Russell Mulcahy

RUSSELL MULCAHY

Date of Birth: June 23, 1954

Australian film director Russell Mulcahy began his career directing music videos for artists such as Elton John, Bonnie Tyler, Queen and Billy Joel. He has the distinction of having directed the first music video MTV ever aired: "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.

Mulcahy made his feature film directorial debut with the British comedy Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979), starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. His next film, Razorback (1984), was a complete turnaround. Filmed in Australia and starring American actor Gregory Harrison, this horror film was about a vicious wild pig that terrorized the Australian outback.

It was for Highlander (1986) that Mulcahy made a name for himself as a film director. Starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, it was filmed in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada and was successful enough to merit a sequel-Highlander II: The Quickening (1991), also directed by Mulcahy.

Having won success in music videos and in feature films, Mulcahy decided to try his hand at TV as well, directing episodes of Tales from the Crypt, Perversions of Silence, The Hunger, Queer as Folk, Jeremiah, Young Lions and Skin.

He continues to work in all three mediums, directing TV movies such as Mysterious Island (2005), The Curse of King Tut's Tomb (2006) and The Sitter (2007) as well as the features Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) and Russell (2008), a family movie he's been planning for several years.

In 1998 Mulcahy was awarded the Eastman Kodak Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Music Video Production Association.

Filmography:

Russell (2008)
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Swimming Upstream (2003)
Resurrection (1999)
Tale of the Mummy (1998)
Silent Trigger (1996)
The Shadow (1994)
The Real McCoy (1993)
Blue Ice (1992)
Ricochet (1991)
Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
Highlander (1986)
Razorback (1984)
Derek and Clive Get the Horn (1979)