Eli Roth

Eli Roth

Eli Roth
Quick Facts About Eli Roth
Celebrated Name Eli Roth
Age 52 years old
Nick Name Eli Roth
Birth Name Eli Raphael Roth
Birth Date 1972-04-18
Gender Male
Profession Film Director
Birth Nation USA
Place of Birth Newton, Massachusetts
Nationality American
Father Sheldon Roth
Mother Cora Roth
High School Newton South High School
University New York University's Tisch School of the Arts
Ethnicity Mixed
Religion Judaism
Marital Status Married and Divorced
Wife Lorenza Izzo
Sexual Orientation Straight
Net Worth $20 million
Source of Wealth Entertainment Industry
Height 6 ft (183 cm)
Weight 82 Kg or 181 lbs
Hair Color Dark Brown
Eye Color Dark Brown
Body Build/Type Athletic

Eli Roth is a highly acclaimed American film director, producer, and actor. He is renowned for his work in the horror genre, particularly for his films "Cabin Fever" (2003) and "Hostel" (2005). He has also directed other horror films, such as "Hostel: Part II" (2007) and "The Green Inferno" (2013), and expanded his repertoire with the erotic thriller "Knock Knock" (2015) and the action film "Death Wish" (2018), which was a remake of the 1974 original. In addition, he directed his first PG-rated film, the fantasy comedy "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" (2018), which was his highest-grossing film in the United States to date. As an actor, Roth starred as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (2009), which earned him a Critic's Choice Movie Award and a SAG Award as part of the ensemble. Many journalists have referred to him as part of the "Splat Pack" group of filmmakers due to the explicitly violent and controversially bloody nature of his horror films. Roth was recognized for his contributions to the horror genre with the Visionary Award at the Stanley Film Festival in 2013.

Who is Eli Roth?

Eli Roth is a well-known American producer, director, screenwriter, and actor, who has made a name for himself in the horror genre. He gained recognition for directing movies like Cabin Fever (2002), Hostel (2005), and Hostel: Part II (2007), before branching out into other genres with films such as Knock Knock (2015), Death Wish (2018), and The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018). Roth has also produced several TV series and co-founded a digital company, Crypt TV, which focuses on short-form horror content. He has also acted in numerous movies and has a significant following on social media.

Eli Raphael Roth, born on April 18, 1972, is an American filmmaker, actor, and writer. He grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, the USA as the middle child of three brothers, to a family of Jewish immigrants from various European countries. His father, Sheldon Roth, was a psychiatrist and clinical professor at Harvard Medical School, and his mother, Cora Roth, was a painter. Along with English, Roth is fluent in French and Italian and has a basic knowledge of Russian. He discovered his passion for filmmaking at the age of eight after watching Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). He and his brothers made over 100 short films before he graduated from Newton South High School and later attended film school at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. To finance his films during college, Roth worked for Penthouse Magazine as an online cybersex operator, pretending to be a woman, and also as a production assistant on feature films. After graduation, he focused on writing full-time, collecting unemployment benefits while working as Howard Stern's assistant on Private Parts. He stayed at Silvercup Studios in Queens at night, working on his scripts while Stern slept. Roth's first Hollywood job was as an extra on The Practice, thanks to actress Camryn Manheim, who had become his friend in New York while he was working for producer Frederick Zollo. While on The Practice, he worked on his scripts in Manheim's dressing room and met her cousin, Howie Nuchow, which led to his first animation project, Chowdaheads, and co-writing a project called The Extra with Manheim. The Extra was later sold to producer Bill Mechanic's Pandemonium company.


Eli Roth, a student at NYU film school, gained recognition for his student film Restaurant Dogs, which paid homage to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and won a Student Academy Award in 1995. Roth's internship with Frederick Zollo introduced him to David Lynch and composer Angelo Badalamenti, leading to collaborations on Roth's first feature film. Roth also produced a series of animated shorts called Chowdaheads for Mandalay Sports Entertainment and stop-motion shorts called The Rotten Fruit, which was financed by the website Z.com. Despite The Rotten Fruit's domain name being picked up by Nissan, the company folded after several episodes were completed, and the remaining work was done at Snake Pit studios in Burbank with Noah Belson co-writing and performing character voices.

Roth co-wrote "Cabin Fever" with his college roommate Randy Pearlstein, inspired by Roth's experience of contracting a skin infection while riding ponies in Iceland in 1991. Roth worked on the script while serving as a production assistant for Howard Stern's film "Private Parts" in 1996. Cabin Fever was produced in 2001 for $1.5 million raised from private investors and sold to Lionsgate at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival for $3.5 million, the biggest sale of that year's festival. The film's release in 2003 earned $22 million at the US box office and $35 million worldwide, becoming Lionsgate's highest-grossing film of the year. Its success made Roth a rising star in the horror genre and caught the attention of Quentin Tarantino, who called it "the best new American film" in a 2004 interview with Premiere Magazine. In 2016, Cabin Fever was remade and directed by Travis Zariwny.

