M. Night Shyamalan
Biography
M. Night Shyamalan is an American filmmaker whose thrillers often turn on supernatural plots and twist endings. Born in India and raised in Pennsylvania, he shot his first feature, the drama Praying with Anger, as a student, and broke through in 1999 with The Sixth Sense, which earned him Academy Award nominations for directing and for its screenplay. Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002) and The Village (2004) followed, before poorly received releases including Lady in the Water (2006), The Happening (2008) and After Earth (2013). The low-budget thrillers The Visit (2015) and Split (2017) marked a resurgence that continued with Glass (2019), Knock at the Cabin (2023) and Trap (2024). He has also been an executive producer and occasional director on the television series Wayward Pines and Servant, and received the Padma Shri in 2008.
56years old
Turns 57 on August 6in 269 days
- Born Mahé
- Star sign: LeoThe sign runs July 23 to August 22
- Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (birth name)Also credited as Manoj Shyamalan
Movie Career
- Films
- 8
- Career span
- 31 years1993 to 2024
First and latest
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Behind the camera
Shyamalan was the uncredited ghostwriter on the 1999 teen comedy She's All That, a fact he kept secret until 2013, when Miramax's former head of development confirmed his rewrite helped get the film green-lit.
First role
While still a student at NYU, Shyamalan made Praying with Anger, a semi-autobiographical drama, his first film, using money he borrowed from family and friends.
Early training
In 1988 Shyamalan received the New York University Merit Scholarship, and he was a National Merit Scholar as well. He graduated in 1992 from New York University Tisch School of the Arts in Manhattan.
About the name
Shyamalan took the professional name Night after reading about the Lakota and finding a person whose name translated to "night", replacing his original middle name Nelliyattu.
M. Night Shyamalan movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Five actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
James McAvoy's page
Betty Buckley's page
Awards
Four awards and honors from 2006 to 2018.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 2018 | Sitges Grand Honorary Award | Honorary | |
| 2006 | Great Immigrants Award | Won | |
| Padma Shri in arts | Won | ||
| Pravasi Bharatiya Samman | Won | ||
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.