Taylor Hackford was born in Santa Barbara, California, in 1944. In 1978, he won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for Teen Dad, and four years later, he was nominated again for the coveted statuette for the unforgettable An Officer and a Gentleman, his biggest box-office hit to date. His filmography includes such notable titles as Total Eclipse, The Devil's Advocate, and Proof of Life. Bringing the life of his idol Ray Charles to the screen became an obsession for this director, who spent 15 years finding someone who believed in a project that has become one of the most profitable of his career thanks to its soundtrack.