Steven Spielberg uniform bearing the rank of a Life Scout. Spielberg stated he made Indiana Jones a Boy Scout in honor of his experience in Scouting. For his career accomplishments, service to others, and dedication to a new merit badge Spielberg was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. Steven Spielberg received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995. In 1998, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit with Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Award was presented to him by President Roman Herzog in recognition of his film "Schindler's List" and his Shoa-Foundation. In 1999, Spielberg received an honorary
Steven Spielberg they signed him to a short contract. He did another segment on "Night Gallery" and did some work for shows such as "" and "The Psychiatrist", before landing the first series episode of "Columbo" (previous episodes were actually TV films). Based on the strength of his work, Universal signed Spielberg to do four TV films. The first was a Richard Matheson adaptation called "Duel". The film is about a psychotic Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driver who chases the terrified driver (Dennis Weaver) of a small Plymouth Valiant and tries to run him off the road. Special praise of this film