Oscar Legends (notable directors and other makers)

101. Terry George

Terry George was born on December 20, 1952 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. He is a writer and producer, known for Hotel Rwanda (2004), In the Name of the Father (1993) and Some Mother's Son (1996). He has been married to Margaret Higgins since 1978. They have two children.

In the Name of the Father Hotel Rwanda The Shore

102. George Seaton

Writer | Miracle on 34th Street

Working his way up from general factotum and gag writer to highly versatile writer/director, George Seaton was involved in many aspects of the entertainment industry along the way.

He was born George Stenius of Swedish parentage (his family hailed from Stockholm) in South Bend, IN, and grew up in ...

A Day at the Races Coney Island The Song of Bernadette Miracle on 34th Street The Bridges at Toko-Ri The Country Girl The 28th Academy Awards The Proud and Profane The Tin Star Teacher's Pet Twilight of Honor Airport

103. Fred Zinnemann

Director | A Man for All Seasons

Initially grew up wanting to be a violinist, but while at the University of Vienna decided to study law. While doing so, he became increasingly interested in American film and decided that was what he wanted to do. He became involved in European filmaking for a short time before going to America to...

That Mothers Might Live A Crime Does Not Pay Subject: "Forbidden Passage" The Seventh Cross The Search The Men Benjy Teresa High Noon The Member of the Wedding From Here to Eternity Oklahoma! A Hatful of Rain The Old Man and the Sea The Nun's Story The Sundowners A Man for All Seasons The Day of the Jackal Julia

104. Xavier Koller

Director | Reise der Hoffnung

Born in Switzerland. After graduating from High School, Xavier Koller first went through a four-year apprenticeship as a precision toolmaker and then, after three years of training at the Academy of Drama in Zurich, Switzerland, graduated as an actor/director.

The next several years he spent acting ...

Journey of Hope

105. Robert Parrish

Director | Casino Royale

Robert Parrish was an Academy Award-winning film editor who also directed and acted in movies. As a child he appeared in films during the early 1930s, such as City Lights (1931) by Charles Chaplin and Lewis Milestone's All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). As an editor he won an Academy Award for ...

December 7th Body and Soul All the King's Men Casino Royale

106. Federico Fellini

Writer | Le notti di Cabiria

The women who both attracted and frightened him and an Italy dominated in his youth by Mussolini and Pope Pius XII - inspired the dreams that Fellini started recording in notebooks in the 1960s. Life and dreams were raw material for his films. His native Rimini and characters like Saraghina (the ...

Rome, Open City Paisan La Strada I Vitelloni Nights of Cabiria La Dolce Vita Juliet of the Spirits 8½ Fellini Satyricon Sweet Charity Amarcord Fellini's Casanova The Thousand Miles

107. Paolo Sorrentino

Writer | È stata la mano di Dio

Director and screenwriter Paolo Sorrentino was born in Naples in 1970, and and became an orphan when he lost both of his parents at the age of 16. At the age of 25, after studying for a few years at the Faculty of Economics and Business in University of Naples Federico II, he decided to work in the...

Il Divo The Great Beauty

108. David MacDonald

Director | The Brothers

Scottish-born David MacDonald got his training in the industry in the United States under celebrated producer and director Cecil B. DeMille, who hired him in 1929 as a production assistant. MacDonald returned to Britain in 1936 after his apprenticeship and directed a dozen of "quota quickies", ...

Desert Victory

109. Michael Cimino

Director | The Deer Hunter

Michael Cimino studied architecture and dramatic arts; later he filmed advertisements and documentaries and also wrote scripts until the actor, producer and director Clint Eastwood gave him the opportunity to direct the thriller Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974). But his biggest success was The Deer...

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot The Dear Hunter The Rose Heaven's Gate Platoon

110. David Frankel

Director | The Devil Wears Prada

David Frankel was born on April 2, 1959 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and producer, known for The Devil Wears Prada (2006), One Chance (2013) and Band of Brothers (2001).

Dear Diary The Devil Wears Prada

111. Emile Ardolino

Director | Dirty Dancing

Emile Ardolino was born on May 9, 1943 in Maspeth, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Dirty Dancing (1987), Great Performances: Dance in America (1976) and He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983). He died on November 20, 1993 in Bel Air, California, USA.

