His films, noted for their painstaking craftsmanship, include early work codirected with playwright Noeel Coward. Brief Encounter 1946 established Lean as a leading talent. Among his later films are such accomplished epics as The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 (Academy Award), Lawrence of Arabia 1962 (Academy Award), and Dr Zhivago 1965. The unfavourable reaction to Ryan's Daughter 1970 caused him to withdraw from filmmaking for over a decade, but A Passage to India 1984 represented a return to form. Knighted 1984.
