Steven R. Kutcher
| Steven R Kutcher | |
|---|---|
Steven Kutcher with Rosie the tarantula, at his home, in Arcadia, California, in 2009.
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| Pseudonym | The Bug Man of Hollywood |
| Born |
January 9, 1944 Manhattan, New York, U.S. |
| Medium | Film Television Radio Live appearances Watercolor |
| Genres | Bug wrangling, bug art |
| Notable works and roles | Arachnophobia, Jurassic Park, Spider-Man (2002) |
| Website |
http://BugsAreMyBusiness.com http://BugArtBySteven.com |
Steven R. Kutcher (born January 9, 1944) is an American entomologist who has worked for decades as a "wrangler" of insects and other arthropods in some of the highest-grossing productions and with some of the most famous people in the entertainment industry. In doing so, he has himself gained media attention worldwide as "The Bug Man of Hollywood." In recent years, Kutcher has attracted additional notice by using insects as "living brushes" to create "Bug Art," while continuing his work as a naturalist and an educator.
Born in Manhattan, New York, Steven R. Kutcher as a young child collected fireflies in the Catskill Mountains. Later growing up in a suburb of Los Angeles, California, Kutcher collected insects around his home, in fields, and in the Santa Monica Mountains. At age 19, Kutcher traveled 3000 miles around Mexico, exploring desert to tropical ecosystems.
Kutcher received a bachelors degree in entomology from the University of California, Davis, in 1968; and a Master of Science degree in biology from the California State University, Long Beach, in 1975. His formal studies focused on insect behavior — in particular the aggregating behavior of the milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus — as he observed in the field, in laboratory experiments, and in time-lapse cinematography.
In 1970, Kutcher began his work in the entertainment industry as "Larry J. Felix" in The Stein and Illes Radio Show, a comedic "underground" radio show on KUSC, in Southern California; James R. Stein and Robert Illes would both become Emmy Award–winning TV writers and producers. Kutcher received comedic training from Bill Cosby and once had Robin Williams as an audience.
Since 1977, Kutcher has manipulated the instinctive behaviors of arthropods, and the instinctive reactions of audiences, mostly in the horror, thriller, fantasy, and comedy genres. He has worked on over 100 feature films with a "bug" in the story line, including Spider-Man (2002), Jurassic Park, and Arachnophobia. Kutcher has also worked on numerous popular television shows—including CSI: NY, MacGyver, and The X-Files – as well as TV commercials and online advertising for Fortune 500 corporations. (See Filmography and other credits, with featured "bugs," below).
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