![Scene from <i>Alien</i> (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. [Credit: © 1979 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation; photograph from a private collection]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/90506.gif)
Scene from Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. [Credit: © 1979 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation; photograph from a private collection](born November 30, 1937, South Shields, Durham [now Tyne and Wear], England) British film director whose films were acclaimed at the turn of the 21st century for their visual style and rich details.
Scott grew up in West Hartlepool, England, and attended the West Hartlepool College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. After working as a set designer and director in British television, he began in 1967 to direct commercials, eventually numbering over 2,000, for his own company. His attention to visual stylization in his commercials, including distinctive atmospheric lighting effects, continued into the feature films that he began directing in 1977. His first was The Duellists, set in Napoleonic France, which won the best first-feature award at the Cannes Film Festival.
His next three films were fantasies: Alien (1979), a science-fiction–horror story; Blade Runner (1982; recut 1992), a science-fiction story notable for Scott's vision of a grim, dark, polluted future; and Legend (1985), an allegorical fairy tale.
![Russell Crowe (right) in <i>Gladiator</i> (2000), directed by Ridley Scott. [Credit: ™ and © 1999 Universal Studios and Dreamworks LLC, photo, Jaap Buitendijk]](http://images.bookrags.com/images/eb/77299.gif)
Russell Crowe (right) in Gladiator (2000), directed by Ridley Scott. [Credit: ™ and © 1999 Universal Studios and Dreamworks LLC, photo, Jaap Buitendijk]Scott's subsequent films were set in contemporary times, including the thrillers
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) and
Black Rain (1989); again, these were admired for their visual styling. While Scott's settings in
Thelma and Louise (1991) were no less notable, the film's lead characters and feminist theme were the focus of critical attention, and he received an
Academy Award nomination for his work. After a string of critical and commercial failures, he directed
Gladiator (2000), which won the Academy Award for best picture and earned Scott his second Oscar nomination for best director. His next film,
Hannibal (2001), was a box-office hit despite poor reviews, and his military drama
Black Hawk Down (2001) was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best director. Scott's later films—which were generally well received and often contained examples of his trademark visual flair—included
Matchstick Men (2003),
Kingdom of Heaven (2005),
American Gangster (2007), and
Body of Lies (2008).
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