Having directed 16 feature films in his 40-year career, Sir David Lean earned 11 Academy Award nominations and remains one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. Born March 25, 1908, in Croyden, Surrey, England, Lean began his film career in the late 1920s and made his living as an editor for many years.

He began directing in 1942 with the wartime drama In Which We Serve, co-directed by Noel Coward. Lean showed his flair for melodrama in Brief Encounter (1945) and adapted two classic Charles Dickens tales, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) was Lean's first effort directing the widescreen epics for which he's best known, and it earned him a Best Director Oscar. This was followed by 1962's Lawrence of Arabia (Lean's second directing Oscar) and Doctor Zhivago (1965). He ended his career with A Passage to India (1984) and died on April 16, 1991.