Jeffrey Jacob Abrams was born in New York City and raised in Los Angeles, the son of TV producer parents. At 15, he wrote the music for Don Dohler's Nightbeast (1982). In his senior year of college, he and Jill Mazursky teamed up to write a feature film, which became Taking Care of Business (1990). He went on to write and produce Regarding Henry (1991) and Forever Young (1992). He also co-wrote Gone Fishin' (1997) with Mazursky. Along with other Sarah Lawrence alumni, he experimented with computer animation and was contracted to develop pre-production animation for Shrek (2001).

Abrams worked on the screenplay for Armageddon (1998) and co-created (as well as composing the opening theme of) Felicity (1998), which ran for four seasons. He founded the production company Bad Robot in 2001 with Bryan Burk. He created and executive-produced Alias (2001) and Lost (2004), composing the theme music for both, and co-writing episodes of "Lost". He also co-wrote and produced thriller Joy Ride (2001). He made his feature directing debut with Mission: Impossible III (2006), reinvigorating the series. He produced the hit mystery film Cloverfield (2008) and co-created Fringe (2008).

He directed the Star Trek (2009) reboot, proving successful with fans and newcomers to the franchise. He next directed Super 8 (2011), co-produced by Steven Spielberg and produced Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011). He returned to direct the follow-up to his reboot, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Disney and Lucasfilm announced J.J. as their choice for director of the first episode in the new 'Star Wars' trilogy, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015). He initially resisted, as he didn't want to travel away from his family to London, but Kathleen Kennedy convinced him that his voice would be the best to reinvigorate this franchise, as he had done with two others before. He also produced Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015) and Star Trek Beyond (2016), and executive-produced Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017). When it was announced that Colin Trevorrow would no longer direct Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019), it was announced that J.J. would return to complete the trilogy he started.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

J.J. Abrams at an event for Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

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J.J. Abrams, Lynn Robertson Bruce, and Robin Guiver in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

J.J. Abrams, Lynn Robertson Bruce, Brian Herring, Dave Chapman, and Robin Guiver in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Anthony Daniels, Keri Russell, J.J. Abrams, Lynn Robertson Bruce, Oscar Isaac, Brian Herring, Dave Chapman, John Boyega, Robin Guiver, and Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Anthony Daniels, J.J. Abrams, Lynn Robertson Bruce, Oscar Isaac, Brian Herring, Dave Chapman, John Boyega, Robin Guiver, Daisy Ridley, and Joonas Suotamo in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

J.J. Abrams and Jimmy Fallon in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014)

Naveen Andrews, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniel Dae Kim, Emilie de Ravin, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Yunjin Kim, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O'Quinn, Harold Perrineau, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Watros, Maggie Grace, and Evangeline Lilly in Lost (2004)

Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, Michael Giacchino, Peter Mayhew, Nigel Godrich, Oscar Isaac, Brian Herring, Lupita Nyong'o, Dave Chapman, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, John Boyega, and Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Keri Russell, J.J. Abrams, Lynn Robertson Bruce, Hassan Taj, Oscar Isaac, Brian Herring, Jimmy Vee, Dave Chapman, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Robin Guiver, Daisy Ridley, Lee Towersey, Joonas Suotamo, and Naomi Ackie in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Why Noah Hawley Should Remake 'Voyage Home' for 4th 'Star Trek' Film

J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams

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