Bill Condon began his career teaming with director Michael Laughlin as co-scenarist on a pair of cult thrillers, "Dead Kids/Strange Behavior" (1981), which focused on the mysterious murders of teenagers in a Midwestern town, and "Strange Invaders" (1983), a spoof of 50s sci-fi films. Moving to the director's chair, he helmed "Sister, Sister" (1987), an atmospheric Southern gothic tale about two siblings that many found derivative but which also featured sterling work from leads Judith Ivey and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Condon detoured to the world of the made-for-cable movie for several years where, by his own admission, he acquired confidence and honed his screenwriting and directorial skills. While his initial return to features, as one of the screenwriters on "FX2 - The Art of the Deadly Flesh" (1991) and as director of "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh" (1995), were in relatively standard genre fare, he triumphed with his first solo writing and directing assignment. Adapting Christopher Bram's impressionistic novel "Father of Frankenstein", Condon fashioned the superior "Gods and Monsters" (1998), a meditative look at the last days of famed British filmmaker James Whale, anchored by a brilliant central performance by Ian McKellen. His masterful script received an Academy Award as Best Adapted Screenplay.

Credit: entertainment.lycos.com