David O. Russell

David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American filmmaker. His early directing career includes the comedy films Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Three Kings (1999), and I Heart Huckabees (2004). He gained critical success with the biographical sports drama The Fighter (2010), the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (2012), and the dark comedy crime film American Hustle (2013). The three films were commercially successful and acclaimed by critics, having earned Russell three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, as well as a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Silver Linings Playbook and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for American Hustle. Russell received his seventh Golden Globe nomination for the semi-biographical comedy-drama Joy (2015).Russell has garnered controversy on and off the set for antagonistic behavior towards the actors in his films including George Clooney, Lily Tomlin, and Amy Adams. He also admitted to having groped his 19-year-old transgender niece in 2011 and physically attacked Christopher Nolan at a party in Hollywood in 2003.