Stone, (William) Oliver (1946– )

US film director, screenwriter, and producer. Although working in Hollywood's mainstream, he has often tackled social and political themes controversially, for example in his trilogy of films about the Vietnam War, Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and Heaven and Earth (1993). Wall Street (1987) looks at the financial world, and the epic-scaled JFK (1991) focuses on President Kennedy.

Stone won his first Academy Award for his screenplay for Midnight Express (1978), and Academy Awards for directing Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. His other film credits include Scarface (1983) (screenplay), Salvador (1986) (director, screenplay, producer), Reversal of Fortune (1990) (producer), and The Doors (1991) (director, screenplay). Natural Born Killers (1994) is an ultraviolent satire on media irresponsibility; Any Given Sunday (1999) looks at the media and financial hype which surrounds professional sportsmen; Alexander (2004) depicts the life and times of Alexander I of Macedonia; and World Trade Center (2006) is based on the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.