He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' Dirty Dancing Chances Are

112. Robert Houston

Actor | The Hills Have Eyes

Director/writer Bobby Houston is a California-based filmmaker whose most recent documentary, Mighty Times: The Children's March (2004), won the Academy Award in March 2005. His previous film, Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks (2002), was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 and won an Emmy. ...

1941 Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks Mighty Times: The Children's March

113. Stan Winston

Make_up_department | Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Stan Winston was born on April 7, 1946 in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is known for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Jurassic Park (1993) and Aliens (1986). He was married to Karen Winston. He died on June 15, 2008 in Malibu, California, USA.

The Man in the Glass Booth The Wiz Heartbeeps Starman Aliens Predator Edward Scissorhands Terminator 2: Judgment Day Batman Returns Jurassic Park Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles The Ghost and the Darkness The Lost World: Jurassic Park Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Pearl Harbor A.I. Artificial Intelligence Big Fish Iron Man Avatar

114. Roger Christian

Set_decorator | Star Wars

Academy Award winner Roger Christian has had an extensive film career. He won an Academy Award for set decoration on director George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977), which began a long collaboration between the filmmakers. Christian subsequently worked with Lucas on Star Wars: ...

Oliver! Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Alien The Dollar Bottom Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

115. Bille August

Director | The House of the Spirits

Bille August was born on November 9, 1948 in Brede, Denmark. He is a director and writer, known for The House of the Spirits (1993), Pelle the Conqueror (1987) and Les Misérables (1998). He is married to Sara-Marie Maltha. He was previously married to Pernilla August, Masja Dessau and Annie ...

Pelle the Conqueror

116. John Patrick Shanley

Writer | Moonstruck

John Patrick Shanley was born on October 3, 1950 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Moonstruck (1987), Doubt (2008) and Congo (1995).

Moonstruck Doubt

117. Steven Zaillian

Writer | Searching for Bobby Fischer

Steven Zaillian was born on January 30, 1953 in Fresno, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993), The Irishman (2019) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). He is married to Elizabeth Zaillian. They have two children.

Awakenings Searching for Bobby Fischer Schindler's List Clear and Present Danger A Civil Action Gangs of New York American Gangster The Cove Moneyball The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

118. Alejandro Amenábar

Writer | The Others

Is the son of a Spanish mother and a Chilean father. His family moved back to Spain when he was 1 year old, and he grew up and studied in Madrid. He wrote, produced and directed his first short film La cabeza at the age of 19, and he was 23 when he directed his feature debut Thesis (1996). His film ...

Vanilla Sky/Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) The Sea Inside

119. Asghar Farhadi

Writer | Forooshande

Asghar Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema in his teenage years and started his filmmaking education by joining the Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan in 1986 where he made 8mm and 16mm short films. He received his Bachelors in Theater from University of Tehran's School of...

A Separation

120. Ethan Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...

Barton Fink Fargo O Brother Where Art Thou? The Man Who Wasn't There No Country for Old Men A Serious Man True Grit Inside Llewyn Davis Unbroken Bridge of Spies

121. Joel Coen

Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...

Barton Fink Fargo O Brother Where Art Thou? The Man Who Wasn't There No Country for Old Men A Serious Man True Grit Inside Llewyn Davis Unbroken Bridge of Spies

122. Jane Campion

Writer | Bright Star

Jane Campion was born in Wellington, New Zealand, and now lives in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Having graduated with a BA in Anthropology from Victoria University of Wellington in 1975, and a BA, with a painting major, at Sydney College of the Arts in 1979, she began filmmaking in the early...

The Piano The Portrait of a Lady Bright Star

123. Mike Nichols

Director | The Graduate

He, along with the other members of the "Compass Players" including Elaine May, Paul Sills, Byrne Piven, Joyce Hiller Piven and Edward Asner helped start the famed "Second City Improv" company. They used the games taught to them by fellow cast mate, Paul Sills 's mother, Viola Spolin. He later ...

Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? The Graduate Carnal Knowledge The Day of the Dolphin Silkwood Working Girl Postcards from the Edge The Remains of the Day The Birdcage Primary Colors Closer Charlie Wilson's War Fantastic Mr. Fox

124. Walter Murch

Sound_department | The English Patient

Walter Murch has been editing sound in Hollywood since starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film The Rain People (1969). He edited sound on American Graffiti (1973) and The Godfather Part II (1974), won his first Academy Award nomination for The Conversation (1974), won his first Oscar for Apocalypse...

