Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director of theater, opera and film. She is best known for directing the stage musical The Lion King, for which she became the first woman to win the Tony Award for directing a musical, in addition to a Tony Award for Original Costume Design. She has also received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award, and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song. She also received the 2012 Director Award for Vision and Courage from the Athena Film Festival at Barnard College in New York City. She was the director of the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and an off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. She is also noted for directing film adaptations of two of William Shakespeare's plays, Titus and The Tempest.