Andrew Davis (director)
Andrew Davis (born November 21, 1946) is an American film director, producer, writer, and cinematographer who is known for directing a number of successful action thrillers including Code of Silence, Above the Law, Under Siege,[1] and The Fugitive.
Andrew Davis
Early life[edit]
Davis was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, and has directed several films using Chicago as a backdrop. He is the son of actor Nathan Davis and Metta Davis, and the brother of musician Richard "Richie" Peter Davis (co-founder of the cover band Chicago Catz) and Jo Ellen Friedman. Davis had his father fill out many character roles throughout the years, notably as the grandfather to Shia LaBeouf's character in the Disney film Holes.
After attending the Harand Camp of the Theater Arts summer camp program and Bowen High School, Davis went on to study journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was issued a degree in journalism in 1968.[2] It was not long before his interest in civil rights and anti-war issues converged with his growing interest in filmmaking. Davis was mentored by acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler, with whom he worked on Medium Cool, and began his film career as a cameraman on blaxploitation films like The Hit Man, Cool Breeze and The Slams in the 1970s.[3]
Wexler and Davis reunited in 2014 to discuss the film before a screening at the Pollock Theater on the campus of the University of California at Santa Barbara.[4]