Shyamalan, M(anoj) Night (1970- )

Indian-born US screenwriter, director, and producer. He is known for his supernatural thrillers and broke through to an international audience with his critically and commercially successful film The Sixth Sense (1999). He followed with Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002), and The Village (2004).

The Sixth Sense, starring Bruce Willis and featuring a young boy who was able to communicate with the dead, earned seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Shyamalan wrote the screenplay for the successful children's film Stuart Little the same year.

Shyamalan was born in Madras (later Chennai), India, but grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He developed an early interest in filmmaking, shooting footage on his Super-8 camera at the age of eight, and had made nearly 50 short films by the end of his teens. He studied film at the Tisch School of the Arts, and upon graduation wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Praying with Anger (1992), based on a visit back to India. His first feature film, Wide Awake (1998), was partially shot in his Catholic high school and portrayed a student trying to come to terms with the death of his grandfather. He has had cameo roles in most of his subsequent films.