack
7
Known for humorously "abusing" actors, i.e, hitting them with tree branches to simulate getting hit with debris, throwing popcorn at them.
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Known for inflicting physical violence on main characters either with large violent scenes or smaller ones throughout.
9
Bloody but comical set pieces
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Supernatural and fantasy themes
11
Often collaborates with the Coen Brothers
12
[POV] Often features a shot from the point-of-view of the villain/monster (The Dark Spirit in the Evil Dead films, the camera view of Dr. Octopus' mechanical tentacles in Spider-Man 2 (2004), the black blob from outer space in Spider-Man 3 (2007)).
13
Always has his car (a yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 dubbed "the classic") somewhere visible to the audience in all of his films (including a modified covered wagon, according to Bruce Campbell, in The Quick and the Dead (1995)). It is even visible in the Spider-Man (2002) trailer (the car that Spider-Man jumps on).
14
Often includes scenes in his movies in which large clocks/clock towers play important parts (The Quick and the Dead (1995), Spider-Man 2 (2004)).
15
Usually wears a jacket and tie on the set of his films, a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock.
16
Frequently figures out difficult shots by "reverse motion acting" (filming the actor acting backwards and playing in reverse).
Often has a voice-over from a principal character at the end of his films (Army of Darkness (1992), all the Spider-Man films).
22
[Shemp] Often credits a character called a "Shemp", another homage to The Three Stooges. Most frequently, it is a "Fake Shemp", a reference to the Three Stooges shorts where a stuntman was used in place of Shemp Howard.
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[The Three Stooges] He uses Stooge-like sequences in many of his movies (especially in the Evil Dead films). Raimi is a huge fan of The Three Stooges. He made many super-8 films that resembled classic Stooge shorts.
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Quote
1
[on Crimewave (1985)] I wanted it to be the ultimate picture of entertainment. To thrill, chill, make the audience laugh, cry, scream... They screamed for their money back.
2
After I made The Quick and the Dead (1995) - which was the ultimate "style-fest" for me - I felt very empty. And I felt that I cannot continue down this road of style. I need substance. So, I took a break from the movie business for a couple of years and I said that I wanted to find a picture where the script is the movie and the acting is the movie. And my wife showed me "A Simple Plan," the book from Scott B. Smith. And I loved it and it's a brilliant screenplay. And that's where I was then -- I was all about being invisible as the director, with no style and letting Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton and Brent Briscoe and Bridget Fonda do the heavy lifting. And I loved it -- it reinvigorated me and reminded me of why I love the movies.
3
[on undertaking Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)] I didn't want anything to do with it. I really had so much respect for the original movie that I didn't want to even read it. [But later] I actually fell in love with the characters in the story and I realized this does not dishonour the original 'Wizard of Oz' movie. It's a love note to the works of Baum.
4
The Dark Knight (2008) was brilliant, and the audience seemed to love it, and I think it rightfully raises expectations for the other superhero pictures, which is a great thing for everybody, for the filmmakers, for the audience.
5
I look at myself as an entertainer, more than anything else. I wanted to make the movie a little more different than the previous films. ... That was less about me growing as a craftsman. That was more about me trying to provide an element to the audience that I thought they might need something different, that came from a different place.
6
In an American horror film, you usually have a character and a shot of them. Then their point-of-view moving down a hallway, approaching a door and they're coming closer to the door. And a hand reaches for the knob, and you know, the moment or the moment before or the moment after, based on the timing of the editor and the director, there'll be a big moment of an attack or a scare. What Shimizu does is a moment where Sarah Michelle Gellar is opening this closet, to see what's inside, and we Americans think something is going to jump out, there's nothing in the closet but darkness. And then you start to realize, within that darkness, you see a shape. Is it a knee? Oh, yes it's a knee, and there's a face in there. That's always been there. That I can just perceive within the blackness. And it unnerves me in the freakiest way! And in a completely different way than the sledgehammer technique of some of our cruder American directors. [pause] Such as myself!"
