Today is the birthday of Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, producer and occasional actor ALAN BALL, who is best known for writing the screenplay for the Oscar-winning film “American Beauty,” and for creating the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning HBO original drama series “Six Feet Under.”

In July 2016, it was announced that Ball’s family drama Here and Now had been ordered to series by HBO. A ten-episode first season will star Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter. The show was cancelled in April 2018 after one ten-episode season.

Ball has discussed his Buddhist faith in numerous interviews, noting how it has influenced his filmmaking. In an interview with Amazon.com, Ball commented on the plastic bag scene in American Beauty, stating: “I had an encounter with a plastic bag! And I didn’t have a video camera, like Ricky does… There’s a Buddhist notion of the miraculous within the mundane, and I think we certainly live in a culture that encourages us not to look for that.” Ball also discussed how his Buddhism shaped themes in Six Feet Under and True Blood.

Ball is gay and has been called “a strong voice for [the] LGBT community”. In 2008, he was named on Out magazine’s annual list of the 100 most impressive gay men and women.

Ball is married to actor Peter Macdissi, whose birthday is tomorrow!