Sam Mendes, who directed Skyfall and SPECTRE, was born in Reading on 1st August 1965.
Mendes made his name directing stage productions, which he continues to do today, and in 1999 directed his first film, American Beauty. Since then he has directed Road to Perdition (2002) with Daniel Craig, Jarhead (2005), Revolutionary Road (2008) and Away We Go (2009), before being approached by Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson to direct Skyfall.
Although he initially said he would not do another Bond film, Mendes later agreed to direct SPECTRE.
Photo: Sam Mendes by Angela George. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
