Alan Ball
Ball at the 25th Annual Paley Television Festival, ArcLight Cinemas, Los Angeles, April 13, 2009
Born	May 13, 1957 (1957-05-13) (age 52) Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation	Screenwriter, playwright, director, actor, producer

Alan E. Ball (born May 13, 1957) is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television. He is noted for writing the films American Beauty and Towelhead, and creating and producing the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and True Blood. For his work in television and film, Ball has received critical acclaim and numerous awards, including an Academy Award, an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

[edit] Life and career

Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker. He attended high school in Marietta, and went on to attend the University of Georgia and Florida State University, from which he graduated in 1980 with a degree in theater arts. After college, he began work as a playwright at the General Nonsense Theater Company in Sarasota, Florida.

Ball is openly gay and has been called "a strong voice for [the] LGBT community."^[1]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2000 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2000 Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay-Motion Picture – American Beauty
• 2000 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay – American Beauty
• 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Six Feet Under
• 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2004 Producers Guild of America Award for Dramatic Series – Six Feet Under

Nominations

• 2000 BAFTA Film Award – American Beauty
• 2002 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Six Feet Under
• 2004 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement – Six Feet Under
• 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under
• 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series – Six Feet Under

[edit] References

• Linda Rapp (2007-02-12). "Ball, Alan (b. 1957)". glbt Encyclopedia. http://www.glbtq.com/arts/ball_a.html. Retrieved 2008-09-11. 
• Alan Ball. Interview with Tamara Palmer. SF Weekly. 2008-09-09. (Interview [transcript]). Retrieved on 2008-09-11.

[edit] External links

• Alan Ball (screenwriter) at the Internet Movie Database
• Alan Ball at FEARnet

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