Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow Bio

American artist and filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow was born on November 27, 1951 in San Carlos, California. Bigelow started out as a painting student at San Francisco Art Institute, but after being offered to take part in Whitney Museum’s independent study program, she moved to New York City. During that time, she fell deeply in love with filmmaking. She then received a scholarship from Columbia University School of Arts and graduated in 1979. In 1981, her debut feature film, The Loveless, which she wrote and directed with Monty Montgomery, premiered. Her next project, the vampire film Near Dark, came out in 1987 and instantly became a cult classic. With films like Blue Steel (1989), Point Break (1991), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), she established herself as a leading figure in action films, a genre dominated by men. What solidified her status, however, was her next directorial pursuit: Hurt Locker (2008), which starred Jeremy Renner. Aside from being a box office hit, it gave her her first Academy Award for Best Director, making her the first female director to win the said award.