8. Hal Ashby
I think if we were to conduct some sort of study to determine just how odd (and sometimes tragic) the early lives of great directors were, the results would be staggering. The great filmmaker Terry Gilliam once stated, "Directing is not for the faint-of-heart. Or the sane," and after reading the biographies of notable directors, I've realize that this may well be true. One of the more interesting life stories I've come across is Hal Ashby's. Born in the late 1920s to a Mormon family, Ashby was said to have a disturbingly dysfunctional childhood. Growing up in a broken home, and eventually losing his father to suicide, he was forced to mature faster than any child ever should. This was further proven by the fact that he was married and divorced by the time he was 19. That's quite the feat. Ashby decided to move to California once he was (officially) an adult, and from there he became an assistant editor. After winning an Academy Award for his work on In the Heat of the Night, Norman Jewison (the producer/director of the film) urged Hal to move onto a directing career. Needless to say, this paid off greatly. His directorial debut came in the form of The Landlord, and from there he released masterpiece after masterpiece. His work on films like Harold and Maude has inspired countless filmmakers, including modern greats Wes Anderson and David O. Russell. Unfortunately, Ashby didn't have a perfect career. Somewhere down the line, he began using drugs, and basically became a crazy man. Because of this, the once great director was shunned by Hollywood executives, and could only find television work. Despite his best efforts to redeem himself, the man's reputation was forever tarnished. He eventually passed away in the '80s due to pancreatic cancer, and although the latter part of his career was shaky, he'll still go down as one of the best directors of all-time.