Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor was born on December 15, 1952 in Newton, Massachusetts. She is a director of theater, film, and opera. In the 1970’s, Taymor spent time living in Japan studying puppetry and theater. After this, she spent an additional five years in Indonesia directing international theater. By the time she had returned to the United States in the 1990’s, she had already directed many classic operas. Her biggest accomplishment was the Tony Award that she won for directing the musical The Lion King. She was the first woman to ever win this award. She also won a Tony Award for original costume design. On Broadway, she has directed Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark as well as an off-Broadway rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 2002 she became an Academy Award-nominated director for her work on the film Frida, as well as in 2007 for Across the Universe.