In 2005, Eli Roth directed his second feature film, "Hostel", which was made for just over $4 million. The film opened at number one at the box office in January 2006 and took in $20 million on its first weekend. Hostel grossed over $80 million worldwide at the box office and more than $180 million on DVD. The story revolves around three friends who are lured to visit a hostel with the promise that their sexual fantasies will come true. However, they fall into the clutches of an international syndicate that provides first-hand torture and killing experiences for rich, sadistic tourists. Hostel was rated No. 1 on Bravo TV's "30 Even Scarier Movie Moments", and Empire Magazine readers voted it the Best Horror Film of 2007. Roth reportedly turned down other directing jobs to make Hostel and took a directing salary of only $10,000 to keep the budget as low as possible, allowing him to have no limits on its violence. Roth directed the faux trailer Thanksgiving for Grindhouse in 2007 and won a Spike TV Scream Award for his work. He is currently developing a feature-length film version of "Thanksgiving".

"Hostel: Part II", directed by Roth, opened in sixth place in June 2007, earning $8.2 million in its opening weekend, and grossed $17.6 million in US theaters, eventually making $35 million in theaters worldwide and $50 million on DVD and pay television. Lionsgate attributed the lower grosses to the film's summer release, which was opposite blockbuster films such as Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Ocean's Thirteen, as well as the leak of the film's workprint before its release. The leak caused close to two million illegal downloads of the film, which affected its box office numbers, and in some countries, such as Mexico and Brazil, pirated copies were sold on the streets for a quarter, leading to the film not being released in those countries. Nonetheless, Hostel: Part II was nominated for six Spike TV Scream Awards, including best horror film and best director, and was named one of Entertainment Weekly's 20 best horror films of the past 20 years.

In 2009, while acting in Inglourious Basterds, Roth announced that his next film would be Endangered Species, a science fiction movie with mass destruction elements. He drew inspiration from movies like Transformers and Cloverfield, but stated that it would be grounded in reality. However, in a 2013 interview, Roth revealed that he had suspended work on Endangered Species to focus on directing The Green Inferno, a cannibal horror film inspired by Mondo horror movies such as Cannibal Holocaust. The Green Inferno received criticism for its portrayal of indigenous people as cannibals and was described as "racist" by some critics.

In 2018, Roth directed the remake of "Death Wish", which premiered with a box office opening of $13 million. The film revolves around a trauma surgeon who seeks vigilante justice after his family is attacked. Despite Roth's intentions to focus on family and justice, the film was met with heavy criticism and described as "pro-gun propaganda" and ill-timed given the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Roth defended the film, stating that it was not pro-gun but rather aimed to explore the idea of protecting one's family and seeking justice.

In 2002, Roth introduced Steven Spielberg to a shot-for-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" made by children, which Roth had in his video collection for years. The filmmakers, who had not spoken to each other in years, were eventually reunited and went on a charity tour. Roth had planned to direct a film adaptation of Stephen King's "Cell" for Dimension Films, but the project eventually fell apart. He did, however, produce "The Last Exorcism", a horror film that was directed by Daniel Stamm and earned over $70 million worldwide. Roth has also produced films such as "The Man with the Iron Fists" and "Clown", and directed "Knock Knock", a remake of the 1977 horror-thriller "Death Game", and the adaptation of the Borderlands games. Roth has talked about doing "Trailer Trash", a comedy film consisting of fake trailers, which he will produce with Mike Fleiss.

Eli Roth is a multi-talented figure in the horror film industry. He has contributed to the DVD extras for various horror film distributors, and his audio commentary for Troma's 1997 DVD release of "Blood Sucking Freaks" is one of the company's highest-selling. Roth is also an actor, and his notable roles include Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" and a cameo in "Piranha 3D". In addition, Roth has directed the pilot of the horror/thriller series "Hemlock Grove", which premiered on Netflix, and hosted an episode of Discovery Channel's TV series "Curiosity", titled "How Evil Are You?". He also hosts "Shark After Dark" on Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

In July 2006, Roth received the title of "Most Fit Director" from Men's Fitness magazine, and he takes this recognition seriously. He adheres to a strict workout routine that he shares on the Hostel DVDs. Roth has a passion for fashion and has expressed that he treats every red carpet-event as if he were walking a runway in Milan. He even jokingly says that he only makes films so he can fulfill his dream of being a male supermodel. Roth's admiration for fashion was highlighted in his interview with Italian Vogue in October 2007. Additionally, Roth was featured on the G4 TV show Icons and was also featured on the cover of Forbes magazine's "Hollywood's Most Profitable Stars" issue.

Eli Roth has ventured into various projects outside of his work in film. He created a public service announcement for PETA in 2009, which won him a Telly Award. Roth was also selected to curate the Museum of Pop Culture's horror exhibit "Can't Look Away" alongside directors John Landis and Roger Corman. In 2012, he opened a haunted house in Las Vegas called "Eli Roth's Goretorium," which closed in 2013 after its owning company filed for bankruptcy. Additionally, Roth has directed a music video for Snoop Lion and co-founded the digital company Crypt TV, which focuses on horror content. In 2021, Roth invested in Jomboy Media, a digital media company specializing in sports and pop culture.


Who is Eli Roth married to?