American Graffiti The Conversation The Godfather: Part II Julia Apocalypse Now The Black Stallion Dragonslayer The Right Stuff Return to Oz The Unbearable Lightness of Being Ghost The Godfather: Part III The English Patient The Apostle The Talented Mr. Ripley Pollock Cold Mountain The Wolfman

125. Joe Johnston

Director | Captain America: The First Avenger

Joseph Eggleston Johnston II is an American film director from Texas who is known for directing the cult classic film The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Wolfman, October Sky, The Pagemaster, Jurassic Park III and Captain America: The First Avenger. He was an art director for ...

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Raiders of the Lost Ark Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Willow The Wolfman The Avengers

126. William Friedkin

Director | To Live and Die in L.A.

Friedkin's mother was an operating room nurse. His father was a merchant seaman, semi-pro softball player and ultimately sold clothes in a men's discount chain. Ultimately, his father never earned more than $50/week in his whole life and died indigent. Eventually young Will became infatuated with ...

The French Connection Paper Moon The Exorcist The 49th Academy Awards Sorcerer The Brink's Job

127. Costa-Gavras

Director | Z

Costa-Gavras was born on February 12, 1933 in Loutra-Iraias, Greece. He is a director and writer, known for Z (1969), Missing (1982) and Amen. (2002). He has been married to Michèle Ray-Gavras since 1968. They have two children.

Z Missing Music Box

128. Spike Jonze

Producer | Her

Spike Jonze made up one-third (along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman) of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine, the brother publication of the much lamented ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine as well, under the ...

Being John Malkovich Adaptation. Lost in Translation Moneyball Beginners Her Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa The Wolf of Wall Street Foxcatcher

129. Ingmar Bergman

Writer | Smultronstället

Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...

Wild Strawberries Through a Glass Darkly Cries & Whispers Face to Face A Little Night Music/Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende) Autumn Sonata Fanny and Alexander

130. Milos Forman

Director | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in ...

Loves of A Blonde The Fireman's Ball One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ragtime Amadeus Valmont The People vs. Larry Flynt

131. Robert De Niro

Actor | Cape Fear

One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained ...

The Godfather Part II Taxi Driver The Last Tycoon The Deer Hunter Raging Bull Brazil The Mission The Untouchables Goodfellas Awakenings Backdraft Cape Fear Frankenstein Casino Sleepers Marvin's Room Wag the Dog Jackie Brown Meet the Parnets Pollock About a Boy Shark Tale The Good Sheaperd Silver Lings Playbook American Hustle Joy

132. George Clooney

Actor | The Ides of March

George Timothy Clooney was born on May 6, 1961, in Lexington, Kentucky, to Nina Bruce (née Warren), a former beauty pageant queen, and Nick Clooney, a former anchorman and television host (who was also the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney). He has Irish, English, and German ancestry. Clooney ...

One Fine Day Out of Sight The Thin Red Line South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Perfect Storm Far from Heaven Good Night and Good Luck. Syriana The Good German Michael Clayton Up in the Air Fantastic Mr. Fox The Ides of March The Descendants Argo Gravity August: Osage County

133. Billy Bob Thornton

Actor | Sling Blade

Billy Bob Thornton was born on August 4, 1955 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Virginia Roberta (Faulkner), a psychic, and William Raymond (Billy Ray) Thornton, an educator, high school history teacher, and basketball coach (now deceased). He is the older brother of James Donald (Jimmy Don) (born in ...

Sling Blade The Apostle Primary Colors Armageddon The Thin Red Line A Simple Plan The Man Who Wasn't There Monster's Ball Puss in Boots The Judge

134. Warren Beatty

Actor | Reds

Since starring in his first film, Splendor in the Grass (1961), Warren Beatty has been said to have demonstrated a greater longevity in movies than any actor of his generation. Few people have taken so many responsibilities for all phases of the production of films as producer, director, writer, ...

Splendor in the Grass The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone What's New Pussycat Bonnie and Clyde McCabe & Mrs. Miller Shampoo Heaven Can Wait Reds Dick Tracy Bugsy Bulworth

135. Kevin Costner

Actor | The Postman

Kevin Michael Costner was born on January 18, 1955 in Lynwood, California, the third child of Bill Costner, a ditch digger and ultimately an electric line servicer for Southern California Edison, and Sharon Costner (née Tedrick), a welfare worker. His older brother, Dan, was born in 1950. A middle ...

