Guillermo Del Toro with a Reaper in Blade II

Guillermo Del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, Del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from Dick Smith (The Exorcist) and worked on making his own short films. At the age of 21, Del Toro executive produced his first feature, Dona Herlinda and Her Son (1986).

Del Toro spent almost 10 years as a makeup supervisor, and formed his own company, Necropia in the early 1980's. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

Del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1992) won nine academy awards in Mexico, then went on to win the International Critics Week prize at Cannes. Following this success, Del Toro made his first Hollywood film, Mimic (1997), starring Mira Sorvino.

Del Toro had some unfortunate experiences working with a demanding Hollywood studio on Mimic, and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang. In 1998 his father was kidnapped in Mexico, which prompted del Toro to move abroad to live as an expatriate. His father was returned safely, and Del Toro has mentioned, very tongue in cheek, that his dealing with the kidnappers was not as traumatic as his experience filming Mimic.

Next for Del Toro, was The Devil's Backbone (2001), a Spanish Civil War ghost story. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike, and Del Toro decided to give Hollywood another try. In 2002, he directed the Wesley Snipes vampire sequel, Blade II.

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy, starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

In 2006 came Del Toro's masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth. Taking nearly two years to make, Del Toro put his heart and life into this film, and even gave up his salary in order to make sure the end product matched his vision. His efforts paid off - the film, an "adult fairy tale" taking place during the Spanish Civil War, won critical praise, and became the highest grossing Spanish film ever at the U.S. box office. It went on to win three academy awards for Best Makeup, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography (for Guillermo Navarro).

Married with children, Guillermo Del Toro currently lives in Los Angeles.

Thanks to Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide.

Links:
Guillermo Del Toro on IMDB