Background and career
James Glickenhaus (born July 24, 1950) is an American financier, automotive entrepreneur, and former filmmaker. He is known to film audiences for having directed, written, and produced a number of action films during the 1980s and '90s, including The Exterminator (1980), The Soldier (1982), Shakedown (1988), and the Jackie Chan vehicle The Protector (1985). He co-founded the production and distribution company Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment, which was responsible for several cult classics. Since retiring from filmmaking, Glickenhaus has been active in the finance sector and the automotive industry. He is the co-founder of the auto manufacturer Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus and the general partner of Glickenhaus & Co., a family partnership originally started by his father.
Glickenhaus was born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle. He was educated at University of California, Los Angeles, Antioch College, and Sarah Lawrence College. Also, as a child he dreamed to race in the 24hr of Le Mans.
Early in his career, Glickenhause made educational and industrial films.
Glickenhaus called his first feature film, The Astrologer (1975), "a learning experience". For his next film, the vigilante film The Exterminator (1980), he decided to concentrate more on action and less on dialogue. It became a commercial success and Glickenhaus was asked by Avco-Embassy to deliver a more mainstream action film as his next project. This became the spy-thriller The Soldier (1982), starring Ken Wahl and Klaus Kinski. In a 2012 interview, Glickenhaus explained that his film career could have turned out very differently, had he decided to move to Hollywood after the success of The Exterminator:"I was contacted a lot by studios. But I think I was afraid of the control of the studios. I had the ability to make films independently. I enjoyed doing it that way. Another part of it was I loved New York. I loved living in New York. I had a lot of friends there. And I knew if I really wanted to be a Hollywood director I would have had to move to LA and spend a lot of time socializing to make contacts. You know, for want of a better word, networking. And I wasn’t interested in doing that."Glickenhaus made The Protector (1985) for Golden Harvest, one of several attempts by Jackie Chan to break out in the American market, on the condition that Glickenhaus "had total creative control and final cut of the movie". The version that was released internationally is the Glickenhaus version. Jackie Chan edited a different version for the Hong Kong and Japanese market. In an interview from 2012 about his film career, he explained his reasons for retiring from the business: "What happened at the end was that the studios had taken over everything. And it was very difficult as an independent to compete with them. They could spend so much money that the stars you had access to as an independent were asking a mega amount of money. They knew you had no choice. It became harder and harder and harder."
Glickenhaus is the owner and managing member of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, the automobile company that Glickenhaus started. Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus currently makes 5 types of cars, the SCG 003, SCG 004, SCG Boot, SCG 006, and the SCG 007. The race-oriented 003 takes design cues from Formula One racecars, designed to race with the Nürburgring 24 Hours in mind. The 004 is another, toned-down supercar, more fit for driving on the street. The Boot is built for racing at the Baja 1000. The 006 is the car that takes design cues from the cars of the early to mid-20th century. The 007 is Glickenhaus's entry for Le Mans Hypercar.
Glickenhaus is an avid collector of former racing vehicles, especially Ferraris. The cars that Glickenhaus owns in his garage include:
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