Frances The Big Chill Testament Silverado The Untouchables Bull Durham Field of Dreams Dancing with Wolves Robin Hood: Prince of Thievs JFK The Bodyguard Wyatt Earp Waterworld

136. James Cameron

Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water

James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...

Rambo: First Blood Part II Aliens The Abyss Terminator 2: Judgment Day True Lies Apollo 13 Titanic Avatar All Is Lost Gravity

137. Mel Gibson

Actor | Braveheart

Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson was born January 3, 1956 in Peekskill, New York, USA, as the sixth of eleven children of Hutton Gibson, a railroad brakeman, and Anne Patricia (Reilly) Gibson (who died in December of 1990). His mother was Irish, from County Longford, while his American-born father is ...

The Year of Living Dangerously The River Lethal Weapon Tequila Sunrise Lethal Weapon 2 Hamlet Maverick Braveheart Pocahontas The Patriot The Passion of the Christ Apocalypto

138. Alfred Hitchcock

Director | Psycho

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...

Rebecca Foreign Correspondent Suspicion Shadow of a Doubt Lifeboat Spellbound Notorious The Paradine Case Strangers on a Train Rear Window To Catch a Thief The Man Who Knew Too Much Vertigo North by Northwest Psycho The Birds

139. Paul Thomas Anderson

Director | Punch-Drunk Love

Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...

Boogie Nights Magnolia Minority Report Capote There Will Be Blood The Master Inherent Vice

140. Howard Hughes

Scarface

Billionaire businessman, film producer, film director, and aviator, born in Humble, Texas just north of Houston. He studied at two prestigious institutions of higher learning: Rice University in Houston and California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Inherited his father's machine ...

Two Arabian Knights The Racket Hell's Angels

141. Sidney Lumet

Director | 12 Angry Men

Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...

12 Angry Men Long Day's Journey Into Night The Pawnbroker King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Serpico Murder on the Orient Express Dog Day Afternoon Network Equus The Wiz Prince of the City The Verdict The Morning After Running on Empty Rachel Getting Married

142. Robert Altman

Director | Gosford Park

Robert Altman was born on February 20th, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri, to B.C. (an insurance salesman) and Helen Altman. He entered St. Peters Catholic school at the age six, and spent a short time at a Catholic high school. From there, he went to Rockhurst High School. It was then that he started...

MASH McCabe & Mrs. Miller Images Nashville The Late Show Endless Love The Player Short Cuts Afterglow Gosford Park There Will Be Blood Rachel Getting Married

143. David Lynch

Writer | Twin Peaks

Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...

The Elephant Man Dune Blue Velvet Wild at Heart The Straight Story Mulholland Dr.

144. George Lucas

Writer | Star Wars

George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...

American Graffiti Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Kagemusha Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back Raiders of the Lost Ark Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Return to Oz Willow Tucker: The Man and His Dream Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade The Godfather: Part III Hook Jurassic Park Men in Black Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Sicko Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

145. Ridley Scott

Producer | The Martian

Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...

Alien Blade Runner Legend Black Rain Thelma & Louise Gladiator Black Hawk Down American Gangster The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Prometheus The Martian

146. David Fincher

Director | Se7en

David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Alien³ Se7en Fight Club Being John Malkovich WALL·E The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Logorama The Social Network The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Gravity Her Gone Girl

147. David O. Russell

Director | American Hustle

David Owen Russell is an American film writer, director, and producer, known for a cinema of intense, tragi-comedic characters whose love of life can surpass dark circumstances faced in very specific worlds. His films address such themes as mental illness as stigma or hope; invention of self and ...

Being John Malkovich Adaptation. Thirteen Lost in Translation The Fighter Silver Linings Playbook American Hustle Her Joy

148. Richard Linklater

Director | Waking Life

Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...

Good Will Hunting Before Sunset Food, Inc. Before Midnight Boyhood

149. Philip Kaufman

Writer | The Right Stuff

Director and screenwriter Philip Kaufman was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago and later Harvard Law School. He won the Prix de la Nouvelle Critique at Cannes in 1965 for his film Goldstein (1964). He was the screenwriter for The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and was to ...

The Outlaw Josey Wales Raiders of the Lost Ark The Right Stuff The Unbearable Lightness of Being Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Henry & June Quills The Messenger

150. Peter Weir

Director | Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Peter Weir was born on August 21, 1944 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a director and writer, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Way Back (2010) and Witness (1985). He has been married to Wendy Stites since 1966. They have two children.

