Edward Zwick

Often considered to be a throwback to an older Hollywood era, director Edward Zwick was an extremely cerebral director whose movies consistently featured fully rounded characters, difficult moral issues and plots driven on the ambiguity of authority and on individual conscience as the ultimate arbiter of truth. Zwick got his start in television, directing episodes of long-gone shows until he partnered with friend Marshall Herskovitz to produce the Emmy Award-winning drama, "thirtysomething" (ABC, 1987-1991). While enjoying the fruits of his small screen success, Zwick struck a major chord with his second feature, "Glory" (1989), which told the often neglected story of African-American soldiers fighting for the Union during the Civil War. He parlayed this award-worthy epic into a string of financial and critical hits, including "Legends of the Fall" (1994), "Courage Under Fire" (1996) and "The Siege" (1998), before he settled into a producer's role on "Shakespeare in Love" (1998) and "Traffic" (2000). Though he would take more time off between directing projects later in his career, Zwick continued to make epic films that were large in scope while remaining intensely personal, confirming that he was one of the more well-rounded directors working in Hollywood.