7
At every step of the way wanted to be careful to make sure that what they thought worked in Japanese horror got translated into this. [Taka and Shimizu] didn't want to have solid explanations for everything. That was the challenge, to somehow make it acceptable to the American audience, rules being one of the many things we talked about but not lose what make it striking and unique. [on The Grudge (2004)]
8
I think if people love the source material, and that's really whey they're making the movie, then that's a natural outcome. That the things we all love, and work with the creators of the movie to save the things that were so effective. I think it's situations where people don't love the material, they just say, oh that was a big hit, it could be a big hit here. It's just generalizing. Things got lost if you don't understand why people like a thing. When you love something, it's easy to say, 'That's my son, cut out his heart? No, he needs the heart.' It's harder when you don't love the thing yourself.
9
And I do think there's a new crop of American filmmakers coming. And they're in high school right now. They're in Mrs. Dawson's English class! They've got new tools, they've got computers and the video cameras, which are the equivalent of our super-8mm training ground. It's even better because they can shoot for free. We had to gather up like four bucks, five bucks to buy a roll of film, another three bucks to process it, and that was a very limiting [thing], in high school you've gotta rake leaves for three hours to shoot a roll of film! So these new filmmakers have these advanced editing tools with the incredible manipulation of imagery available on a standard computer."
10
And it was great making movies in college because if you made the right movie you'd get this cigar box full of $5 and $1 bills, you'd have like 500 bucks after a weekend. And it was like oh my god, we're rich! We've got to make another picture. But if the movie bombed, you spent a lot of money on the movie, on the ads at the State news, renting the theater, lugging these heavy speakers, the projector bulbs, [and] it was a washout, you realize this movie is not making money. I'm broke. I've got to make the movie that they want to see. So it was a great learning experience.
11
Audiences really don't go see a lot of movies - except in L.A. and New York I think, and maybe one or two other cities, maybe Chicago - where there are foreign-born, foreign-speaking actors. That's just the culture we are.
12
I love the Spider-Man character. And that's what's at the heart of it. That's why I really love it. But there's another fun thing that I never had before where you make your movie and a lot of people see it and they seem to like it. So it's like oh my god, I've always been the nerd, lame ass guy on the side, but I made something that a lot of people like. I know that won't last for long, and I'm obviously riding the Spider-Man thing. He's a popular character for 40 years. So anyone who makes a Spider-Man movie gets to make a popular movie. But it's fun to be popular, even if it's a brief, lame thing, and even though I know it's not important. I can't help it. It's really fun and I know how quickly things turn in Hollywood.
The first director ever to do three live-action adaptations of a comic book character.
11
Over his years as a director, Raimi's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 (originally bought by Raimi's father for the family when Sam was 14) has "played" Ash's car in the Evil Dead movies, Uncle Ben and Aunt May's car in the Spider-Man movies, Annie's car in The Gift (2000), and Mrs. Ganoush's car in Drag Me to Hell (2009), and has made cameos in nearly all of his other movies.
At college he ran a film society, but instead of renting films to exhibit he and his friends created their own feature-length movies on Super 8 and showed them to the campus audiences instead.
Graduate of Birmingham Groves High School in Birmingham, Michigan in 1977.
17
His breakthrough project, the low-budget horror cult film The Evil Dead (1981), had an estimated budget of $350,000. Twenty-five years later he helmed a production with an estimated budget at 1,000 times the cost of that film, Spider-Man 3 (2007), with an estimated production cost of $350,000,000, making it the most expensive motion picture produced up to that time.
18
He wanted to adapt and direct The Shadow (1994), but was denied the rights to do it. Instead, he created his own superhero with his film Darkman (1990).
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Featured on Premiere's Power 50 list from 2003 to 2006 with the following rankings: #37 in 2003, #48 in 2004, #33 in 2005, and #23 in 2006.
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His family name was changed from the German name Reingewertz.
21
His oldest brother, Sander, died in a swimming pool accident at the age of 15 while on a scholarship trip to Israel. Sander used to perform magic tricks for Sam and his friends; when he died, Sam learned to perform the tricks himself.