The Year of Living Dangerously Witness Dead Poets Society Green Card Fearless The Truman Show Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World The Way Back All Is Lost

151. Stephen Daldry

Director | The Reader

In 1989, Stephen Daldry worked as a freelance reader of unsolicited manuscripts for Literary Manager Nicholas Wright in the Scripts Department at the Royal National Theatre. In July of that year, he directed a Dadaist/expressionist production of "Judgement Day," a play by Odon von Horvath, at the ...

Billy Elliot The Hours The Reader Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

152. Jim Sheridan

Producer | In America

Following a distinguished career in the theatre between the 1960s and the 1980s, Jim Sheridan wrote and directed his first critically acclaimed feature My Left Foot in 1989. The film was nominated for two European Film Awards. He followed this in 1990 with The Field which he also wrote and directed...

My Left Foot The Field In the Name of the Father In America

153. Rob Marshall

Director | Mary Poppins Returns

Rob Marshall was born on October 17, 1960 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Chicago (2002) and Into the Woods (2014).

Chicago Memoirs of a Geisha Nine Into the Woods

154. Henry Koster

Director | Harvey

Henry Koster was born Herman Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany, on May 1, 1905. His maternal grandfather was a famous operatic tenor Julius Salomon (who died of tuberculosis in the 1880s). His father was a salesman of ladies unmentionables who left the family while Henry was at a young age, leaving him...

Three Smart Girls One Hundred Men and a Girl First Love Spring Parade It Started with Eve Music for Millions The Bishop's Wife The Luck of the Irish Come to the Stable Wabash Avenue Harvey My Cousin Rachel The Robe Desiree The Virgin Queen A Man Called Peter The Power and the Prize Flower Drum Song The Singing Nun

155. Terrence Malick

Writer | Days of Heaven

Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.

A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen ...

Days of Heaven Good Will Hunting The Thin Red Line The New World Gone Baby Gone The Tree of Life

156. Louis Malle

Director | Au revoir les enfants

Louis Malle, the descendant of a French nobleman who made a fortune in beet sugar during the Napoleonic Wars, created films that explored life and its meaning. Malle's family discouraged his early interest in film but, in 1950, allowed him to enter the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies ...

Murmur of the Heart Lacombe, Lucien Pretty Baby Atlantic City Au Revoir Les Enfants Alice Damage

157. Hugh Hudson

Director | Chariots of Fire

The old Etonian, after National Service in the British Army, wanted to get into films but found the doors were closed to him, so he worked on commercials for about 20 years. David Putnam gave him a chance to direct Chariots of Fire which was a hit, and he never looked back.

He met his second wife, ...

Chariots of Fire Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes

158. James Ivory

Writer | Call Me by Your Name

The main part of his few movies were filmed in the quarter of a century in which he worked closely together with the Indian producer Ismail Merchant and the German writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. His first films are all set in India and are very much influenced by the style of Satyajit Ray and Jean ...

The Europeans The Bostonians A Room with a View Maurice Mr. & Mrs. Bridge Howard's End The Remains of the Day

159. Kenneth Branagh

Actor | Henry V

Kenneth Charles Branagh was born on December 10, 1960, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to parents William Branagh, a plumber and carpenter, and Frances (Harper), both born in 1930. He has two siblings, William Branagh, Jr. (born 1955) and Joyce Branagh (born 1970). When he was nine, his family ...

Chariots of Fire Henry V Swan Song Frankenstein Hamlet The Periwig-Maker My Week with Marilyn The Avengers Cinderella

160. Terry Gilliam

Writer | Brazil

Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...

Brazil The Adventures of Baron Munchausen The Fisher King Twelve Monkeys The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

161. Alan Parker

Director | Evita

The son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker, a house painter, Alan Parker was a London advertising copywriter in the 1960s and early 1970s with Collett Dickenson Pearce (CDP), an ad agency. He formed a partnership with David Puttnam as his producer (Puttnam had been a ...

Bugsy Malone Midnight Express Fame Mississippi Burning The Commitments Evita Angela's Ashes

162. Christopher Nolan

Writer | Tenet

Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...

