David O. Russell Video | Celebrity Interview and Paparazzi

David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work. He has been the subject of controversy, while receiving much critical acclaim. His best known films are Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Three Kings (1999) and The Fighter (2010). Russell was born in New York City, New York to a Jewish father and an Italian American Catholic mother, and was raised in an "atheistic" household. He graduated from Amherst College in 1981, majoring in Political Science and... MORE

David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work. He has been the subject of controversy, while receiving much critical acclaim. His best known films are Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Three Kings (1999) and The Fighter (2010). Russell was born in New York City, New York to a Jewish father and an Italian American Catholic mother, and was raised in an "atheistic" household. He graduated from Amherst College in 1981, majoring in Political Science and English. His first directorial effort was the independent dark comedy Spanking the Monkey in 1994, starring Jeremy Davies as a troubled young man. Despite the controversial subject matter, the film received critical acclaim and won him Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature from the Independent Spirit Awards, as well as the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. His next project was another independent comedy, Flirting with Disaster (1996), about a neurotic man (Ben Stiller) who travels with his wife (Patricia Arquette) and a high-strung caseworker (Téa Leoni) to find his biological LESS