Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal (; born October 4, 1949) is an American film director and poet. He is the father of actors

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He ...

and

Maggie Gyllenhaal Margalit Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal (; born November 16, 1977) is an American actress and filmmaker. Part of the Gyllenhaal family, she is the daughter of filmmakers Stephen Gyllenhaal and Naomi Achs, and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenh ...

Personal life

Gyllenhaal was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

, to Virginia Lowrie (née Childs) and Hugh Anders Gyllenhaal. He is of Swedish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

descent; through his father, he is a member of the Gyllenhaal family, and a descendant of the cavalry officer Nils Gunnesson Haal, who was ennobled in 1652 when

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina ( sv, Kristina, 18 December (New Style) 1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden in Queen regnant, her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. She succeeded her father ...

conferred upon him the crest and family name, "Gyllenhaal". Stephen grew up in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

in a close-knit

Swedenborgian The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). Swedenborgian or ...

family and graduated from

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

in 1972, with a degree in English. His mentor at Trinity was the poet

Hugh Ogden Hugh may refer to: * Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-da ...

. He was married to screenwriter

Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal Naomi Foner ( Achs; born March 4, 1946) is an American screenwriter and director. She is the mother of actor and actress Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal. Early life and education Foner was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of doctors Rut ...

for 32 years, from 1977 until their divorce was finalized in 2009. From that marriage, he is the father of actress

and actor

. He is also the brother of Anders Gyllenhaal, executive editor of the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.Kathleen Man, a filmmaker and professor who was a co-producer on Gyllenhaal's 2012 film ''

Grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

''. Their son Luke was born in 2014.

Career

Gyllenhaal directed the film version of the

Pete Dexter Pete Dexter (born July 22, 1943) is an American novelist. He won the U.S. National Book Award in 1988 for his novel '' Paris Trout''. Early life and education Dexter was born in Pontiac, Michigan. His father died when Dexter was four and he ...

novel ''

Paris Trout ''Paris Trout'' is a 1991 made-for-television drama film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, starring Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Harris. It is based on the novel '' Paris Trout'' by author Pete Dexter. Plot Paris Trout is an unrepenta ...

'', which was nominated for five

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and won him a DGA Award. In 1990, Gyllenhaal directed '' Family of Spies'', which was nominated for two

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

s and an Emmy. In 1992, he directed the feature film '' Waterland'', starring Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke. Since 1993, he has focused primarily on directing in television, including an episode of the ABC television series ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 ...

''. He directed his son, Jake, then 14 years old, in an episode of NBC's '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' that aired in 1994. Gyllenhaal directed several episodes of the CBS series '' Numb3rs'', ''

The Mentalist ''The Mentalist'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 23, 2008, until February 18, 2015, broadcasting 151 episodes over seven seasons, on CBS. Created by Bruno Heller, who was also its executive producer, the show f ...

'', '' Hawthorne'', ''

Army Wives ''Army Wives'' is an American drama television series that followed the lives of four army wives, one army husband, and their families. The series premiered on Lifetime on June 3, 2007, and ran for seven seasons, ending on June 9, 2013. The s ...

'', ''Rectify'', and '' Blue Bloods''. In 2011, Gyllenhaal directed '' Girl Fight'' which starred

Anne Heche Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles in a variety of genres in film, television, and theater, receiving numerous accolades, including a National Board of Review Award and multiple Emmy ...

and earned Gyllenhaal a DGA Nomination for outstanding directorial achievement in movies for television. He is also a poet, who has been published in literary journals such as ''Prairie Schooner'' and ''Nimrod''. His first collection of poetry, ''Claptrap: Notes from Hollywood'', was published in June 2006 by Cantara Christopher's New York–based literary small press, Cantarabooks. In 2013, Gyllenhaal directed a backdoor pilot originally titled ''Sworn to Silence'' that aired as the Lifetime TV movie ''An Amish Murder''. It stars Neve Campbell as a local police detective who must solve a murder case that involves the Amish Community she was shunned from years ago. Gyllenhaal is also in post-production on a documentary about dream interpretation titled ''Exquisite Continent''. In 2019, Gyllenhaal was on the "Social Impact Advisory Board" of the San Diego International Film Festival with Susan Sarandon and Cecelia Peck.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* *
The Gyllenhaal name

Genealogy of the Gyllenhaal family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllenhaal, Stephen 1949 births American film producers American people of Swedish descent American people of English descent American male poets American Swedenborgians American television directors Film directors from Ohio

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

Living people Writers from Cleveland Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Poets from Ohio