David O. Russell

David O. Russell
Russell at the Paris premiere of American Hustle, February 2014
Born	David Owen Russell (1958-08-20) August 20, 1958 (age 58) Manhattan, New York City, United States
Residence	Santa Monica, California
Other names	David O'Russell Stephen Greene
Alma mater	Amherst College (B.A.)
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1987–present
Spouse(s)	Janet Grillo (m. 1992–2007)
Partner(s)	Holly Davis (2007–present)
Children	2

David Owen Russell (born August 20, 1958) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His early directing career includes the comedy films Spanking the Monkey (1994), Flirting with Disaster (1996), Three Kings (1999) and I ♥ Huckabees (2004).

Three of Russell's more recent films – the biographical sports drama The Fighter (2010), the romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook (2012), and the comedy-drama crime film American Hustle (2013) – were commercially successful and acclaimed by critics, having earned Russell three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, as well as a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Silver Linings Playbook and a Best Original Screenplay nomination for American Hustle. Russell received his seventh Golden Globe nomination for the semi-biographical comedy-drama Joy (2015).

Russell was born in Manhattan, to Maria (née Muzio) and Bernard (Markovski) Russell. His parents worked for Simon & Schuster; his father was the vice president of sales for the company and his mother was a secretary there. His father was from a Russian Jewish family and his mother was Italian American (of Lucanian descent). Russell's maternal grandparents were Frank Muzio, born in Craco, and Philomena Brancata, born in Ferrandina, both in the province of Matera. His paternal grandfather, a butcher from the Upper West Side of Manhattan, lost many of his relatives in concentration camps.