BRIAN DE PALMA
Name: Brian De Palma
Birth name: Brian Russell DePalma
Born: 11 September 1940 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Brian De Palma (born Brian Russell DePalma on September 11, 1940 in Newark, New
Jersey) is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he
is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box
office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and
Mission: Impossible.
De Palma is often cited as a leading member of the New Hollywood generation of
film directors, a distinct pedigree who either emerged from film schools or are
overtly cine-literate. His contemporaries include Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader,
John Milius, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg.
De Palma's artistry in directing and use of cinematography and suspense in
several of his films is often compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, De Palma worked repeatedly with actors
Jennifer Salt, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen (his wife from 1979 to 1983), William
Finley, Charles Durning, Gerrit Graham, cinematographers Stephen H. Burum and
Vilmos Zsigmond (see List of noted film director and cinematographer
collaborations), set designer Jack Fisk, and composers Bernard Herrmann and Pino
Donaggio. De Palma is credited with fostering the careers of or outright
discovering Robert De Niro, Jill Clayburgh, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo, and
Margot Kidder.
De Palma has encouraged and fostered the filmmaking careers of directors such as
Mark Romanek and Keith Gordon. Terrence Malick credits seeing De Palma's early
films on college campus tours as a validation of independent film, and
subsequently switched his attention from philosophy to filmmaking.
Name: Brian De Palma
Birth name: Brian Russell DePalma
Born: 11 September 1940 Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Brian De Palma (born Brian Russell DePalma on September 11, 1940 in Newark, New
Jersey) is an American film director. In a career spanning over forty years, he
is probably best known for his suspense and thriller films, including such box
office successes as Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and
Mission: Impossible.
De Palma is often cited as a leading member of the New Hollywood generation of
film directors, a distinct pedigree who either emerged from film schools or are
overtly cine-literate. His contemporaries include Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader,
John Milius, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Steven Spielberg.
De Palma's artistry in directing and use of cinematography and suspense in
several of his films is often compared to the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, De Palma worked repeatedly with actors
Jennifer Salt, Amy Irving, Nancy Allen (his wife from 1979 to 1983), William
Finley, Charles Durning, Gerrit Graham, cinematographers Stephen H. Burum and
Vilmos Zsigmond (see List of noted film director and cinematographer
collaborations), set designer Jack Fisk, and composers Bernard Herrmann and Pino
Donaggio. De Palma is credited with fostering the careers of or outright
discovering Robert De Niro, Jill Clayburgh, John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo, and
Margot Kidder.
De Palma has encouraged and fostered the filmmaking careers of directors such as
Mark Romanek and Keith Gordon. Terrence Malick credits seeing De Palma's early
films on college campus tours as a validation of independent film, and
subsequently switched his attention from philosophy to filmmaking.