Memento Batman Begins The Prestige The Dark Knight Inception Interstellar

163. Joss Whedon

Producer | Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Joss Whedon is the middle of five brothers - his younger brothers are Jed Whedon and Zack Whedon. Both his father, Tom Whedon and his grandfather, John Whedon were successful television writers. Joss' mother, Lee Stearns, was a history teacher and she also wrote novels as Lee Whedon. Whedon was ...

Toy Story The Avengers Iron Man 3 Avengers: Age of Ultron

164. Noah Baumbach

Writer | The Squid and the Whale

Born in Brooklyn in 1969 Noah Baumbach is the son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach (also a writer). His studies at Vassar College were the subject of his first film (made as he was 26 years old), Kicking and Screaming (1995). His second major picture, made ten years later, ...

The Squid and the Whale Fantastic Mr. Fox

165. Darren Aronofsky

Writer | Pi

Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...

Requiem for a Dream The Wrestler Black Swan The Fighter

166. Guillermo del Toro

Writer | El laberinto del fauno

Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...

Amores Perros Y Tu Mamá También Babel Pan's Labyrinth Hellboy II: The Golden Army District 9 The Lovely Bones Biutful Kung Fu Panda 2 Puss in Boots The Impossible The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Gravity The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Birdman How to Train Your Dragon 2

167. Fernando Meirelles

Director | The Constant Gardener

Fernando Meirelles was born in a middle class family in São Paulo City, Brazil.

He studied architecture at the university of São Paulo. At the same time he developed an interest in filmmaking. With a group of friends he started producing experimental videos and video art. They won a huge number of ...

City of God The Constant Gardener

168. Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Director | Un long dimanche de fiançailles

Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a self-taught director who was very quickly interested by cinema, with a predilection for a fantastic cinema where form is as important as the subject. Thus he started directing TV commercials and video clips (such as Julien Clerc in 1984). At the same time he met designer/...

Amélie A Very Long Engagement

169. Jan Troell

Director | Här har du ditt liv

Jan Troell was born on July 23, 1931 in Limhamn, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and cinematographer, known for Here Is Your Life (1966), The Emigrants (1971) and Il capitano (1991). He is married to Agneta Ulfsäter-Troell. They have one child.

The Emigrants The New Land

170. Morton DaCosta

Director | The Music Man

Philadelphia-born Morton DaCosta started his career as a stage actor in 1942, and by 1950 had become a respected stage director, both in stock theater and on Broadway. His short film career consisted of a pair of successful adaptations of Broadway successes, ("The Music Man" and "Auntie Mame") and ...

Auntie Mame The Music Man

171. Lasse Hallström

Director | What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Lasse Hallström inherited his enthusiasm for film from his father, who was an amateur filmmaker. In high school he made his first short film, which was released on Swedish television. Hallström then began working as a director, cameraman and editor for Swedish television. He also made music videos ...

My Life as a Dog What's Eating Gilbert Grape The Cider House Rules Chocolat

172. Jim Henson

Soundtrack | The Muppet Show

Jim Henson never thought that he would make a name of himself in puppetry; it was merely a way of getting himself on television. The vehicle that achieved it was Sam and Friends (1955), a late-night puppet show that was on after the 11:00 news in Washington DC. It proved to be very popular and ...

Time Piece The Muppet Movie The Great Muppet Caper An American Werewolf in London The Muppets Take Manhattan The Muppets

173. Paul Greengrass

Director | United 93

Paul Greengrass started his filmmaking career with a super 8 camera he found in his art room in secondary school. Those short movies were animation horror films he made using old dolls, artist dummies, and the general art room clutter.

After studying in Cambridge University he got into Granada ...

United 93 The Bourne Ultimatum Captain Phillips

174. Tony Gilroy

Writer | Michael Clayton

Tony Gilroy was born in Manhattan, New York, New York, USA; and raised in upstate New York. His father, Frank D. Gilroy, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director, and screenwriter. Tony has penned many films, including The Devil's Advocate (1997) and The Cutting Edge (1992).

Armageddon The Bourne Ultimatum Michael Clayton Nightcrawler

175. John Sturges

Director | The Great Escape

John Sturges was an American film director, mostly remembered for his outstanding Western films. In 1992, Sturges was awarded a Golden Boot Award for his lifelong contribution to the Western genre.

Sturges was born in the village of Oak Park, Illinois, within the Chicago metropolitan area. By 1930, ...

