DE PALMA, BRIAN (RUSSELL)

born Sept. 11, 1940, Newark, N.J., U.S. American motion-picture director and screenwriter best noted for his usually stylish, often graphic horror-suspense films that draw heavily on the work of director Alfred Hitchcock. De Palma became obsessed by movies during college, and, receiving his B.A. from Columbia University in New York City (1962), accepted a theatre fellowship at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, N.Y. (M.A., 1964). While there he completed his first feature-length film, The Wedding Party (1964; released 1969). His first commercially successful film was the thriller Carrie (1976). De Palma followed that film with other successful movies, including the suspense films Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981), and Body Double (1984), each of which makes strong references to Hitchcock. His other films include the gangster movies Scarface (1983) and The Untouchables (1987) and the action film Casualties of War (1989).