Wash Westmoreland

Wash Westmoreland wasn't born with that first name: originally his parents named him Paul, after the Beatle Paul McCartney. It's really not that surprising, since he was born on March 4, 1966 in Leeds, England, around the time that Beatlemania was gripping the world. He later changed it to the more memorable "Wash" as a child. Westmoreland first worked in the adult entertainment industry after being a camera assistant for one film and directing several others, which won awards in the industry in the late 90s. Drawing on this experience, co-wrote a drama about porn work called "The Fluffer" (2001), a comedy-drama which centered on a straight man falling for a gay porn actor. This was one of the first of several collaborations he did with his longtime partner, Richard Glatzer. While continuing his collaborations with Glatzer, Westmoreland also directed documentaries like "Totally Gay!" (2003) and "Gay Republicans" (2004). Westmoreland and Glatzer went in a much different direction with the family drama "Quinceanera" (2006), which won the Grand Jury Prize in the Dramatic Competition at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Westmoreland and Glatzer's next collaboration was the Hollywood period piece "The Last of Robin Hood" (2013), a film about the final days of iconic actor Errol Flynn starring Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon and Dakota Fanning. It was followed by the searing drama "Still Alice" (2014), which starred Julianne Moore as an early-onset Alzheimers patient alongside Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Alec Baldwin.