Howard Hawks

Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin labeled Hawks the greatest American director who is not a household name, noting that, while his work may not be as well known as Ford, Welles, or DeMille, he is no less a talented filmmaker. He has influenced some of the most popular and respected directors such as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, John Carpenter, and Quentin Tarantino. His work is admired by many notable directors including Peter Bogdanovich, Franois Truffaut, Michael Mann and Jacques Rivette. He is popular for his films from a wide range of genres such as Scarface , Bringing Up Baby , Only Angels Have Wings , His Girl Friday , Sergeant York , To Have and Have Not , The Big Sleep , Red River , The Thing from Another World , Monkey Business , Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , and Rio Bravo .

Howard Winchester Hawks was born in Goshen, Indiana, the firstborn child of Frank W. Hawks , a wealthy paper manufacturer, and his wife, Helen , the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. Hawkss family on his fathers side were American pioneers and his ancestor John Hawks had emigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1630. The family eventually settled in Goshen and by the 1890s was one of the wealthiest families in the Midwest, due mostly to the highly profitable Goshen Milling Company.

Source: Wikipedia