David Lean

Film career


Editing
Bored by his work Lean spent every evening in the cinema and in 1927 after an aunt had advised him to find a job he enjoyed doing he went to Gaumont Studios where his obvious enthusiasm earned him a month's trial without pay. The film received less positive reviews than Lean's previous work and was not a smash hit at the international box office. Out of these nominations Lean won two Oscars both in the category of Best Director for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Director for which he won twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. Sir David Lean CBE (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) was an English film director producer screenwriter and editor best remembered for big-screen epics The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Lawrence of Arabia (1962) Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Passage to India (1984); for bringing Charles Dickens' novels to the silver screen with films such as Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948); and for the renowned romantic drama Brief Encounter (1945).