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Paul Thomas Anderson biography

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American film director, producer and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson is best known for writing and directing box office hits such as Boogie Nights.

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Synopsis

American film director, producer and screenwriter Paul Thomas Anderson is best known for writing and directing box office hits such as Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood. Anderson is a self-taught filmmaker and has been hailed as being one of the top filmmakers of the 20th century,

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winning numerous Academy Awards. He also has directed several music videos for musician Fiona Apple.

Profile

Director, screenwriter. Born June 26, 1970 in Studio City, California. The son of a successful voiceover artist, Paul Thomas Anderson attended the elite Buckley School before being kicked out for poor grades; he later dropped out of both Emerson College and New York University. He returned home to direct the well-received short film, Coffee and Cigarettes, which he later expanded to the feature film Hard Eight to mixed reviews.

Anderson's next film, which he both wrote and directed, was the box-office hit BoogieNights,a coming-of-age story starring Mark Wahlberg that takes place inside the taboo world of pornography. Buoyed by his success, and a virtual carte blanche from New Line Cinema, Anderson next wrote and directed 1999's Magnolia, an ensemble film that followed several unconnected lives that intercepted one another in unanticipated ways. Based on the songs of Aimee Man, Magnolia captured three Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay.

In 2002, Anderson successfully transformed Saturday Night Live jughead Adam Sandler into a empathetic romantic lead in Punch Drunk Love.He won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for his work on the film. Anderson's most ambitious work to date, 2007's There Will Be Blood, was loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil!The dark, deceptive period drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

Paul Thomas Anderson has been partnered with Saturday Night Live castmember Maya Rudolph since 2001; they have a daughter, Pearl.

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