Biography
Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944 in Santa Barbara, CA) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982), "The Devil's Advocate" (1997) and "Proof of Life" (2000), and for directing Jamie Foxx to an Academy Award for Best Actor in "Ray" (2004). Hackford served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 2009 to 2013.
Known For
Complete Filmography

Good Men
2024
as Self
After the birth of his grandson, Bobby Roth undertakes a cinematic investigation as to what constitutes being a "good man" in today's world. This voya...

King on Screen
2023
as Self
1976, Brian de Palma directs Carrie, the first novel by Stephen King. Since, more than 50 directors adapted the master of horror's books, in more than...

Melville, le dernier samouraï
2020
as Self
Like nobody else Jean-Pierre Melville influenced modern filmmaking. This documentary follows his creative process step by step, showing him becoming t...

Becoming Iconic
2018
as Self
Baker's journey in completing Nicolas Cage's "Inconceivable" and exclusive interviews with top directors recounting their experiences with their first...

The Comedian
2016
Director, Producer
An aging comic icon, Jackie Burke, has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know...

A Place to Stand
2015
Executive Producer
Jimmy Santiago Baca was a petty thief and a drug dealer when he was sentenced to five years in Arizona State Prison, one of the deadliest prisons in A...

The Mystery of Dante
2014
as Self
A journey in the footsteps of the most famous initiate of Italian Trecento, the author of the celebrated "Divine Comedy". A poet who has inspired some...
Dangerous Liaisons
2014
Director

Parker
2013
Director, Producer
A thief with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead. Assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely all...

Casting By
2012
as Self
This essential new documentary pays tribute to the legacy of the late, legendary casting director Marion Dougherty and shines a light on one of the mo...

Love Ranch
2010
Director, Producer
Story of a couple that starts the first legal brothel in Nevada and a boxer they own a piece of.

Doctor Zhivago: A Celebration
2010
as Self
Interviews analyzing and looking back at the making of, and the impact made by, of one of the greatest epic films ever produced.
Stanley Kramer: A Man's Search for Truth
2008
as Self
Documentary about Stanley Kramer, included on the 40th anniversary edition of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Brando: An Icon Is Born
2007
as Himself
A short retroperspective feature on Brando's influence on acting itself and the cultural impact of his role in "The Wild One".

Pas de Deux: Making 'White Nights'
2006
as Self
Documentary on the 1985 film White Nights, with interviews from Taylor Hackford, Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini.

Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That
2005
as Self
Documentary about filmmaker Budd Boetticher.

Ray
2004
Director, Story, Producer
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make h...

100 Greatest Sexy Moments
2003
as Self
Documentary, based on a British poll, listing the 100 sexiest movie and TV moments. Supplemented by new interviews with performers, filmmakers, and au...

Bukowski: Born Into This
2003
as Self
Director John Dullaghan’s biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of t...

Proof of Life
2000
Director, Producer
When American engineer Peter Bowman is kidnapped while working in South America, his wife Alice enlists special agent Terry Thorne to help free him. H...

G:MT Greenwich Mean Time
1999
Producer
Six London school-leavers attempt to make it in the world, balancing the challenge of trying to make a name for themselves in the music industry again...

The Devil's Advocate
1997
Director, Executive Producer
Aspiring Florida defense lawyer Kevin Lomax accepts a job at a New York law firm. With the stakes getting higher every case, Kevin quickly learns that...

When We Were Kings
1996
Producer, Editor
It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world....

Dolores Claiborne
1995
Producer, Director
Dolores Claiborne was accused of killing her abusive husband twenty years ago, but the court's findings were inconclusive and she was allowed to walk ...

Bound by Honor
1993
Director, Producer
Based on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on half-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo. It ...

Defenseless
1991
Executive Producer
A Los Angeles lawyer defends her former college roommate, whose husband — her lover — has been slain.

Sweet Talker
1991
Executive Producer
When scam artist Harry Reynolds gets out of jail, he makes his way to the depressed coastal village of Beachport, where according to local myth, an ol...

Mortal Thoughts
1991
Executive Producer
A loathsome man ends up dead, but it's not clear who's to blame. If ever a person got what he deserved, it's James Urbanksi, an abusive drunk who stea...

Queens Logic
1991
Executive Producer
When childhood friends Al, Dennis and Eliot get together for Ray's wedding, which may or may not happen, they end up on a roller-coaster ride through ...

The Long Walk Home
1990
Executive Producer
Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luth...

First Works
1989
as Self
It's a mixed bag in the age of illuminating DVD supplements, but First Works effectively demonstrates the early promise of 13 successful filmmakers. C...

Rooftops
1989
Executive Producer
T, as most of his friends, lives in a self-constructed 'house', built on top of an old building in the city. Their one passion is 'combat'. Combat is ...

Everybody's All-American
1988
Director, Producer
Louisiana football star Gavin Grey had it all. He was an All-American champion who married his high-school sweetheart, homecoming queen Babs Rogers, a...

Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll
1987
Director
St. Louis, 1986. For Chuck Berry's 60th, Keith Richards assembles a pickup band of Robert Cray, Joey Spampinato, Eric Clapton, himself and long-time B...

La Bamba
1987
Producer
Los Angeles teenager Ritchie Valens becomes an overnight rock 'n' roll success in 1958, thanks to a love ballad called "Donna" that he wrote for his g...

White Nights
1985
Director, Producer
After his plane crashes in Siberia, a Russian dancer, who defected to the West, is held prisoner in the Soviet Union. The KGB keeps him under watch an...

Against All Odds
1984
Director, Producer
She was a beautiful fugitive. Fleeing from corruption. From power. He was a professional athlete past his prime. Hired to find her, he grew to love he...

An Officer and a Gentleman
1982
Director
Zack Mayo is an aloof, taciturn man who aspires to be a navy pilot. Once he arrives at training camp for his 13-week officer's course, Mayo runs afoul...

The Idolmaker
1980
Director
Based on the life of rock promoter/producer Bob Marucci, who discovered, among others, Frankie Avalon and Fabian.

Teenage Father
1978
Director, Writer, Producer
About a high school boy who accidentally got his girlfriend pregnant. They both agree that they’ll give up the baby for adoption when the child is bor...

Bukowski
1973
Director
Charles Bukowski is filmed going to a poetry reading in San Francisco.
Budd Boetticher: A Study in Self-Determination
1971
A documentary about American film director Budd Boetticher
Budd Boetticher: A Study in Self-Determination
1971
Producer
A documentary about American film director Budd Boetticher
Sniff
N/A
Director
A retired detective is pulled back into the action by his former partner, they uncover a hidden underworld of sex, drugs and murder in the wealthy com...
The Reluctant Movie Star
N/A
Director
An hour-long film documenting the "making of" Taylor Hackford's Chuck Berry - Hail! Hail! Rock N' Roll. Hackford and the others who worked on the film...