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Jon Krakauer

Writer, Producer, Additional CreditsBorn April 12, 1954 (71 years)
Jon Krakauer (born April 12, 1954, in Brookline, Massachusetts) is an American writer and mountaineer employed by Outside magazine and currently living in Seattle.

Jon Krakauer has published numerous articles in major monthly publications such as National Geographic and Rolling Stone. His fame stems in particular from his account, Into Thin Air, which recounts, from his perspective, the tragic events that occurred during his ascent of Everest in May 1996. This expedition ended with the deaths of eight of its participants. A heated controversy erupted with guide Anatoli Boukreev, whose account of the Everest expedition differs significantly from Krakauer's in many respects.

Into Thin Air was adapted into the 1997 television film Into Thin Air: Death on Everest. This film, directed by Robert Markowitz, stars Peter Horton as Scott Fischer and Christopher McDonald as Jon Krakauer. It retains Jon Krakauer's perspective on these events, although details regarding responsibility differ significantly from the book.

He is also the author of The End of Solitude, about the fate of Christopher McCandless, a young American adventurer who dies of exhaustion after plant poisoning in Alaska. In 2007, Sean Penn adapted the book for the screen, Into the Wild.

Tragedy on Everest was once again adapted into Baltasar Kormákur's Everest, released in 2015. Michael Kelly plays Krakauer. Jon Krakauer is critical of certain scenes in the film, which allegedly did not take place, and states that he has not met Michael Kelly. On the other hand, he acknowledges one of the film's suggestions: his presence as a journalist certainly pushed the expedition leaders to take additional risks. He indicates that he regrets having participated in this expedition.

By God's Command, published in 2003, tells the story of an American news story: in 1984, near Salt Lake City, two dissident Mormon brothers murdered their sister-in-law and her fifteen-month-old daughter. In 2022, the book was adapted by Dustin Lance Black into a seven-episode television miniseries, By God's Command.

Known For

  • Into the Wild
  • Under the Banner of Heaven
  • Into Thin Air: Death on Everest

Jon Krakauer Filmography

2017
NFL 360 (TV Series) · as Self
2015
Prophet's Prey · as Self - Author: Under The Banner Of Heaven
2015
Meru · as Himself
2014
Jeff Lowe's Metanoia · as Self (narrator)
2014
An American Ascent · as Himself
2013
2012
Larry King Now (TV Series) · as Self - Guest
2012
CBS Mornings (TV Series) · as Self - Author
2010
2010
Reel Rock (TV Series) · as Self
2005
Iconoclasts (TV Series) · as Self
2005
Wild Chronicles (TV Series) · as Self
2005
Banking on Heaven · as Self - Author
2003
1996
The Daily Show (TV Series) · as Self
1991
Charlie Rose (TV Series) · as Self - Guest
1968
60 Minutes (TV Series) · as Self - Author And Mountaineer (segment "greg Mortenson")
1947
Meet the Press (TV Series) · as Self - Author, 'where Men Win Glory'

2022
Under the Banner of Heaven (TV Series) · as Novel

2015
Prophet's Prey · as Executive Producer

2022
Under the Banner of Heaven (TV Series) · as Consultant
2007
Into the Wild · as Book
1997

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