Neil Jordan

Born: February 25 1950
Where: Sligo, Ireland

The Oscar-winning novelist and director is revered for his fearlessness in tackling dark and controversial subjects.

He won an Academy Award for the screenplay of The Crying Game and his movies have ranged from horror (Interview With The Vampire) to romantic drama (End of the Affair).

The grandson of a painter, he grew up the second oldest of five children in an artistic household (his mother was also an artist).

He began writing short stories as a teenager and went on to study English and history at University before a doomed attempt at teaching.

Keen on a film career but deterred by high fees from entering National Film School, he took a job as a labourer in London.

In 1974, he co-founded the Irish Writers Co-operative and two years later he wrote three plays for Irish TV after landing a grant from the Arts Council.

He also published the novel Night in Tunisia, which received critical acclaim and launched his literary career proper.

Following a parallel path as a screenwriter, he was hired as a script consultant on John Boorman's Excalibur in 1981.

At the same time he overruled the wishes of both Ken Loach and Mike Leigh and insisted on directing his own script for the thriller Angel.

In 1984, he directed the fantasy The Company of Wolves and enjoyed his first big commercial success in 1986 with the thriller-romance Mona Lisa with Bob Hoskins.

Peter O'Toole starred in the lacklustre comedy-horror High Spirits (which suffered studio intererence) and Jordan followed it with the American comedy We're No Angels, starring Sean Penn and Robert De Niro.

After The Miracle - the only one of Jordan's films to be based on his books - he hit paydirt in 1992 with The Crying Game.

Picking up six Oscar nominations, it told the story of the unlikely relationship between an IRA volunteer and a kidnapped British soldier.

Switching styles completely, he followed it with the Anne Rice horror adaptation Interview With The Vampire, starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

However, he found himself courting controversy with Michael Collins, starring Liam Neeson as the IRA leader and founder of the Irish Free State.

Coming at the height of the Anglo-Irish troubles, the movie was accused of rewriting history and legitimising terrorism.

In 1997, he was on firmer political territory with the comedy-drama The Butcher Boy - even if the studio was non-plussed by his adaptation of the Pat McCabe novel.

In Dreams was a misfiring attempt at a horror thriller starring Annette Bening But Jordan was back on form for the big screen version of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair.

In 2002, Nick Nolte starred as a fading criminal on the Cote D'Azur in The Good Thief.

Recent work includes the critically acclaimed Breakfast on Pluto, starring Cillian Murphy as a transvestite in a search for his mother.