Julie Taymor

Born: December 1952
Where: Newton, Massachussets, USA

Taymor is a distinguished graduate of the American stage, where she held the reins for plays, musicals as well as opera.

Known primarily in theatre for her production of The Lion King, which picked up numerous awards, she is also revered for her Shakespeare direction.

Other notable productions include Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass and Wagner's Flying Dutchman for the Los Angeles Music Centre.

Taymor has also worked on touring productions of Indonesia and she also took Juan Darien to Edinburgh, Jerusalem and France.

Her first screen direction was The Tempest in 1996, followed by Oedipus Rex and Edgard Allen Poe's Fool's Fire all for television.

She made her critically applauded feature debut with Shakespeare adaptation Titus with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in 1999.

Frida, starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina, told the story of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.