Spike Jonze

Born: 1969
Where: Rockville, Maryland

Jonze is making a name for himself as the maker of box office successes that never compromise his surreal vision.

Being John Malkovich was the breakthrough feature while Adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage, refined the style to make a compulsive comedy-come-drama.

Born Adam Spiegel (heir to a profitable catalogue company), after finishing school, Jonze moved to Los Angeles to work for the magazine Freestylin'.

There, he began to hone his skills as a photographer and became particularly well known for his breakthrough action photography of skateboarders.

Inspired by his experience in publishing, Jonze sought to make his own lifestyle magazine, aimed at teenage boys. Dirt was launched but didn't go very far.

It was his work on music videos that proved to be his greatest breakthrough, casting the Beastie Boys in bad suits, aviator shades and obviously fake facial hair for his popular, 1970s cop show inspired, directorial breakthough Sabatoge.

In 1995, Jonze walked away with a best direction MTV video award for his work on Weezer's Buddy Holly.

He made his big screen acting debut with a bit part in Mi Vida Loca, but it wasn't until 1999 that he had his first featured role, in the action-packed Three Kings.

He won more awards in the form of the highly-acclaimed video for Fatboy Slim's dance track Praise You, in which he also appeared.

In 1999, he married director and screenwriter Sofia Coppola, after two years together.

He finally made his feature directorial debut with Being John Malkovich, for which he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for best director.

He also created and executive-produced the MTV series Jackass, and directed the music video Weapon of Choice, performed by Fatboy Slim and featuring actor Christopher Walken.

In Adapation, he coaxed a career best performance from Nicolas Cage in the story of a screenwriter who makes the mistake of inserting himself into the script he's penning.