Mary Harron

A former reporter of the punk-rock scene whose entree to filmmaking came via British TV documentaries, Mary Harron made the jump to features with the much-awaited "I Shot Andy Warhol" (1996), the story of Valerie Solanas, who in 1968 shot and wounded the art-world legend. A Canadian raised in London, Harron moved to New York in 1976, delighted to leave the stuffiness of her Oxford education behind to work for an alternative film company running its kitchen. She began writing for Legs McNeil's PUNK magazine and in 1977 penned a lengthy piece for VILLAGE VOICE that explained and explored the London punk scene, introducing what had been a somewhat underground movement to mainstream America. Seemingly a constant presence on pop culture's cutting edge throughout her career, Harron, who participated in and observed the Studio 54 era, the last chapter of the sexual revolution before drugs fell out of favor and AIDS and other STDs prompted more circumspect behavior, remained fascinated by the Warhol "Factory" scene of the late 60s that had so intrigued her as a teenager.