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


Early life

Stephen Roark Gyllenhaal was born in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
, to Virginia Lowrie (née Childs) and Hugh Anders Gyllenhaal. He is of Swedish and English 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 conferred upon him the crest and family name, "Gyllenhaal". Gyllenhaal grew up in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, a suburb of
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in a close-knit
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family. He graduated from Trinity College in
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in 1972, with a degree in English. His mentor at Trinity was the poet Hugh Ogden.


Career

Gyllenhaal directed the film version of the Pete Dexter novel '' Paris Trout'', which was nominated for five
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and won him a DGA Award. In 1990, Gyllenhaal directed '' Family of Spies'', which was nominated for two
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
and an Emmy. In 1992, he directed the feature film ''
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'', starring Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke. Since 1993, he has focused primarily on directing in television, including an
episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...
of the ABC television series ''
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''. 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'', '' Hawthorne'', '' Army Wives'', ''Rectify'', and '' Blue Bloods''. In 2011, Gyllenhaal directed '' Girl Fight'' which starred Anne Heche and earned Gyllenhaal a nomination for Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film. 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.


Personal life

Gyllenhaal was married to screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal for 32 years, from 1977 until their divorce was finalized in 2009. Together, they are the parents of actors Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal. In July 2011, he married Kathleen Man, a filmmaker and professor who was a co-producer on Gyllenhaal's 2012 film ''
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''. Their son Luke was born in 2014. His brother, Anders Gyllenhaal, is executive editor of the ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
''.


Selected filmography


References


External links

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The Gyllenhaal name

Genealogy of the Gyllenhaal family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gyllenhaal, Stephen 1949 births Living people Film directors from Ohio Film producers from Ohio Writers from Cleveland Filmmakers from Cleveland American television directors American people of Swedish descent American people of English descent American male poets Poets from Ohio American Swedenborgians
Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
Directors Guild of America Award winners Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni