Brian De Palma is the son of a surgeon. He studied physics but at the same time felt his dedication for the movies and made some short films. After seven independent productions he had his first success with Sisters and his voyeuristic style. Restlessly he worked on big projects with the script writers Paul Schrader, John Farris and 'Oliver Stone' . He also filmed a novel of Stephen King: Carrie. Another important film was The Untouchables with a script by David Mamet adapted from the TV series.


Won top prize in regional Science Fair in high school. Project was "An Analog Computer to Solve Differential Equations." Cf. computer nerd in Dressed to Kill (1980). De Palma bases his most famous cinematic predilection, voyeurism, on a specific childhood incident. When he was a child, his parents split up, his mother accusing his father of infidelity. The young De Palma spent several days stalking his dad with recording equipment, hoping to find evidence to confirm his mother's suspicions. In the 1970s, De Palma helped a close friend on a film project. He helped audition and interview actors. When the film was shot, DePalma did some uncredited writing on an opening "scrawl," a device the friend thought of at the last minute to help explain events in the film, so the audience would not be confused. The friend was George Lucas and the film was Star Wars (1977). Second daughter, Piper De Palma, born October 21 1996 in Palo Alto, California. Italian-American. Wrote the role of the hooker in Dressed to Kill (1980) specifically with his then wife Nancy Allen in mind. Step-father of The OC actress Willa Holland. His three favorite films are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Red Shoes (1948), and Vertigo (1958).