Joe Eszterhas is the screenplay author of such films as The Jagged Edge, Flashdance, Basic Instinct, and Showgirls. At one point, Eszterhas was the highest-paid writer in Hollywood. He began his career as a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and then for Rolling Stone magazine. In 1974, Eszterhas authored the novel, Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse, which was nominated for a National Book Award. He also is the author of the political commentary, American Rhapsody, and the upcoming memoir, Hollywood Animal.
Eszterhas was born in Hungary, spent his first six years in Austrian refugee camps, and came to the U.S. in 1950. He lives in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, with his wife and their four children. He has two grown children from his first marriage. He has been awarded the Emanuel Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award for work dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust in Hungary.