Jake Paltrow is a respected writer and director who comes from a talented family of filmmakers, including his sister Gwyneth Paltrow. Jake Paltrow launched his directing career in the late 1990s, helming episodes of shows like High Incident starring Blair Underwood (Ironside), The Jury and horror/fantasy show The Others. His most high-profile series from this era was acclaimed cop series NYPD Blue, from creators Steven Bochco and David Milch (Deadwood).
Jake Paltrow is the youngest child of the late Bruce Paltrow, a television director, and actress Blythe Danner. Bruce Paltrow served as writer and director on a number of popular shows, including St. Elsewhere with David Morse and Denzel Washington (The Equalizer) and Homicide: Life On The Streets. He also directed a couple of movies including Duets, which featured a starring role for his daughter Gwyneth. Blythe Danner has been acting since the 1970s and has appeared in such movies and TV series as Futureworld - the 1976 sequel to Westworld - The Princes Of Tides, Huff, and the Meet The Parents trilogy.
Jake Paltrow made his feature film directorial debut with 2007 comedy The Good Night, starring Martin Freeman (The Hobbit Trilogy), Penélope Cruz, and his sister Gwyneth. The Good Night follows a man having lucid dreams about a beautiful woman, only to learn she really exists. This quest later puts an understandable strain on his marriage. Paltrow would follow up with apocalyptic sci-fi movie Young Ones from 2014, starring Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, and Michael Shannon. The movie is set in a bleak future where water is sparse and people are willing to kill for it. The movie received mixed reviews upon release, though the great cast was mentioned as a high point.
Bizarrely, the UK DVD release of Young Ones tried to capitalize on the success of Mad Max: Fury Road by retitling the movie Bad Land: Road To Fury. Paltrow returned to television to direct two episodes of HBO’s gangster drama Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi. Probably Jake Paltrow’s most acclaimed work to date is the excellent documentary De Palma, which was co-directed by Noah Baumbach. The documentary is essentially one long interview with famed director Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible), as he talks through his storied career film by film, including Scarface and The Untouchables. The documentary is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a great filmmaker.
Jake Paltrow’s most recent work was directing an episode of AMC’s period drama Halt And Catch Fire, which charted the rise of the World Wide Web.
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