Many years before landing the role of director on the Spider-Man movies, Raimi planned to create a film based on Marvel's comic interpretation of "The Mighty Thor" with Stan Lee. While the movie never materialized, Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and many other Marvel characters, became good friends with Raimi and later appeared in cameos on the Spidey flicks.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Circle of Fire
1994
TV Movie executive producer
Timecop
1994
producer
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys - Hercules and the Lost Kingdom
1994
TV Movie executive producer
Hercules and the Amazon Women
1994
TV Movie executive producer
M.A.N.T.I.S.
1994
TV Movie executive producer
Hard Target
1993
executive producer
Darkman
1992
TV Movie executive producer
Lunatics: A Love Story
1991
executive producer
The Dead Next Door
1989
executive producer - as The Master Cylinder
Easy Wheels
1989
executive producer
The Evil Dead
1981
executive producer
Clockwork
1978
Short producer
Within the Woods
1978
Short executive producer
It's Murder!
1977
producer
Don't Breathe 2
producer announced
The Last of Us
producer announced
Noir
2017
TV Series executive producer
Don't Breathe
2016
producer - produced by
Ash vs Evil Dead
2015-2016
TV Series executive producer - 10 episodes
Poltergeist
2015
producer
Knifeman
2014
TV Movie executive producer
Murder of a Cat
2014
producer
Rake
2014
TV Series executive producer - 3 episodes
Spartacus: War of the Damned
2010-2013
TV Series executive producer - 33 episodes
Evil Dead
2013
producer
The Possession
2012/I
producer
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
2011
TV Mini-Series executive producer - 6 episodes
Zombie Roadkill
2010
TV Series short executive producer - 6 episodes
Legend of the Seeker
2008-2010
TV Series executive producer - 39 episodes
Drag Me to Hell
2009
producer - uncredited
13: Fear Is Real
2009
TV Series executive producer - 8 episodes
30 Days of Night
2007
producer
Rise: Blood Hunter
2007
executive producer
The Messengers
2007
producer
The Grudge 2
2006
producer
Evil Dead: Regeneration
2005
Video Game supervising producer
Boogeyman
2005
producer
The Grudge
2004
producer
Xena: Warrior Princess - A Friend in Need (The Director's Cut)
2002
Video executive producer
Xena: Warrior Princess
1995-2001
TV Series executive producer - 134 episodes
Cleopatra 2525
2000-2001
TV Series executive producer - 28 episodes
Jack of All Trades
2000
TV Series executive producer - 22 episodes
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
1995-1999
TV Series executive producer - 111 episodes
Young Hercules
1998-1999
TV Series executive producer - 49 episodes
Young Hercules
1998
Video executive producer
Hercules and Xena - The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus
1998
Video executive producer
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ash vs. Evil Dead: Aunt Linda's Bake Off
2017
Short based on characters by
Ash vs Evil Dead
TV Series developed for television by - 20 episodes, 2015 - 2016 based on the characters created by - 11 episodes, 2015 - 2016 based on characters created by - 8 episodes, 2016 written by - 1 episode, 2015
Evil Dead
2013
based on the motion picture "The Evil Dead", written by
Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash
2011
Short character - uncredited
Army of Darkness: Defense
2011
Video Game characters - uncredited
Drag Me to Hell
2009
written by
Spider-Man 3
2007
screen story / screenplay
Evil Dead: Regeneration
2005
Video Game characters
Man with the Screaming Brain
2005
co-story - as R.O.C. Sandstorm
Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick
2003
Video Game characters
Xena: Warrior Princess
1995-2001
TV Series developed by - 134 episodes
Evil Dead: Hail to the King
2000
Video Game characters - from "Evil Dead 1982"
Spy Game
1997-1998
TV Series creator - 13 episodes
M.A.N.T.I.S.
1994-1995
TV Series creator - 22 episodes
M.A.N.T.I.S.
1994
TV Movie story
The Hudsucker Proxy
1994
written by
Army of Darkness
1992
written by
The Nutt House
1992
screenplay - as Alan Smithee Jr. / story - as Alan Smithee Jr.
Matthew Cannon 
$55 Million
