Coolidge, Martha (1946–)

American film director. Born Aug 17, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut; father was professor of architecture at Yale University; attended Rhode Island School of Design, New York's School of Visual Arts, New York University Institute of Film and Television, and Columbia School of Visual Arts; m. Michael Backes.

Successful film director, pursued unsuccessful career as folksinger and acted with a small group in Cheshire, Connecticut, called the Blackfriars; began making documentary films with feminist themes (1960s), including one about her grandmother; worked in children's tv, directing some episodes of "Sesame Street"; gained wider notice with the controversial Not a Pretty Picture (1976), which examined traumas of rape victims and drew on her own harrowing experience; came to prominence with surprise hit Valley Girls (1983); became 1st female president of Directors Guild of America (2002), after serving as Guild's 1st vice president and as co-chair of Creative Rights Committee; directed Real Genius (winner of Grand Prix Award at Paris Film Festival, 1986), Rambling Rose (recipient of 3 IFP Independent Spirit Awards and 2 Oscar nominations, 1991), Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (winner of 5 Emmys) and If These Walls Could Talk 2 (nominated for DGA Award); other films include Lost in Yonkers (1993), Angie (1994) and The Prince & Me (2004); for tv, directed "Crazy in Love" (1992), "The Ponder Heart" (2001), "The Flamingo Rising" (2001), as well as episodes of "Sex and the City" (1998).