Andy Tennant

Born: Chicago, Illinois, USA

The one-time hoofer in Grease hung up his dancing shoes to carve a career as a director with hits including Sweet Home Alabama and Hitch.

After studying theatre under John Houseman at the University of South Carolina, he made his big screen debut as a dancer in Grease in 1978.

High-stepping appearances followed in Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band before he made his acting debut proper in the Spielberg flop 1941.

In 1988 he actually re-mortgaged his house to make a short film, The Cat Story, before being offered the chance to directed US TV's The Wonder Years.

He went on to direct the TV series Ferris Bueller as well as the pilot for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Two years later he helmed the Drew Barrymore TV movie, The Amy Fisher Story, and on the back of that his feature directorial debut It Takes Two was released.

In 1997 he directed the romantic comedy, Fools Rush In, starring Matthew Perry and Selma Hayek, which he followed up with his next Drew Barrymore project, Ever After.

Tennant's biggest project until then was Anna and the King, an epic adventure starring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat which took £80m worldwide.

In 2002, he directed Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas in the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama.

Recent work includes the engaging rom-com Hitch, starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes.