Famous Film Directors a to z

Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu is a Mexican film director whose 1999 feature film, Amores Perros, won an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

New Zealand native Peter Jackson is best known as a director for his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which has won 11 Oscars.

Angelina Jolie is one of Hollywood's leading actresses, known for movies like Changeling and Salt as much as she is for her relationship with actor Brad Pitt.

Tommy Lee Jones is an American actor known for his roles in Men in Black, The Fugitive, No Country for Old Men and Lincoln (2012).

Spike Jonze is best known for his films Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where the Wild Things Are. He produced MTV's Jackass.

Michael Keaton is an American actor known for his roles in the comedy Mr. Mom and as Batman in the Tim Burton-directed installments of the series.

Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker best known for directing Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.

David Lean was a British director and screenwriter best known for his spectacular cinematography and adaptations of Charles Dickens classics, including Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).

Ang Lee is an Academy Award-winning director, producer and screenwriter whose films include Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain.

Producer, director, writer and actor Spike Lee creates controversial films that explore race relations, political issues and urban crime and violence. His films include She's Gotta Have It and Do the Right Thing.

Baz Luhrmann is an Australian director and screenwriter best known for his films Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge.

Director Sidney Lumet was best known for his films Twelve Angry Men and Serpico. He made more than 40 films during his career.

Ida Lupino was a famous mid-20th century film actress who was also a trailblazing director and producer in a male-dominated industry.

David Lynch is a film director and screenwriter known for his dark, offbeat films, notable Blue Velvet and Eraserhead

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Seth MacFarlane is best known for writing, animating and producing the hit TV show Family Guy.

American producer, director and screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz was known for creating memorable characters. He worked with many major Hollywood stars.

Michael Mann in an Emmy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter best known for producing the 1980s crime series, Miami Vice.

Garry Marshall produced some of the most popular television shows in the 1970s, including The Odd Couple and Mork and Mindy. He also directed Pretty Woman.

Penny Marshall became a successful film director after starring in the sitcom Laverne and Shirley. Her works include Big and Riding in Cars With Boys.

English stage and film director Sam Mendes won an Oscar for American Beauty, and went on to direct films like Jarhead, Revolutionary Road and Skyfall.

Anthony Minghella was an Academy Award-winning director best known for his adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. Released in 1996, the film claimed the Oscar for best picture in 1997.

Married to Judy Garland and father to Liza Minnelli, film director Vincente Minnelli infused a new sophistication and vitality into movie musicals of the 1940s and '50s.

With her husky voice and beauty, Demi Moore was a fixture in 'Brat Pack' movies of the 1980s, such as St. Elmo's Fire and About Last Night.

Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, best known for her performances in French New Wave films of the 1950s and 60s.

Silent film director F.W. Murnau created the first major vampire film with 1924's Nosferatu, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stroker.

Actor and comedian Eddie Murphy began doing stand-up as a teenager. He became a popular Saturday Night Live cast member and starred in several box-office hits.

Ryan Murphy is the creator of the popular American television programs Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story and The New Normal.

Mike Nichols in an American theater and film director, best known for his 1967 classic, The Graduate. He's won an Academy Award, as well as multiple Tony and Emmy Awards.

Christopher Nolan is an innovative film director and screenwriter who's helmed several early 21st century megahits, including Memento, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises.

Clifford Odets was the leading dramatist of the theater of social protest in the United States during the 1930s. He helped form the influential Group Theatre.

Gary Oldman is an English actor and film director whose edgy, intense style has brought him acclaim in such hits as Sid and Nancy, JFK, and The Dark Knight.

Puppeteer Frank Oz is the man behind such iconic characters as Yoda, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Grover, and Animal. He's also directed several films.

American actor Al Pacino has kept moviegoers riveted since the 1970s, with roles in movies like The Godfather, Serpico and Scent of a Woman.

Trey Parker is a writer, director and actor known chiefly as the creator and driving force behind the animated TV series South Park.

Gordon Parks was an African-American photographer, filmmaker and author, best known for his work published in LIFE magazine and for directing the hit movie Shaft.

Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, married Madonna, and directed Jack Nicholson in two films.

Sydney Pollack is an Oscar-winning film director, producer and actor. His director credits include Tootsie and Three Days of the Condor.

American filmmaker Edwin S. Porter invented the Simplex camera for the Edison Company, and pioneered new techniques in films like The Great Train Robbery.

Sir Anthony Quayle was a revered actor of stage and screen known for work that included Hamlet, Lawrence of Arabia and Anne of the Thousand Days.

Panamanian-born U.S. theatrical director José Quintero was a founder of the Off-Broadway theatre Circle in the Square, where he directed regularly from 1950.

Sam Raimi has directed some of Hollywood's scariest movies and biggest blockbusters, such as Evil Dead 2 and Spider-man.

American actor John Ratzenberger, best known as mailman Cliff Clavin from the television series Cheers, has also contributed voice-acting to every animated Pixar feature film.

Robert Redford is a Hollywood legend, starring in several blockbuster films in his day, and producing and directing many others. He also helped start the Sundance Film Festival in the late 1970s.

Charles Nelson Reilly was a Tony-Award winning actor also known for a variety of roles on TV programs, including The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and The Match Game.

Max Reinhardt was one of the first theatrical directors to achieve international recognition. He helped found the annual Salzburg Festival.

French director Jean Renoir, son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, directed C'est la Revolution and wrote a biography of his father in the 1960s.

Former Saturday Night Live castmember Chris Rock has appeared in such films as Bad Company and is the creator of the television show Everybody Hates Chris.

Canadian actor Seth Rogen shot to fame in television and film, collaborating several times with director Judd Apatow.

French film director Eric Rohmer was an editor of respected periodicals, including Cahiers du Cinéma, and the maker of films like My Night at Maud's.

Filmmaker George A. Romero has created such classic horror films as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead.

Roberto Rossellini, father of actress Isabella Rossellini, was an Italian film director associated with the Neorealist movement. His most celebrated work is Rome, Open City.

Artist, screenwriter and director Julian Schnabel was a leading figure of the art world in the 1980s, and has proven to be talented in many creative fields.

Actor and comedian Rob Schneider's is best known for his combination of self-deprecating humor and goofball antics in films like Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.

Director Martin Scorsese has produced some of the most memorable films in cinema history, including the iconic Taxi Driver and Academy Award-winner The Departed.

Ridley Scott is an English director and producer, whose notable hits include Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. He is also recognized as the older brother of director Tony Scott, who committed suicide in August 2012.

English film director Tony Scott was best known for his first box-office success, Top Gun, as well as later films like True Romance and Enemy of the State. He was the brother of  Ridley Scott, also a famed producer and director.

Martin Sheen is an American actor best known for his roles in films Badlands (1973) and Apocalypse Now (1979). He has won numerous awards for his role as President Bartlet on the TV series The West Wing.

Sam Shepard is a prolific, Oscar-nominated actor and playwright who’s won the Pulitzer Prize.

American photographer Cindy Sherman is known for her elaborately "disguised" self-portraits that focus on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes.

M. Night Shyamalan is best known for directing The Sixth Sense, which was released in 1999 to wide acclaim, including six Oscar nominations.

Screenwriter and director John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood led to a Academy Award for Best Director, making him the first African-American ever nominated.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker, director and producer Steven Spielberg's films include Jaws, The Color Purple and Schindler's List.

One of the most popular action stars of all time, Sylvester Stallone is best known for portraying boxer Rocky Balboa and Vietnam War veteran John Rambo.