D(avid) W(ark) Griffith

Griffith, D(avid) W(ark) (1875–1948), U.S. silent-film director and producer, often considered the father of modern cinema. His immensely popular Birth of a Nation (1915), later much criticized for its racist views, introduced major principles of film technique. Griffith also pioneered the film “spectacular.” Among his other films are Intolerance (1916), Way Down East (1920), and Orphans of the Storm (1922).