March 25 - David Lean

Film director Sir David Lean, CBE, was born near London on March 25, 1908, into a Quaker family. After an aunt told him to find a job he enjoyed, he began working at a London film studio without pay. By 1930 he was editing newsreels and later movies, an occupation that served him well as the director of some of the landmarks of motion-picture history. These included the romantic drama “Brief Encounter” (1945), and the Charles Dickens classics “Great Expectations” (1946) and “Oliver Twist” (1948). “Summertime” (1955) was shot entirely on location in Venice. Then came huge blockbusters that made Lean’s reputation as the master of big-screen epics: “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957), “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), and later, “A Passage to India” (1984). “Zhivago” remains one of the highest-grossing films in the United States, adjusted for inflation. Lean was married six times.