Background

Harry Jay Knowles was born on May 12, 1971, in Austin, Texas, United States. He is the son of Jarrell and Helen Harrison Knowles. He has a younger sister, Dannie. His parents divorced on March 12, 1984. Harry and his sister live with their mother in Seymour, Texas. In 1993 his mother died in a fire.

Education

In the spring of 1989, Harry Jay Knowles moved back to Austin to go to college and live with his father.

Career

Paralyzed and confined to his bed, Harry Jay Knowles began to explore the Internet and develop his Web site, Ain’t It Cool News. Knowles named his Web site for a line in the film Broken Arrow, when actor Christian Slater tells John Travolta he would be crazy to explode a nuclear device, and Travolta replies, "Yeah, ain’t it cool?." Films have been delayed and/or changed based on Knowles’s online comments, and he has discussed films alongside Roger Ebert. Knowles has received tips and reviews from industry spies and from people invited to test screen films, one of the latter who slammed Batman and Robin three months before it was released. But Knowles has also been invited onto the well-protected sets of films like The Lord of the Rings.

After his very negative review of RollerbaU, the studio delayed its release for six months, giving them time to reshoot scenes and make improvements. In 1997, Sony served Knowles with a restraining order for posting an article about the computer animation in Starship Troopers and unauthorized photos of the film’s monster bugs. At Ain't It Cool News Knowles posts not only early movie reviews but also plot synopses of big films and television series. He was offered a legitimate screening of the newest Star Wars film in 2002.

From 1999 to 2016, Harry hosted an annual film marathon, named – Butt-Numb-a-Thon on the weekend closest to his birthday. In 2005, Harry, Tim McCanlies, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim League founded the annual Fantastic Fest, held in Austin. Fantastic Fest takes place in September at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. It focuses on genre films such as cult, Asian, action, fantasy, science fiction, and horror. On September 23, 2017, it was reported that Harry had allegedly sexually assaulted Jasmine Baker at official Alamo Drafthouse events in Austin, Texas. Harry has denied the allegations.

In September 2017, following allegations of sexual assault, Harry was removed from the Austin Film Critics Association, an organization of professional film critics from Austin. On September 21, 2017, it was announced that Ain’t It Cool News had been dropped as a sponsor of Fantastic Fest. He also starred in Zombie Girl: The Movie, My Sucky Teen Romance, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, etc.

Achievements

• Harry Jay Knowles is best known for his movie news and review website, Ain't It Cool News. In 1999 he was selected to #98 on Premiere Magazine's List of the 100 Most Important People in Entertainment. In 2000, Harry was ranked #95 in the Forbes Celebrity 100. He is the co-founder of the Butt-Numb-A-Thon and Fantastic Fest. In 2007 Knowles was also selected # 13 on Forbes "Web Celeb 25" list.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Ain't It Cool?: Hollywood's Redheaded Stepchild Speaks Out

    (Equipped with a battalion of "spies," the notorious creat...)

    2002

• movie

  • My Sucky Teen Romance

    (On 17-year-old Kate's last weekend in town before heading...)

    2011
  • Zombie Girl: The Movie 2009

Membership

Harry Jay Knowles was a member of the Austin Film Critics Association until 2017.

Personality

Physical Characteristics: On January 24, 1996, Harry Jay Knowles tripped on a hose at a memorabilia show and partially paralyzed his legs. On April 4, 2008, he announced that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Connections

On July 15, 2007, Harry Jay Knowles married Patricia Jones.

Father:

Jarrell Knowles

Mother:

Helen Harrison Knowles

Spouse:

Patricia Jones

Sister:

Dannie Helen Loraine Knowles

Acquaintance:

Sylvester Stallone

Acquaintance:

Dolph Lungrend

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2011
• The Page of Harry Jay Knowles on Twitter