Happy 50th Birthday, M. Night Shyamalan! Born today in 1970 as Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan, this Indian-born American philanthropist, actor and filmmaker came out of almost nowhere to become one of the year's greatest sensations.
He is known for making films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings.
At six weeks old, Shyamalan and his parents immigrated to the United States from Mahé, Pondicherry, India when he was six weeks old.
Shyamalan was then raised in his hometown of Penn Valley, Pennsylvania. Raised Hindu, it was there that he grew up in his hometown of Penn Valley.
Shyamalan had an early desire to be a filmmaker when he was given a Super 8 camera at a young age. Though his father wanted him to follow in the family practice of medicine, his mother encouraged him to follow his passion.
By the time Shyamalan was seventeen, the fan of Steven Spielberg had already made forty-five home movies.
In 1992, Shyamalan became an alma mater of Tisch School of the Arts, in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was while studying there that he adopted "Night" as his second name.
While still a student at NYU, Shyamalan made his first film. This was the 1992 Indian-American semi-autobiographical drama/family drama film 'Praying with Anger'. To finance it, he used a budget of $750,000 borrowed from family and friends.
Six years later, Shyamalan wrote and directed his second film. This was the 1998 American comedy-drama film 'Wide Awake'. His parents were the film's associate producers. Although made in 1995, the film was not released until 1998.
The film's supporting cast included Dana Delany and Denis Leary as the boy's parents, as well as Rosie O'Donnell, Julia Stiles, and Camryn Manheim.
The following year, Shyamalan co-wrote the screenplay for the 1999 American family CGI animated/live-action comedy 'Stuart Little' The film was loosely based on the titular 1945 American children's fiction novel by American writer E. B. White.
Still later that same year, Shyamalan gained international recognition when he wrote and directed the film for which he is best known. This was the 1999 American supernatural horror drama/mystery film 'The Sixth Sense'.
The film was a commercial success. On a budget of $40 million, 'The Sixth Sense' went on to gross $672.8 million at the box office.
It was this film that established Shyamalan as a writer and director, and introduced the cinema public to his traits, most notably his affinity for surprise endings.
One year later, 'The Sixth Sense' was nominated for six Oscars. This included Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Haley Joel Osment), Best Supporting Actress (Toni Collette), Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (both Shyamalan) and Best Picture. This occurred at the 72nd Academy Awards in late March 2000.
The line "I see dead people" became a popular catchphrase after its release, ranking in at #44 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.
On each DVD release of his films (with the exception of 'Lady in the Water'), Shyamalan has included a scene from one of his childhood movies, which he feels represents his first attempt at the same kind of film.
In 2013, Shyamalan revealed that he was the ghostwriter for the 1999 American teen romantic comedy film 'She's All That', starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachel Leigh Cook.
However, this statement has come into question as the credited screenwriter for the film, American film writer and producer R. Lee Fleming Jr., denied Shyamalan's involvement in a now deleted tweet.
Among his credits, Shyamalan is known for writing and directing 'Unbreakable' (2000), 'Signs' (2002), 'The Village' (2004), 'Lady in the Water' (2006), 'The Happening' (2008), 'The Last Airbender' (2010), 'Devil' (2010), 'After Earth' (2013), 'The Visit' (2015), 'Split' (2016), and 'Glass' (2019).
Shyamalan is also known for filming and setting his films in and outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Most of his commercially successful films were co-produced and released by Walt Disney Studios' Touchstone and Hollywood film imprints. His cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3 billion globally.
Shyamalan has been active from 1992–present.
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