Lasse Hallstrom

Born: June 6 1946
Where: Stockholm, Sweden

The twice Oscar-nominated director made his breakthrough with the 1985 comedy drama My Life As A Dog.

He has since made a name for himself with his distinctive style in movies ranging from What's Eating Gilbert Grape to The Cider House Rules.

The son of a dentist (and frustrated film maker), he kicked off his career when he made the 8mm ten-minute thriller The Ghost Thief aged just ten.

As a high school student, he had a documentary short about his friends' efforts to form a rock band shown on Swedish TV in 1967.

After school, Hallstrom spent ten years making short fillers for Swedish TV, usually writing, shooting and editing his own projects, before advancing to become a director.

He made his feature directorial debut with the romantic comedy A Guy and a Gal, followed by ABBA: The Movie, an enjoyable concert film featuring the Swedish super group.

(he also directed a segment for The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour that was dropped from the final edit).

In 1985, he gained an international audience with My Life as a Dog, earning Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay (which he co-wrote).

After completing a couple of children's films in Sweden, he headed to Hollywood and made his American debut as the writer-director of Once Around, a comedy-drama starring Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter.

However, it was What's Eating Gilbert Grape, featuring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and a young Leonardo DiCaprio as an autistic youngster, which was hist first US critical hit.

After Something to Talk About, Hallstrom took a four year break, which ended when he returned with the exquisite adaptation of John Irving's novel The Cider House Rules.

Michal Caine won an Oscar for best supporting actor and Hallstrom received his second Academy Award nomination for directing.

He steadily continued directing with Chocolat, an adaptation of Joanne Harris' novel, and The Shipping News, made from Anne Proulx's Pulitzer winning novel.

He is married to the actress Lena Olin - they are the first Swedish couple to be nominated for an Oscar.

Recent work includes his bawdy take on the legend of Casanova, starring Heath Ledger as the Venetian bed-hopper.