Patrick McGilligan

From Clint Eastwood and Fritz Lang to Alfred Hitchcock and George Cuckor, Patrick McGilligan has written biographies of known studio figures. With his new book, Oscar Micheaux: The Great and Only, he turns to an African American figure who pioneered independent filmmaking.

Micheaux, who wrote, produced and directed some 40 feature length films between 1919 and 1948, was virtually forgotten after he died in poverty in 1951 and most of his movies were lost forever. McGilligan unearths previously untold stories about this complex visionary and celebrates Micheaux's courage in being the first director to film controversial stories based on interracial romance, skin-color hypocrisy and life in the ghetto.