Bigelow, Kathryn (1951- )

US film director. She achieved commercial success with the contemporary horror film Near Dark (1987), and her reputation as a stylish director was enhanced by the tense police thriller Blue Steel (1990). Her other films include the crime thrillers Point Break (1991) and Strange Days (1995) and the sea adventure K-19: The Widowmaker (2002).

Bigelow began her career as a painter, but switched to film-making after enrolling at Columbia University graduate film school in New York. She worked initially as a script supervisor and as an actor before co-writing and co-directing the biker film The Loveless (1982), which featured US actor Willem Dafoe in his debut starring role. She was married to Canadian director James Cameron, who wrote the script for Strange Days, 1989-91.