Born in the Santa Barbara, CA; educated at USC, Los Angeles (international relations, 1968). Won an Oscar® for his 1978 short film TEENAGE FATHER, and made an auspicious feature debut with THE IDOLMAKER (1980), a slickly cynical look at the pop music industry. Hackford has continued to show an interest in popular music (he co-produced the 1987 Richie Valens biopic LA BAMBA), with three of his directorial efforts spinning off hit songs. As chairman of the independent production company, New Visions Entertainment Inc., he served as executive producer of numerous films (THE LONG WALK HOME, 1990; QUEENS LOGIC, MORTAL THOUGHTS, SWEET TALKER and DEFENSELESS, all 1991) before returning to producing and directing his own projects, including BOUND BY HONOR (1993), an ambitious three-hour drama about Chicano gangs in Los Angeles that was a commercial and critical disappointment. Other notable producing credits include AGAINST ALL ODDS (1984, also director), DOLORES CLAIBORNE (1995, also director), WHEN WE WERE KINGS (1996), THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE (1997, exec. producer & director), GREENWICH MEAN TIME (1999), PROOF OF LIFE (2000, also director), RAY (2004, also director and writer - story), and LOVE RANCH (planned for 2009, also director). Other directing credits include AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982), WHITE NIGHTS (1985) and EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN (1988). Hackford's first wife was Oscar®-winning filmmaker Lynne Littman. He lived with actress Helen Mirren from 1986; they were married in 1997. He and Mirren have houses in Los Angeles, the South of France, London and have an estate in New Orleans.  Short Films (Live Action) 1978: TEENAGE FATHER - Producer  Nominated for Best Picture of the Year 2004: RAY - Producer at Universal/Bristol Bay (w. Stuart Benjamin & Howard Baldwin)  Nominated for Achievement in Directing 2004: RAY 3 nominations, 1 Award