Taylor Hackford began his entertainment career at the age of 24 at KCET, the Los Angeles public television affiliate, where he was a pioneer in the presentation of rock 'n roll performances for the station's cultural department. He also served as an investigative reporter in their news division and was honored with two Emmy Awards for his work in the field.
In 1979, Hackford won an Academy Award in the category of Best Live Action Short Film for his first dramatic effort, "Teenage Father." He proceeded to make his feature directorial debut in 1980 with "The Idolmaker," a rock roman a clef starring Ray Sharkey and Peter Gallagher. "An Officer and A Gentleman," starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, was Hackford's second film and a runaway commercial and critical hit in 1982. It received five Academy Award nominations and brought home Oscars for Louis Gossett, Jr., as Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Song ("Up Where We Belong"). Hackford was nominated for his outstanding achievement by the Directors Guild of America.
On all of the subsequent films, Hackford has functioned as a producer as well as the director. His credits include "Against All Odds," starring Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward and James Woods; "White Nights," starring Gregory Hines, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Helen Mirren and Isabella Rossellini in her American film debut; "Everybody's All American," starring Jessica Lange, Dennis Quaid and John Goodman, and the acclaimed documentary "Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n Roll."
In 1987, "La Bamba," the Ritchie Valens biography starring Lou Diamond Phillips became a sleeper success for Columbia Pictures, breaking new ground for the Hispanic market. Directed by Luis Valdez, "La Bamba" was developed and produced by Hackford, who had been fascinated by all things Latino since his stint in the late '60s as a Peace Corps worker in South America.
Exhilarated by his experience as godfather to "La Bamba," Hackford proceeded to launch an independent venture into the production and distribution of quality yet modestly budgeted films, New Visions Pictures, serving as the company's chairman. He also took a credit as executive producer (and, occasionally, second unit director) on many of the features, including the much lauded "The Long Walk Home," starring Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg in a drama set against the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott of 1963; "Queens Logic," featuring an ensemble cast headed by John Malkovich, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chloe Webb and Kevin Bacon; "Mortal Thoughts," starring Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, and "Defenseless," starring Barbara Hershey and Sam Shepard.
Following five years at New Visions, devoted to helping other people's movies get made, Taylor Hackford returned to directing in 1993 with the epic drama of East Los Angeles., "Blood In, Blood Out (Bound By Honor)." His achievement earned him an award as Best Director at the 1993 Tokyo Film Festival.
