Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), his best-known works are the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), the drama Thelma & Louise (1991), the epic historical drama Gladiator (2000), which won a Best Picture Oscar, the war film Black Hawk Down (2001), the crime thriller Hannibal (2001), the comedy-drama Matchstick Men (2003), the epic historical drama Kingdom of Heaven (2005), the biographical crime film American Gangster (2007), the epic adventure film Robin Hood (2010), and the sci-fi film Prometheus (2012). Scott is known for his atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style, which has influenced many other directors. Though his films range widely in setting and period, they frequently showcase memorable imagery of urban environments, whether 2nd century Rome (Gladiator), 12th century Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), contemporary Osaka (Black Rain) or Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), or the future cityscapes of Blade Runner. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing (for Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down), plus two Golden Globe and two BAFTA Awards. In 2003, Scott was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his "services to the British film industry". He was the older brother of the late Tony Scott.