The 64-year-old Canadian is also a keen environmentalist and an expert diver. He began deep-sea exploration after learning more about it while conducting research and filming underwater for The Abyss in 1989 and then Titanic eight years later.
As an advocate of fighting climate change, in 2012, he and his family became vegans, opting for a cruelty-free diet and lifestyle. He said changing what he ate had changed his relationship with the natural world.
His 2017 documentary, The Game Changers, showcased vegan athletes and other iconic figures. He argues against the commonly-held misconception that vegans are somehow unhealthier and weaker than their carnivorous counterparts.
© Gage Skidmore / CC BY-SA 2.0
Oil spill
Cameron's deep-sea diving expertise, coupled with his interest in preserving the environment, led to his meeting with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to discuss potential solutions to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. Caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on 20th April 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico, it was the biggest oil spill in history - the rig subsequently sank on 22nd April, around 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
The major oil spill was finally stopped by the use of techniques similar to those that Cameron had suggested. Leaked petroleum caused a slick that polluted thousands of square miles of sea water, marshes and estuaries. It took 1.8 million gallons of dispersants to emulsify the oil in the ocean. Booms were deployed to contain the slick and the oil was then burned or siphoned off.
The oil contaminating Louisiana's beaches had to be removed manually, as it damaged plant life and wildlife in the state’s marshes and estuaries. An estimated 1,100 miles of shoreline were contaminated by the spill.
Deep-sea dives
Cameron's interest in deep-sea dives is legendary. On 7th March 2012, he took the Deepsea Challenger submersible vessel on a five-mile deep solo dive to the bottom of the New Britain Trench. He went to the bottom of the deepest natural trench in the world, the Mariana Trench, on 26th March, exploring the ocean bed for more than three hours.
He is the first person ever to complete the dive solo. A 3D film of the whole experience was made and he collected data which benefited the field of marine biology, as he discovered new species of squid worm, sea cucumber and giant single-cell amoeba.
Titanic
Depicting the true story of the loss of 1,503 lives when the RMS Titanic sank, after hitting an iceberg, on 14th April 1912, the film Titanic is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Cameron's Hollywood career.
The story adds more romantic elements, which have been seamlessly weaved in by Cameron, to bring the already tragic narrative to life. The ship was on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City when she sank, 375 miles south of Newfoundland.
Cameron introduced the fictional characters of the impoverished young man from Wisconsin who had won his ticket for the voyage, Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), and upper-class Philadelphia girl Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslett), who was being forced to marry for money and not love after her family fell on hard times.
The romance between them played out against the backdrop of the doomed ship, as they mingled with characters based on real people from the Titanic's voyage.
Real-life J Dawson
When Cameron wrote the movie, he invented the main characters of Rose and Jack, although he later discovered there had been a real passenger called J Dawson. Intrigued, he investigated further and found that Joseph Dawson, who was a trimmer and upholsterer from Dublin, had gone to Southampton seeking work in 1911 and was at the bottom of the ship workers' social status as a trimmer.
In the autumn of 1911, Joseph signed on for another vessel, the Majestic, but a coal strike early in 1912 led to the Majestic being unable to sail - ironically because the Titanic had taken all of the remaining coal. So Joseph found work on the Titanic instead - his first time at sea for seven months.
When the Titanic hit the fatal iceberg, Joseph, who was 24, had been off duty and sleeping. He had to vacate the sinking ship by diving into the freezing water, as there weren't enough lifeboats for all of the passengers and crew. Although he managed to stay afloat, he had died of hypothermia by the time he was picked up by rescue vessel the Mackay-Bennett.
He was buried in Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 8th May 1912. To this day, his grave, in plot 227, is one of the most visited at the cemetery. There are 221 Titanic victims buried at the cemetery.
Historical accuracy
Cameron was passionate about ensuring the story was told correctly and accurately. In fact, the total length of the movie scenes set in 1912 was two hours and 40 minutes - the actual time it took for the real Titanic to sink. According to historical records, the collision with the iceberg lasted 37 seconds, thus the collision scene in the film took exactly 37 seconds.
In the dramatic scene on the ship, when seawater burst through the walls causing mass panic, around 120 tons of water were released. This was triple what had been planned, but Cameron wanted to achieve a more realistic effect.
Actor Eric Braeden, who played American businessman John Jacob Astor IV in the film, said he had never been more terrified in his life. It wasn't possible to physically rehearse the scene with all of the water, so nobody really knew what to expect. Luckily, filming went well.
The real Astor was the richest passenger on the Titanic, worth an estimated $87 million, which would equate to $2.26 billion in today's terms. Born in 1864, he was the son of wealthy racehorse breeder and owner William Backhouse Astor Jr, of Rhinebeck, New York. The family fortune had been made through fur trading.
John Astor lost his life at the age of 47 when he drowned as the Titanic went down. He was last seen alive smoking a cigarette on the starboard bridge with Jacques Futrelle, the American journalist and author, who also died. Half an hour after they were last seen, the ship had sunk.
Astor's pregnant wife Madeleine survived after her husband lifted her through a window to get her a place on one of the scarce lifeboats. Only 675 people survived - mainly women and children.
According to an eye witness report, Astor sacrificed his life when he gave up his own seat in a lifeboat to allow two children, cowering on the deck, to take his place instead. He had noted that his wife was in lifeboat number four and said he hoped to find her later.
Has Cameron seen the real Titanic?
Cameron said the idea for Titanic was inspired by a real-life dive to the wreck at the bottom of the ocean. He admitted that although he joked about it, he actually made the film because he wanted to take part in an exploration of the wreck.
He says he thinks of himself as both a filmmaker and an explorer, explaining that it was the explorer's job to be at the "edge of human experience" and then return to tell that story. This was why he didn't see them as separate roles, he explained.
Cameron won many awards for Titanic, including Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Director. He also won Golden Globes for Best Motion Picture and Best Director.
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