Father: Tony Tarantino.
Mother: Connie Zastoupil. works for a home medical organization; part-Cherokee
Step-father: Curt Zastoupil.
Significant Others
Companion: Allison Anders. no longer together
Companion: Margaret Cho. no longer together
Companion: Mira Sorvino. together from c. January 1996 to February 1998
Milestones
- 1965 Moved, with mother, from Knoxville, Tennessee to Los Angeles (date approximate)
- 1985 Spent five years working at Video Archives, a well-stocked video store in suburban Los Angeles; co-worker was future writing collaborator Roger Avary (dates approximate)
- 1990 Commissioned to write a screenplay based on a 6-page story by Robert Kurtzman (co-founder of the special effects makeup company KNB Effects); eventually became "From Dusk Till Dawn"; was paid $1500 and offered free makeup effects on his "Reservoir Dogs"
- 1990 TV acting debut as an Elvis impersonator in an episode of "The Golden Girls"
- 1991 Co-founded A Band Apart Productions with producer Bender to make "Pulp Fiction" and subsequent projects
- 1992 Feature debut, co-wrote (with Avary), directed and acted in "Reservoir Dogs"
- 1992 Met future collaborator writer-director Robert Rodriguez at the Toronto Film Festival
- 1993 First film as screenwriter only, "True Romance", directed by Tony Scott
- 1994 First film as producer only, executive produced "Killing Zoe", Avary's debut as a writer-director
- 1994 Made career transforming feature, "Pulp Fiction"; directed, co-wrote and acted in
- 1994 Played a cameo as a fast-talking bartender in Alexandre Rockwell's "Somebody to Love"
- 1994 Received story credit for Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers"
- 1994 Received strong notices for performance in "Sleep With Me"
- 1994 Subject of profile, "Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood's Boy Wonder" on BBC-TV's "Omnibus" series
- 1995 Did a guest shot on the ABC sitcom "All-American Girl"
- 1995 Did an uncredited rewrite on Tony Scott's "Crimson Tide"
- 1995 First collaboration with writer-director Rodriguez, played a small role in "Desperado"
- 1995 Played first feature lead, Johnny Destiny in "Destiny Turns on the Radio", a romantic comedy-adventure
- 1995 TV directing debut, "Motherhood", an episode of the hit NBC medical drama "ER"
- 1995 With Bender, launched A Band Apart Commercials, a commercial production house under the Miramax banner
- 1995 With producer Bender, set up Rolling Thunder, a specialty distribution label under Miramax Pictures, designed to acquire, distribute and market four films a year
- 1996 Had earliest screenplay, "My Best Friend's Birthday", acquired by a number of old associates including former manager of seven years Cathryn James and "Natural Born Killers" producers Don Murphy and Jane Hamsher; rewrite assigned to Avary and the original co-writer Craig Hamann
- 1997 Sued for $5 million by producer Don Murphy after Tarantino assaulted Murphy
- 1997 With Lawrence Bender, formed A Band Apart Records to market and distribute recordings made on Madonna's Maverick label
- 1997 Wrote and directed "Jackie Brown", adapted from the Elmore Leonard novel "Rum Punch"; tailored leading role for actress Pam Grier
- 1998 Starred on stage opposite Marisa Tomei in a revival of "Wait Until Dark"
- 2000 Had featured role in "Little Nicky", starring Adam Sandler
- 2002 Played recurring role in episodes of the popular ABC drama series "Alias"
- 2003 Wrote script "Kill Bill" for actress Uma Thurman; was scheduled to direct in 2001 but postponed after Thurman became pregnant; Released in two volumes "Kill Bill vol. 1" in 2003 and "Kill Bill vol. 2" in 2004
- 2005 Directed the season finale of the CBS drama "CSI"; also helped develop the story for the final episode (aired in May)
- 2007 Helmed "Death Proof," the slasher themed half of the goretastic double feature "Grind House" a collaboration with Robert Rodriguez; Began making (unfinished) first film, "My Best Friend's Birthday", from a screenplay co-written with Craig Hamann; they both co-starred