Date of Birth:

9 October 1964, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Height:

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Mini Biography:

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 the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) 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 1980s. He also produced and directed Mexican television programs at this time, and taught film.

del Toro got his first big break when Cronos (1993) 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 (1997), and returned to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang.

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 (2002).

On a roll, Del Toro followed up Blade II (2002) with another successful comic-book inspired film, Hellboy (2004), starring one of Del Toro's favorite actors, Ron Perlman.

Married with children, del Toro lives in Los Angeles.

Trade Mark:

Often uses insects or insect imagery.
Uses a lot of religious relics and artifacts. Always mentions Catholicism.
Archangels, symbols and other religious items.
Many of his films have major scenes based in underground areas such as subways systems (Mimic (1997), Hellboy (2004)), sewers (Blade II (2002)), or large basements (The Devil's Backbone (2001)).
Likes to use amber as a dominant color in his movies. This is especially noticeable in Blade II (2002) and Hellboy (2004).
Clockwork designs and motifs (for example, Kroenen's lair in Hellboy (2004) and the captain's obsession with his father's watch in Pan's Labyrinth (2006) ).
Often casts Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, and Federico Luppi.
Frequently works with cinematographer Guillermo Navarro.
One or more of his protagonists are often strongly and pivotally influenced by their father figures.

Source: