Born September 30, 1905, in Kent, England, director Michael Powell got his start working for noted silent-film director Rex Ingram. Honing his directing chops by churning out a raft of "quota quickies" -- short films made to fulfill quota/tariff agreements between Britain and America between the wars -- Powell quickly became one of England's most prominent filmmakers.

In 1939, Powell met screenwriter and producer Emeric Pressburger while working on The Spy in Black, and together, the two went on to make 19 films, the best of which -- such as Oscar nominees The Red Shoes and 49th Parallel -- are considered classics of British cinema.

Powell's career came to an abrupt end, however, in the early 1960s when his psychological thriller Peeping Tom met with an excoriating response from both audiences and critics. He died February 9, 1990.