Thomas Carter

Born: January 1 1953
Where: Texas, USA

The veteran TV director is best known on the big screen for the romantic drama Save The Last Dance For Me.

The 2001 movie, starring Julia Stiles and newcomer Sean Patrick Thomas, was both a box office and critical success.

However, Carter is better known as an Emmy Award-winning creator of TV pilots including Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and St Elsewhere.

After working on a plethora of TV series - he kicked off with The White Shadow in 1978 - he made his feature debut in 1993 with Swing Kids.

The movie, which told the story of youngsters enjoying jazz under the Nazis, was followed by the suspense thriller Metro with Eddie Murphy in 1997.

In 2005, he adapted the real life story of basketball coach Ken Carter with Coach Carter, starring Samuel L Jackson.