Eli Roth was married to his beautiful wife, Lorenza Izzo on 8th November 2014 in a beach wedding in Zapallar, Chile. Lorenza is a Chilean actress and model. The duo started dating in 2011. However, their marriage came to an end in July 2018, and they announced their separation. The divorce was finalized in August 2019, and they remain friends. Since then, Roth has been single and has been focusing on his career. It seems that Roth is content with his single status and is more interested in pursuing his passions and expanding his career than getting into a relationship. His sexual orientation is straight. 

Previously, in 2010, he was in a relationship with the TV personality, Peaches Geldof. Even though they broke up at the end of the year, they remained on good terms. In May 2011, the two were seen partying in Los Angeles, California together, even though Peaches already had a new boyfriend. Unfortunately, she died of a heroin overdose in April 2014, which still hurt Eli even though they were long broken up. Eli was in a long-term relationship with the Slovakian actress for 4 years from 2005 to 2009. Eli and actress Courtney Peldon started dating in 2004. They dated for almost a year before breaking up in 2005. He dated actress Cerina Vincent from the year 2002 to 2003 a year after she starred in the well-known movie he directed, Cabin Fever (2002). 


What is Eli Roth net worth?

Eli Roth is a successful filmmaker, actor, and writer with an estimated net worth of $20 million. He has amassed a significant fortune from his work in the film industry, with his annual income reaching millions of dollars. His success can be attributed to his multifaceted career, having acted, written, and directed several movies.

Roth's lavish lifestyle is a testament to his lucrative career. He is known for his luxurious cars, expensive houses, and his collection of art and movie memorabilia. He has also invested in several business ventures, including his haunted house attraction, Eli Roth's Goretorium, and his digital horror content company, Crypt TV. Despite his success and wealth, Roth remains focused on his work and continues to produce high-quality films that have earned him critical acclaim in the industry.

How tall is Eli Roth?

Eli Roth is not only known for his work in the film industry but also for his athletic build. He stands at an impressive height of 6 ft (183 cm) and weighs around 82 kg (181 lbs). Roth's physique is a result of his dedication to his workout routine, which he documents on the Hostel DVDs. He was even voted "Most Fit Director" by Men's Fitness magazine in their July 2006 issue. With his dark brown hair and eyes, Roth is considered to be a handsome man, and he often treats every red carpet like a fashion runway, as he has a love for fashion.

In addition to his impressive height and athletic build, Roth's dark brown hair and eyes add to his good looks. His physical appearance has also helped him land small roles in the films he produces, including his most notable appearance as Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. He has got a healthy body with a charming appearance. 

5 Facts About Eli Roth

1. Eli shot his first movie in 1979 after he saw Ridley Scott‘s masterpiece, "Alien"

Eli Roth's love for filmmaking started when he saw Ridley Scott's "Alien" in 1979. He was so captivated by the movie that he decided to make his own films. He shot his first movie at the age of 8 using a Super 8 camera. Eli's passion for film continued to grow as he explored creative ways to make movies using homemade props and household items. This eventually led him to pursue a career in film, and he graduated Summa Cum Laude from the NYU film school in 1995, winning a Student Academy award.

2. He partnered with Jack Davis to launch Crypt TV

Eli Roth co-founded Crypt TV with fellow producer and entrepreneur Jack Davis in 2015. Crypt TV is a digital media company that produces horror-themed short-form content, aimed at younger audiences. The platform has quickly gained a significant following, with more than 3 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 10 million followers on Facebook. In addition to producing and distributing original horror content, Crypt TV also partners with established brands such as Bloody Disgusting and Blumhouse Productions to produce branded horror content. Crypt TV has also expanded into live events and merchandise sales, demonstrating the potential for innovative media companies to succeed in the modern media landscape.

3. The idea for "Cabin Fever" was sparked by a sickness that served as an inspiration for him 

During a trip to Iceland, Eli Roth contracted a flesh-eating bacteria that caused his skin to peel off his face while shaving. Despite the horrifying nature of the infection, it inspired him to write the bathtub scene in his horror movie, "Cabin Fever." Using his creative mind, Roth saw a connection between his experience and the potential to ramp up the horror value of the film. While the incident would be terrifying for anyone to experience, it ultimately sparked Roth's creativity and led to the creation of a memorable scene in his film.

4. He is a conservationist

Eli Roth is not only a filmmaker but also a conservationist who is passionate about helping land and sea creatures in distress. He is a diver who often collaborates with the Discovery Channel crew of “Shark Week” and has hosted “Shark After Dark” to learn more about these misunderstood animals. His goal is to let people know that sharks are not vicious animals portrayed in movies but are intelligent and peaceful creatures. Additionally, he supports an animal rescue group called “Black Jaguar White Tiger” based in Mexico City, which has rescued over 500 tigers, lions, and jaguars from private parties and zoo environments.

5. He started his career in film at age 8

Eli Roth is a talented American filmmaker who began his career in film at age 8, creating Super 8 films. He was inspired by Ridley Scott's "Alien" (1979) and knew he wanted to become a director and producer. Eli was innovative in his use of homemade props and household items, making over fifty films before starting college.