Martha Coolidge

Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as Real Genius and Rambling Rose. 2Early life Coolidge was born in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a granddaughter of Arthur W. Coolidge, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, who was himself a fourth cousin of President Calvin Coolidge. Coolidge studied illustration at Rhode Island School of Design, but changed majors, becoming the first film major at the school. She earned her MFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Later in Los Angeles she studied acting and other aspects of her craft with Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Joanne Baron, and David Craig. 2Career Coolidge first made her reputation by directing many award winning documentaries in New York City. While in New York, she helped found the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers (AIVF) and the IFP. She moved to Hollywood in 1976 and spent several years as a part of the Zoetrope Studio created by Francis Ford Coppola. Her feature-length directorial debut, Not a Pretty Picture, was based on a date rape she suffered at age 1