Bad Day at Black Rock Gunfight at O.K. Corral The Old Man and the Sea The Magnificent Seven The Great Escape Ice Station Zebra Marooned

176. Rob Reiner

Actor | All in the Family

Robert Reiner was born in New York City, to Estelle Reiner (née Lebost) and Emmy-winning actor, comedian, writer, and producer Carl Reiner.

As a child, his father was his role model, as Carl Reiner created and starred in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Estelle was also an inspiration for him to become a ...

Stand by Me The Princess Bride Throw Momma from the Train When Harry Met Sally... Postcards from the Edge Misery A Few Good Men Sleepless in Seattle Bullets Over Broadway The American President The First Wives Club Ghosts of Mississippi Good Will Hunting Primary Colors A Mighty Wind The Wolf of Wall Street

177. Martin Ritt

Director | Hud

Martin Ritt, one of the best and most sensitive American filmmakers of all time, was a director, actor and playwright who worked in both film and theater. He was born in New York City. His films reflect, like almost none other, a profound and intimate humane vision of his characters.

He originally ...

Paris Blues Hud The Spy Who Came in from the Cold The Molly Maguires The Great White Hope Sounder Pete 'n' Tillie The Front Norma Rae Cross Creak Murphy's Romance

178. Julie Taymor

Director | Frida

Julie Taymor is an Academy Award-nominated director, known for such films as Frida (2002) and Across the Universe (2007).

She was born on December 15, 1952, in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her father, Melvin Lester Taymor, was a gynecologist. Her mother, Elizabeth Bernstein, was a ...

Titus Frida Across the Universe The Tempest

179. Todd Haynes

Director | Far from Heaven

Todd Haynes was always interested in art, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made the controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). ...

Velvet Goldmine Far from Heaven I'm Not There. Still Alice Carol

180. Ivan Reitman

Producer | Up in the Air

Canadian producer and director Ivan Reitman created many of American cinema's most successful and best loved feature film comedies and worked with Hollywood's acting elite. Reitman produced such hits as the ground-breaking sensation National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), which ...

Ghostbusters Dave Beethoven's 2nd Junior Up in the Air Hitchcock

181. Jason Reitman

Producer | Up in the Air

Jason Reitman is a Canadian filmmaker and producer who notably directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Tully. He produced Chloe and Jennifer's Body, two films that advanced Amanda Seyfried's career for adult oriented roles. He is the son of Ivan...

Juno Up in the Air Whiplash

182. Chris Columbus

Producer | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, Chris Columbus was first inspired to make movies after seeing "The Godfather" at age 15. After enrolling at NYU film school, he sold his first screenplay (never produced) while a sophomore there. After graduation Columbus tried to sell his fourth script, "...

Young Sherlock Holmes Home Alone Mrs. Doubtfire Bicentennial Man Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The Cove The Help Chasing Ice

183. M. Night Shyamalan

Producer | Lady in the Water

Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.

He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...

The Sixth Sense Stuart Little The Village

184. Agnieszka Holland

Director | Pokot

Having graduated from FAMU in Prague film (1971), Agnieszka Holland returned to Poland and began her film career working with Krzysztof Zanussi as assistant director, and Andrzej Wajda as her mentor. Her first feature film was PROVINCIAL ACTORS (1978), one of the flagship pictures of the "cinema of...

Angry Harvest Anna Europa Europa Pollock In Darkness Ida

185. Chris Weitz

Writer | About a Boy

Christopher John Weitz is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter who is known for Antz, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, American Pie, About a Boy, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and The Golden Compass. He is married to Mercedes Martinez since 2006 and has three ...

About a Boy The Golden Compass A Single Man A Better Life Cinderella

186. Paul Weitz

Writer | About a Boy

Paul Weitz was born on November 19, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA as Paul J. Weitz. He is a director, writer and producer, known for Grandma (2015), About a Boy (2002), and Mozart in the Jungle (2014), for which he won a Golden Globe. He has been married to Patricia Brown since December 15, ...

About a Boy The Golden Compass

187. Stephen Frears

Director | Dangerous Liaisons

Stephen started off in a career in the legal profession before switching to work as an assistant stage manager at London's Royal Court which led to work as an assistant director on films by Karel Reisz and Lindsay Anderson He directed his first short in 1967 and his feature debut, Gumshoe, in 1971....

My Beautiful Laundrette Dangerous Liaisons The Grifters Dirty Pretty Things Gosford Park Mrs. Henderson Presents The Queen Albert Nobbs Philomena Icon

188. Baz Luhrmann

Writer | Moulin Rouge!

