Paul Verhoeven ( ; born July 18, 1938) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He filmed in both the Netherlands and the United States. Explicitly violent and sexual content are trademarks of both his drama and science fiction films. He is best known for directing the American feature films RoboCop (1987), Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1992), and Starship Troopers (1997).

Turkish Delight (1973) received the award for Best Dutch Film of the Century at the Netherlands Film Festival. blank">Winners of the _Netherlands Film Festival His films altogether received a total of 9 Academy Award nominations, mainly for editing and effects. Both RoboCop and Total Recall won an Academy Special Achievement Award. In contrast, his film Showgirls (1995) was poorly received and won 7 Golden Raspberry Awards, but has become a cult film over time.

Paul Verhoeven (born in Unna, Germany; died in Munich) was a German actor, film and theatre director, and writer.

Verhoeven had 13 siblings and the family lived in simple circumstances. His first wife was the actress Doris Kiesow with whom he had three children: Lis Verhoeven became an actress and the first wife of Mario Adorf, Michael Verhoeven became a film director who married Senta Berger, and Monika. Verhoeven's second wife was the actress Edith Schultze-Westrum and they had the son Thomas Schultze-Westrum, a zoologist and maker of animal documentaries.

From 1945 to 1948 he was artistic director at the Residenz Theatre/Staatsschauspiel in Munich.

He directed, and acted in, over 50 films, and wrote over 20 film scripts, the first of which was Das kleine Hofkonzert, an operetta with music by Edmund Nick based on Verhoeven's (and Toni Impekoven's) comedy.

Verhoeven died while he delivered the eulogy for the actress Therese Giehse at the Munich Kammerspiele.

Father of Michael Verhoeven and Lis Verhoeven.

Not related to the younger Paul Verhoeven (I)

Director of the 'Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel' (Munich) (1945-1948).

Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969 he directed the popular Dutch TV series "Floris" (1969), about a medieval knight. This featured actor Rutger Hauer who has appeared in many of Verhoeven's later films. Verhoeven's first feature, Wat zien ik (1971) (trans. "What do I See?"), was released in 1971. However it was his second, Turks fruit (1973), with its combination of raw sexuality and a poignant story line, that gained him great popularity in the Netherlands, especially with male audiences. When his films, especially Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and Vierde man, De (1983), received international recognition, Verhoeven moved to the US. His first US film was _Flesh & Blood (1985)_, 1985, but it was RoboCop (1987) and especially Total Recall (1990) that made him a big box office success. Sometimes accused of portraying excessive violence in his films, Verhoeven replies that he is only recording the violence of society. Verhoeven has co-scripted two of his films: Soldaat van Oranje (1977) and _Flesh & Blood (1985)_. He also directed an episode of the HBO "Hitchhiker, The" (1983) TV series. Several of his films have been photographed by Jost Vacano including the hit cult film Starship Troopers (1997) starring Casper Van Dien.