Photo: Amy Graves © WireImage.com

Born in Hewlett, Long Island, NY. Morris' fame as a documentarian of odd human behavior gained national attention with the extraordinary THE THIN BLUE LINE (1988), detailing the wrongful arrest and conviction of Randall Dale Adams, who was accused of killing a Dallas policeman. The film was so convincing that it resulted in a new trial for Adams and his eventual release from prison. Morris, who actually worked as a private eye for two years, was a philosophy student at U.C. Berkeley when filmmaker Werner Herzog encouraged him to make his first film, the well-received documentary GATES OF HEAVEN (1978), about California pet cemeteries. (In fact, Herzog said he'd eat his shoe if Morris completed the film; his fulfillment of the bet was chronicled by Les Blank in the 1979 short WERNER HERZOG EATS HIS SHOE.) Morris' follow-up feature was VERNON, FLORIDA (1981, about the elderly people in that small town). After THE THIN BLUE LINE he directed A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (1991), about the wheelchair-bound scientific genius Stephen W. Hawking. In 1997, Morris released FAST, CHEAP & OUT OF CONTROL (produced with his wife, Julia Sheehan) that related a wild animal trainer, a topiary gardener, a mole-rat specialist and a robot designer and the future of humanity. Morris' next film, MR. DEATH: THE RISE AND FALL OF FRED A. LEUCHTER JR. (1999) profiled the life and career of the infamous American execution device designer who denied the existence of the Holocaust. Morris' lone attempt at fictional filmmaking to date, THE DARK WIND (1991) did not receive theatrical release, and went straight to video. THE FOG OF WAR: ELEVEN LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ROBERT S. McNAMARA (2003) marked Morris' first nomination from the Academy. Morris made the opening film for the 79th Annual Academy Awards show (2007). His lastest film is STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (2008), which examines the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.  Best Documentary (Feature) 2003: THE FOG OF WAR - Producer (w. Michael Williams) 1 nomination, 1 Award