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College drop-out Steven Spielberg finally graduates For a college drop-out, the kid did good -- but to his way of thinking, not good enough. Steven Spielberg may be one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood history, a self-made billionaire with Oscars and plaudits galore, but for the last three decades he has cherished the one thing that eluded him -- a college degree. That was remedied on Friday when Spielberg, 55, walked across the stage at California State University at Long Beach wearing a cap and gown to receive his bachelor's degree in film and electronic arts. As his name was called the college band struck up with theme tune from "Indiana Jones," the movie trilogy he directed, and the audience applauded. His fellow graduates, for the most part, may have been more than 20 years his junior but the gray-haired, bearded, bespectacled Spielberg carried his scroll of honor as proudly as any of them. Spielberg, who won Academy Awards for producing and directing "Schindler's List" and for directing "Saving Private Ryan," posed for pictures with his fellow honorees on the campus lawn and smiled broadly as he was showered with confetti at the college 25 miles south of Los Angeles. He already has five honorary doctorates -- the latest bestowed upon him by Yale University earlier this week -- but what he really wanted was a humble bachelor's degree. Why? Because he earned it. "I would say this meant more to Steven than the honorary doctorates because, after all, they are honors and they're very nice to have, but this (the degree) is something you achieve and you go back and do something your parents really wanted you to do," said Spielberg's longtime spokesman, Marvin Levy. "He had a tremendous time today. It was very exhilarating for him. It meant a lot to him," Levy added. Spielberg, who dropped out 33 years ago to pursue his dream of making movies, quietly resumed his studies at Cal State's Department of Film and Electronic Arts last Spring, and completed his degree requirements through independent and directed studies. Most of Spielberg's old professors were dead or retired by the time he returned to classes, and ironically he ended up working with younger professors, some of whom who actually learned their craft by studying his works. A 'THANK YOU' TO HIS PARENTS He said recently his parents were the motivation behind his wish to graduate. "I wanted to accomplish this for many years as a 'thank you' to my parents for giving me the opportunity for an education and a career, and as a personal note for my own family -- and young people everywhere -- about the importance of achieving their college education goals," he said. "But I hope they get there quicker than I did. Completing the requirements for my degree 33 years after finishing my principal education marks my longest 'post-production schedule."' As a youth Spielberg was fascinated by movies, but unlike his friends he was more interested in making them than watching them. One day he sneaked onto the lot of Universal Studios during a tour and befriended an editor who gave him tips on filmmaking. After graduating high school in Phoenix, Spielberg applied to the University of Southern California film school twice and both times was turned down. But he doesn't bear a grudge and now sits on the board of councilors of the very school that rejected him. Spielberg began his college work at Cal State in 1965 but left the school three years later to pursue what he hoped would be a successful professional career in filmmaking. The following year his 22-minute short film, "Amblin," was shown at the Atlanta Film Festival, which led to his becoming the youngest director ever to be signed to a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. Among the other films he has directed are "The Color Purple," "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial," the "Indiana Jones" trilogy and "Jurassic Park." In 1994, Spielberg formed the multimedia company DreamWorks SKG with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.
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