HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael Stephen Lehmann (born March 30, 1957) is an American film and television director known for directing the dark comedy ''
Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, a ...
''.


Early life and education

In 1978, Lehmann graduated from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.Columbia College Today: "Michael Lehmann ’78: Satire and Subversion on the Silver Screen" By Jennifer Preissel
November/December 2017
Lehmann is of
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
descent.


Career

Lehmann's first job in the film industry was answering phones at
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...
's
American Zoetrope American Zoetrope (also known as Omni Zoetrope from 1977 to 1980 and Zoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1990) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and Geo ...
film company. Later he supervised cameras on films that included 1983's '' The Outsiders''. Lehmann attended film school at the
USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for S ...
and graduated in 1985. While at USC he made a student film, ''The Beaver Gets a Boner'', the title of which he believes helped get the attention of film executives who would later hire him. A short film by Lehmann, titled "Ed's Secret Life (An Unauthorized Biography)", was shown on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
''. Purportedly about
Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which origin ...
's post-career life,
William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on '' Richard Diamond, Privat ...
,
Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...
, and
Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...
appeared in it. Lehmann is most known for directing the dark comedy ''
Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, a ...
''. He also directed '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'', '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs'', ''
Hudson Hawk ''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote both the story and the theme song. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine To ...
'', '' Meet the Applegates'', '' Airheads'' and '' Because I Said So''. Lehmann directed his first television commercial through the Leo Burnett Company in June 1996 for McDonald's. Lehmann also directs for television, and has worked on '' The Comeback'' and ''
The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
''. Lehmann directed episodes of ''
The Larry Sanders Show ''The Larry Sanders Show'' is an American television sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. The series was created by Garry Shandling and Dennis Klein and aired from August 15, 1992, to May 31, 1998, on the HB ...
'', '' Watching Ellie'', ''
Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of ...
'', '' Big Love'', ''
True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The seri ...
'', '' Californication'', '' Wonderfalls'', '' White Famous'', ''
Betas ''Betas'' is an American streaming television series that was produced by Amazon Studios. The show starred Joe Dinicol and Karan Soni as " dating app" developers in Silicon Valley who are looking for an investor. Amazon offered the first thre ...
'', ''
American Horror Story ''American Horror Story'' is an American anthology horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for the cable network FX. The first installment in the '' American Story'' media franchise, each season is conceived as a ...
'', ''
Snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
'', ''
Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series ...
'', and ''
68 Whiskey ''68 Whiskey'' is an American military comedy-drama television series created by Roberto Benabib. Based on the Israeli television series ''Charlie Golf One'' (known as ''Taagad'' in he, תאג"ד), it premiered on January 15, 2020 on the Param ...
''. Lehmann said that he never would make a sequel to ''Heathers'' and that
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
wanted to do ''Heathers'' set in Washington, D.C., but he saw no potential for the project.


Partial filmography

* ''
Heathers ''Heathers'' is a 1989 American black comedy film written by Daniel Waters and directed by Michael Lehmann, in both of their respective film debuts. The film stars Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Lisanne Falk, Kim Walker, a ...
'' (1988) * '' Meet the Applegates'' (1990) * ''
Hudson Hawk ''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote both the story and the theme song. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine To ...
'' (1991) * '' Airheads'' (1994) * '' The Truth About Cats & Dogs'' (1996) * '' My Giant'' (1998) * '' 40 Days and 40 Nights'' (2002) *'' Because I Said So'' (2007) * '' Flakes'' (2007)


References


External links

* 1957 births Living people American television directors Columbia College (New York) alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni Film directors from San Francisco Comedy film directors {{US-film-director-1950s-stub