Michael Mann

Entering the entertainment industry as a television writer, Michael Mann went on to become one of Hollywood's leading directors. Born on February 5, 1943 in Chicago, IL, Mann attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he studied English literature, and discovered filmmaking when the school began offering courses on cinema history and theory. Inspired by the work of Stanley Kubrick, he attended the London Film School. After a short stint as a documentary and commercial director, he made an experimental short film, "Jaunpuri" (1971), which won the Jury Prize at that year's Cannes Film Festival. Returning to the United States, he moved to Los Angeles and eventually began working as a writer on shows like "Bronk (CBS, 1975-76), "Starsky and Hutch" (ABC, 1975-79) and "Vega$" (ABC, 1978-1981). Mann returned to the director's chair with the made-for-television movie, "The Jericho Mile" (ABC, 1979), which earned him an Emmy Award for writing and was released theatrically abroad. Mann made his feature debut as a director with "Thief" (1981), starring James Caan as a professional safecracker who decides to take on one last job before entering society as a law-abiding citizen. After the commercial and critical failure of "The Keep" (1983) which grafted German Expressionist techniques on a story that straddled the horror and war genres, Mann returned to television, serving as executive producer on "Miami Vice" (NBC, 1984-1990). Though "Miami Vice" was a big ratings winner, many critics preferred his next effort, "Crime Story" (NBC, 1986-88), a period epic set in 1960s Chicago and Las Vegas. Mann served as executive producer, writer and director on "L.A. Takedown" (NBC, 1989), a television movie pilot about a dogged Los Angeles detective (Scott Plank) struggling to catch up to a crew of professional criminals who always stay one step ahead. Though the movie failed to become a series, it did serve as the foundation for Mann's later film, "Heat" (1995). Still in televisi