Mark L. Lester

Mark L. Lester (born November 26, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.[1] He is known as a prolific director of cult films including the disco musical Roller Boogie, the vigilante thriller film Class of 1984, the Stephen King-adaptation Firestarter (1984), the Arnold Schwarzenegger action film Commando (1985), and the action-comedy Armed and Dangerous (1986), starring John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Meg Ryan.

For the actor born in 1958, see Mark Lester.

Mark L. Lester
Born	(1946-11-26) November 26, 1946 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Notable work	Roller Boogie Class of 1984 Commando Armed and Dangerous Poseidon Rex

Career

After his debut in 1970 with the film Twilight of the Mayas, Lester quickly became a prolific B-movie director/writer, initially making his mark with a trio of road movies designed for the drive-in market, Steel Arena, Truck Stop Women, and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw. In 1977, he directed the high-concept thriller Stunts, an early outing for New Line Cinema starring Robert Forster, Joanna Cassidy, and Richard Lynch with a score composed by Michael Kamen. Two years later, he jumped on the disco bandwagon with Roller Boogie starring Linda Blair. The film had a significantly higher budget than his previous films and was the first to be distributed by a major studio. While it received negative reviews upon its initial release, it has since gained cult status as a proverbial time capsule of the bygone Disco Era. to modest success. He then made the exploitation action crime-thriller Class of 1984, a film revolving around a violence in an inner-city school. The Canadian-made production, which featured an early appearance by Michael J. Fox, was controversial at the time of release, but has since gained cult status.

Lester entered the mainstream in 1984 with the Stephen King adaptation Firestarter, and had his biggest hit the following year with Commando, a big-budget Joel Silver-produced Arnold Schwarzenegger action film that grossed over $57 million worldwide. He also directed and produced his sole comedy, Armed and Dangerous starring John Candy, Eugene Levy and Meg Ryan in 1986. In 1990, he directed Class of 1999, a semi-sequel to Class of 1984 starring Malcolm McDowell, Pam Grier, and Stacy Keach. Then in 1991, he directed the cult classic Showdown in Little Tokyo starring Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee.

He also founded American World Pictures, an independent production and distribution company. Recent films include The Base, an action film; the thrillers Blowback and Hitman's Run; and for TV, Pterodactyl (produced for the Sci Fi Channel). In 2012, after getting a divorce from Dubovsky, he formed a new distribution company called Titan Global Entertainment.

In January 2013, almost 10 years after directing his last picture, Lester helmed the film Poseidon Rex on location in Belize. The production was disrupted briefly when its lead, Corin Nemec was severely injured during a boating accident while the Belizean Coast Guard was transporting the cast to set.[2] He was replaced by Charmed co-star, Brian Krause.[3]

Personal life

Lester married Dana Dubovsky, who he had two children with, Jason and Justin. The couple divorced in 2010. He also has a daughter, Janessa (James), who is a musician and singer-songwriter, from a prior relationship.

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Notes
1971	Tricia's Wedding	No	Yes	No	Short film
	Twilight of the Mayas	Yes	Yes	No	Directorial debut
1973	Steel Arena	Yes	Yes	Yes
1974	Truck Stop Women	Yes	Yes	Yes
1975	White House Madness	Yes	Yes	No
1976	Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw	Yes	Yes	No
1977	Stunts	Yes	No	No
1979	Gold of the Amazon Women	Yes	No	No	Television film
	Roller Boogie	Yes	No	No
1981	The Funhouse	No	Executive	No
1982	Class of 1984	Yes	Executive	Yes
1984	Firestarter	Yes	No	No
1985	Commando	Yes	No	No
1986	Armed and Dangerous	Yes	No	No
1990	Class of 1999	Yes	Yes	Story
1991	Showdown in Little Tokyo	Yes	Yes	No
1993	Extreme Justice	Yes	No	No
1995	Night of the Running Man	Yes	Yes	No
1996	Public Enemies	Yes	Yes	No	Direct-to-video films
1997	The Ex	Yes	Yes	No
1998	Double Take	Yes	Yes	No
	Misbegotten	Yes	Yes	No
1999	The Base	Yes	Yes	No	Direct-to-video film
	Hitman's Run	Yes	Yes	No
2000	Blowback	Yes	Yes	No
	Sacrifice	Yes	Yes	No	Television films
	The Base 2: Guilty as Charged	Yes	Yes	No
2001	Devil's Prey	No	Yes	No
	Instinct to Kill	No	Executive	No
2002	Bad Karma	No	Executive	No
	The Wisher	No	Executive	No
2003	Lady Jayne: Killer	Yes	Yes	No
	Stealing Candy	Yes	Yes	Story
	White Rush	Yes	Yes	No
2005	Pterodactyl	Yes	Yes	No
2006	Day of Wrath	No	Executive	No
2007	Wraiths of Roanoke	No	Yes	No	Television films
2008	Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon	No	Executive	Story
2010	Beauty and the Beast	No	Yes	No
	Groupie	Yes	Executive	No
2011	Sinbad and the Minotaur	No	Yes	No	Television films
	Jabberwock	No	Yes	No
2012	Sand Sharks	No	Yes	No
	Dragonwasps	No	Executive	No	Television film
2013	Jurassic Attack	No	Executive	No
	Poseidon Rex	Yes	Yes	No
2014	Dragons of Camelot	Yes	Yes	No
2015	Toxin	No	Executive	No
2018	Social Animals	No	Yes	No
	High Resolution	No	Yes	No
2019	Sleeping With My Student	No	Yes	No
2020	The Gardener	No	Executive	No	Post-production
TBA	Kwa-Heri	Yes	No	No	Pre-production

References

1. "Mark L. Lester biography". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
2. "Parker Lewis' Star Boat Crash". TMZ. January 24, 2013.
3. "Trailer for Firestarter and Commando Director Mark L. Lester's Sea Monster Flick Poseidon Rex". Dread Central. May 20, 2013.

External links

• Mark L. Lester on IMDb