David Lean
Known for: Directing
Born: March 25, 1908
Died: April 16, 1991
Place of birth: Croydon, Surrey, England, UK
Sir David Lean CBE (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, he is best remembered for adapting the works of Charles Dickens and Noël Coward, and for his large scale period epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). Acclaimed and praised by directors such as Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, Lean was voted 9th greatest film director of all time in the British Film Institute Sight & Sound "Directors Top Directors" poll 2002. Nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Director, winning twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, he has seven films in the British Film Institute's Top 100 British Films (with three of them being in the top five).
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Filmography
62 movies · 8 TV shows, newest first
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Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean
2026
6.8
Omar Sharif: Citizen of the World
2020
7.0
E. M. Forster: His Longest Journey
2019
5.3
Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast
2019
6.4
Nostromo: David Lean's Impossible Dream
2017
6.2
Talking Pictures
2013
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Doctor Zhivago: A Celebration
2010
8.5
The Making of Lawrence of Arabia
20018.0
The Golden Gong: The Story of Rank Films - British Cinema's Legendary Studio
1985
6.0
David Lean: A Life in Film
1985
6.8
A Passage to India
1984
7.0
Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor
1979
5.6
The South Bank Show
1978
6.3
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
19735.1
Film '72
1971NR
Ryan's Daughter Featurette
1971
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David Lean: A Self Portrait
1971
7.1
Ryan's Daughter
1970
6.8
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
7.2
Omnibus
1967
6.7
Pasternak
1965
7.0
Moscow in Madrid
1965
7.6
Doctor Zhivago
1965
6.4
The Greatest Story Ever Told
1965
8.5
Zhivago: Behind the Camera with David Lean
19659.0
David Lean's Film of Doctor Zhivago
1965
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Wind, Sand and Star
1963
8.0
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
NR
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
1958
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...On Seeing Film
1958
7.8
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957
6.7
Summertime
1955
7.4
Hobson's Choice
1954
5.0
Reflets de Cannes
1954
7.0
The Oscars
1953
6.5
The Sound Barrier
1952
6.8
Madeleine
1950
6.8
The Passionate Friends
1949
7.6
Oliver Twist
1948
7.3
Great Expectations
1946
7.7
Brief Encounter
1945
7.0
Blithe Spirit
1945
7.1
This Happy Breed
1944
6.7
In Which We Serve
1942
6.6
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
1942
7.0
49th Parallel
1941
6.8
Major Barbara
1941
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Spy for a Day
1940
7.0
French Without Tears
1940
6.7
Spies of the Air
1939
7.0
Pygmalion
19386.8
The Wife of General Ling
1937
7.0
Dreaming Lips
1937
5.4
As You Like It
1936
7.0
Ball at Savoy
1936
9.0
The Crouching Beast
1935
6.0
Escape Me Never
19358.0
The King of Paris
1934
6.6
Tiger Bay
1934
5.5
The Secret of the Loch
1934
7.5
Dangerous Ground
1934
5.8
The Fortunate Fool
1933
8.0
Song of the Plough
1933
10.0
Money for Speed
1933
6.3
The Ghost Camera
1933
7.0
Insult
1932
10.0
These Charming People
1931
7.0
The Night Porter
19309.0
Sailors Don't Care
19288.0
Quinneys
1927