Mike Figgis

Born: February 28 1948
Where: Carlisle, Cumbria, UK

The former music video director attracted the attention of Hollywood with his 1988 noirish feature debut Stormy Monday.

The Newcastle-set movie starring Sting and Melanie Griffith led to the offer of directing Richard Gere in the police corruption thriller Internal Affairs.

He cast Gere again as a manic depressive with Lena Olin as his psychiatrist in Mr Jones.

Subsequent Hollywood movies included the critically acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas Cage as a destructive alcoholic who strikes up a relationship with Elisabeth Shue's hooker.

He followed this with One Night Stand starring Wesley Snipes and Natassja Kinski and used a split screen technique for 2000's Timecode.

Recent work includes a contribution to the portmanteau movie Ten Minutes Older: The Cello.