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian writer, director and producer with projects spanning film, television, opera, theater, music and recording industries. He is regarded by many as a contemporary example of an auteur for his distinctly recognizable style and deep involvement in the writing, directing, ...

Romeo + Juliet Moulin Rouge! Australia The Great Gatsby

189. Franco Zeffirelli

Director | Romeo and Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli is an Italian director and producer of operas, films and television. He was also a senator from 1994 until 2001 for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party. Some of his operatic designs and productions have become worldwide classics.

He was known for several of the movies he ...

The Taming of the Shrew Romeo and Juliet Brother Sun, Sister Moon The Champ Endless Love La traviata Otello Hamlet The Godfather: Part III

190. Anatole Litvak

Director | The Snake Pit

The distinguished film director Anatole Litvak was born in the Ukrainian city of Kiev, the son of Jewish parents. His very first job was as a stage hand. In 1915, he became an actor, performing at a little-known experimental theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. As a teenager, he witnessed the 1917 ...

All This, and Heaven Too Blues in the Night This Above All Sorry, Wrong Number The Snake Pit Decisions Before Dawn Anastasia

191. Robert Stevenson

Director | Mary Poppins

Robert Stevenson was born on March 31, 1905 in Buxton, Derbyshire, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Mary Poppins (1964), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and Nine Days a Queen (1936). He was married to Ursula Henderson, Frances Holyoke Howard, Anna Lee and Cecilie L Leslie. He ...

The AbsentMinded Professor Marry Poppins Bedknobs and Broomsticks The Island at the Top of the World

192. Nicholas Meyer

Writer | Time After Time

Nicholas Meyer was born in New York City, the son of a psychoanalyst and a concert pianist. He attended the University of Iowa, home of the famous Writers Workshop.

Meyer's award-winning teleplays for ABC's JUDGE DEE & MONASTERY MURDERS and CBS's NIGHT THAT PANICKED AMERICA launched his ...

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country The Prince of Egypt

193. Noboru Nakamura

Director | Koto

Noboru Nakamura was born on August 4, 1913 in Tokyo, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Twin Sisters of Kyoto (1963), Sekishun (1967) and Nami (1952). He died on May 20, 1981 in Japan.

Koko Portrait of Chieko

194. Kon Ichikawa

Director | Inugami-ke no ichizoku

Kon Ichikawa has been influenced by artists as diverse as Walt Disney and Jean Renoir, and his films cover a wide spectrum of moods, from the comic to the overwhelmingly ironic and even the perverse. Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, and this influence is apparent in his skillful use of ...

The Burmese Harp

195. Keisuke Kinoshita

Writer | Nijûshi no hitomi

Keisuke Kinoshita was born on December 5, 1912 in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Twenty-Four Eyes (1954), The Ballad of Narayama (1958) and The Garden of Women (1954). He died on December 30, 1998 in Tokyo, Japan.

Immortal Love

196. Hiroshi Teshigahara

Director | Suna no onna

Hiroshi Teshigahara was born the son of Sofu Teshigahara who was the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (flower arrangement). In 1950, he graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in oil painting. In 1958, he became the director of Sogetsu Art Centre and took a ...

Woman in the Dunes

197. Masaki Kobayashi

Director | Seppuku

Masaki Kobayashi was born on February 14, 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961). He died on October 4, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.

Kwaidan

198. Kei Kumai

Writer | Umi to dokuyaku

Kei Kumai was born on June 1, 1929 in Nagano, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for The Sea and Poison (1986), The Long Darkness (1972) and Sandakan No. 8 (1974). He died on May 23, 2007 in Tokyo, Japan.

Sandakan 8

199. Kôhei Oguri

Director | Doro no kawa

Kôhei Oguri was born on October 29, 1945 in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. He is a director and writer, known for Muddy River (1981), The Sting of Death (1990) and Sleeping Man (1996).

Muddy River

200. Yôji Yamada

Writer | Tasogare Seibei

Yamada Yoji graduated Tokyo University in 1954, the year he joined Shochiku as an assistant director. In 1969, he launched the popular "Tora-san" series, the world's longest theatrical film series. "The Twilight Samurai" (The Twilight Samurai (2002)) marks his 77th film as well as his 41th year as ...

The Twilight Samurai