Council Biography

One of America's most highly regarded writer-directors, Paul Schrader began his involvement with film by taking a summer cinema course at Columbia University while he was a student at Grand Rapids' Calvin College. After graduation in 1968, he attended UCLA's film school, quickly becoming a film critic for the L.A. Free Press and an editor of Cinema magazine. His thesis on Ozu, Bresson and Dreyer was published as Transcendental Style in Film by the University of California Press.

Schrader's first success came with his screenplay for The Yakuza, directed by Sydney Pollack in 1974. This was followed by his classic screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). In 1977, Schrader began his own directorial career with Blue Collar (Harvey Keitel, Richard Pryor). He has written scripts for such directors as Brian de Palma (Obsession, 1976), Joan Tewkesbury (Old Boyfriends, 1978), Peter Weir (The Mosquito Coast, 1986), Harold Becker (City Hall, 1995) and, of course, Scorsese (Raging Bull, 1980, The Last Temptation of Christ, 1988 and Bringing Out the Dead, 1998).

Schrader's career as a director reflects his vast knowledge and love of different film styles and genres, ranging from the Neo-Western Hardcore (George C. Scott), to the romantic thriller American Gigolo (Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton), the supernatural Cat People (Nastasia Kinski), the artist's biography Mishima (produced by George Lucas and Francis Ford Copola, the political docudrama Patty Hearst (Natasha Richardson), the erotic thriller The Company of Strangers (Natasha Richardson, Rupert Everett and Christopher Walken), the haunting Light Sleeper (Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon) and the ironic Touch (Skeet Ulrich, Christopher Walken and Bridget Fonda). In 1997, Schrader adapted and directed Russel Banks' Affliction (Nick Nolte, James Coburn and Willem Dafoe), released to critical acclaim in late 1998. In early 1999, he shot his next film from his original script entitled Forever Mine (Joseph Fiennes and Gretchen Mol).

Schrader lives in New York with his wife, actress Mary Beth Hurt, and their two children.

Paul Schrader Filmography
THE YAKUZA (Warner, 1975) Writer. Director: Sydney Pollack
TAXI DRIVER (Columbia, 1976) Writer. Director: Martin Scorsese
OBSESSION (Columbia, 1976) Writer. Director: Brian DePalma
BLUE COLLAR (Universal, 1978) Writer & Director
HARDCORE (Columbia, 1979) Writer & Director
OLD BOYFRIENDS (Avco-Embassy, 1979) Writer. Director: Joan Tewkesbury
AMERICAN GIGOLO (Paramount, 1980) Writer & Director
RAGING BULL (United Artists, 1980) Writer. Director: Martin Scorsese
CAT PEOPLE (Universal, 1982) Director
MISHIMA (Warner, 1985) Writer & Director
MOSQUITO COAST (Warner, 1986) Writer. Director: Peter Weir
LIGHT OF DAY (Tri-Star, 1987) Writer & Director
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (Universal, 1988) Writer. Director: Scorsese
PATTY HEARST (Atlantic/Zenith, 1988) Director
THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS (Skouras Pictures, 1990) Director
LIGHT SLEEPER (Fine Line Features, 1992) Writer & Director
WITCH HUNT (Home Box Office, 1994) Director
CITY HALL (Paramount, 1995) Writer. Director: Harold Baker
TOUCH (MGM/UA, 1996) Writer & Director
AFFLICTION (Lionsgate, 1997) Writer & Director
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1998) Writer. Director: Martin Scorsese
FOREVER MINE (1999) Writer & Director