Born in Salford in 1943, Mike Leigh trained as an actor and theatre director. He is known for a method in which he builds characters and scenes with his actors through months of improvisation before any script exists. His films examine the lives of ordinary working and middle-class British people with comedy and compassion. Naked (1993) won him the best director prize at Cannes, and Secrets & Lies (1996) won the Palme d'Or. Vera Drake (2004) won the Golden Lion at Venice.
Filmography
- Bleak Moments (1971)
- Life Is Sweet (1990)
- Naked (1993)
- Secrets & Lies (1996)
- Vera Drake (2004)
- Mr. Turner (2014)