David Fincher's Real Name: David Fincher

Quick answer: David Fincher is known professionally and in major reference works as David Fincher. He is an American music-video and film director, born in Denver, Colorado, in 1962. Sources disagree on the exact date: Encyclopaedia Britannica gives August 28, 1962, while a Contemporary Authors-style Encyclopedia.com entry, echoing a book called The Fincher Network, gives May 10, 1962 (Britannica; Encyclopedia.com).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Fincher, David." An IMDb citation in that record uses the longer form David Andrew Leo Fincher and the August 28 date; because that fuller name is documented there only through IMDb, it is not used in the title. This page treats 1962 and Denver as established and states the May 10 / August 28 conflict plainly. Britannica says he was raised in San Anselmo, California, became interested in movies partly because he was a neighbor of filmmaker George Lucas, and, still a teenager, became an assistant cameraman at Industrial Light & Magic, Lucas's special-effects studio. The Encyclopedia.com entry adds that his father, Jack Fincher, was a writer and a bureau chief for Life and that he graduated from Ashland High School in Ashland, Oregon.

Career highlights

In the mid-1980s he began directing commercials, then music videos noted for their cinematic scale, including Madonna's "Express Yourself" (1989) and "Vogue" (1990) and Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun" (1989). His feature debut, Alien 3 (1992), had a troubled production and did poorly with critics and at the box office. He reestablished himself with the crime drama Se7en (1995), starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, then made The Game (1997) and Fight Club (1999), also with Pitt. Panic Room (2002) followed. After a five-year gap he directed Zodiac (2007) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), which brought his first Academy Award nomination for best director. The Social Network (2010) earned him a Golden Globe for best director and another Oscar nomination. Later films include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and Gone Girl (2014). He also directed the series Mindhunter.

Name notes for searchers

David Fincher is the name used in Britannica and the Library of Congress heading. Searchers looking for the director of Se7en, Fight Club, or The Social Network are usually aiming at the same person. He should not be confused with other film professionals named Fincher.