Adrian Lyne is a renowned director, writer, and producer who has made a significant impact on the film industry with his thought-provoking and visually stunning movies.
Born in Peterborough, England, Lyne was raised in London and attended the prestigious Highgate school, where his father was a teacher. During his teenage years, he developed a passion for music and played trumpet with the jazz group, The Colin Kellard Band.
Lyne's fascination with filmmaking began during his school days, when he was inspired by the works of French New Wave directors such as Godard, Truffaut, and Chabrol. He went on to make two short films, "The Table" and "Mr. Smith," which were official entries in the London Film Festival.
Lyne's feature filmmaking debut was the 1980 film "Foxes," a perceptive look at the friendship of four teenage girls growing up in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, starring Jodie Foster. His next film, "Flashdance" (1983),was an innovative blend of rock 'n' roll, new dance styles, and breathtaking imagery, which created a sensation in 1983.
In 1986, Lyne attracted controversy with "9½ Weeks," a sexually-obsessive relationship between Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. Although considered too explicit by its American distributor, the film became a huge hit abroad in its unedited version.
Lyne's fourth film was the box-office phenomenon "Fatal Attraction" (1987),which to date has generated over $600 million in revenues worldwide. The story of a happily-married lawyer (Michael Douglas) who tries to break off an affair with an attractive single woman (Glenn Close),only to have her become obsessed with him and endanger his family, the film struck a powerful chord with audiences and was one of the most successful films of the year.
Deemed "the Zeitgeist hit of the decade" by TIME Magazine, "Fatal Attraction" won six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Glenn Close),Best Supporting Actress (Anne Archer),Best Screenplay, and Best Editing.
In 1990, Lyne pushed the boundaries of psychological terror with the thriller "Jacob's Ladder" (1990). Written by Academy Award-winner Bruce Joel Rubin and starring Tim Robbins, the film took audiences on a tortuous ride through Vietnam veteran Jacob Singer's nightmarish world of reality and unexplainable hallucinations to reveal a shocking and intensely-debated conclusion. The film won Best Picture at the Avoriaz Film Festival.
With "Indecent Proposal" (1993),Lyne examined how the sexes look at relationships and money. Starring Robert Redford, Woody Harrelson, and Demi Moore, the film became a worldwide hit.
Lyne's film "Lolita" (1997),based on the modern classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov, was filmed for theatrical release, but American distributors shied away from it due to its controversial subject matter. The film premiered on Showtime, and was so well-received that national theatrical distribution soon followed.
His next film "Unfaithful" (2002) was loosely based on Claude Chabrol's "The Unfaithful Wife" (1969). The movie stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane in a disturbing story of a marriage in trouble. Lane received much praise for her performance, winning awards for best actress from the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actress.
When not working in the United States, Lyne lives with his family in a rural village in Southern France.
