Alan Jay Pakula (April 7, 1928 - November 19, 1998) was an American film producer, writer, and director noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre. In 1962, he produced “To Kill a Mockingbird”, for which he received a Best Picture nomination in the 1963 Academy Awards. In 1969, he directed his first feature, “The Sterile Cuckoo”, starring Liza Minnelli. Pakula gained recognition for his “paranoia trilogy”, which included 1971’s “Klute”, 1974’s “The Parallax View”, and 1976’s “All the President’s Men”.
Pakula scored another hit in 1982 with “Sophie’s Choice”, starring Meryl Streep. His screenplay, based on the novel by William Styron, was nominated for an Academy Award. In later years, he largely focused on courtroom dramas, achieving commercial success with “Presumed Innocent”, based on the best-selling novel by Scott Turow, and “The Pelican Brief”, an adaptation of the John Grisham bestseller.
Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_J._Pakula