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Whit Stillman (born John Whitney Stillman; January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" (as a character in Metropolitan terms the upper-class WASPs of the U.S. sociocultural elite). Born in Washington, D.C., Stillman was raised in the upstate New York town of Cornwall, the son of an impoverished debutante (Margaret Riley Stillman) from Philadelphia and a Democratic politician (John Sterling Stillman, an assistant secretary of commerce under President John F. Kennedy ) from Washington, D.C. His godfather is E. Digby Baltzell,... MORE

Whit Stillman (born John Whitney Stillman; January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" (as a character in Metropolitan terms the upper-class WASPs of the U.S. sociocultural elite). Born in Washington, D.C., Stillman was raised in the upstate New York town of Cornwall, the son of an impoverished debutante (Margaret Riley Stillman) from Philadelphia and a Democratic politician (John Sterling Stillman, an assistant secretary of commerce under President John F. Kennedy ) from Washington, D.C. His godfather is E. Digby Baltzell, who popularized the term WASP. He attended Harvard University where he was a member of the Fly Club and tapped by Michael Kinsley to take over the humor columns for The Harvard Crimson. After graduating from Harvard in 1973, Stillman began working as a journalist in New York City. He was introduced to some film producers from Madrid and persuaded them that he could sell their films to Spanish-language television in the U.S. He worked for the next few years in Barcelona and Madrid as a sales agent for directors Fernando Trueba and Fernando Colomo, and sometimes acted in their films, usually LESS