David Anspaugh

He and his ex-wife, Roma Downey, have a daughter named Reilly Anspaugh (born in 1996).

Was the original choice to direct A League of Their Own (1992).

Best known for the inspirational sports dramas Hoosiers (1986) and Rudy (1993), David Anspaugh has enjoyed a long career as a director and producer of film and television.

Directed his five-and-a-half-year-old daughter Vanessa Anspaugh in the role of Jessica Auschlander, granddaughter of Dr. Daniel Auschlander, in St. Elsewhere: Fade to White (1984).

Elsewhere (1982), and Miami Vice (1984). He made the transition to feature films when his best friend from IU, Angelo Pizzo, wrote "Hoosiers" and wanted Anspaugh to direct. The scene in "Hoosiers" in which the Hickory Huskers and their coach enter the enormous and empty Butler Fieldhouse was suggested by Anspaugh. Seven years later the two friends reteamed to make the college-football movie "Rudy. " Anspaugh insisted on casting Sean Astin in the lead role, even though studio executives wanted someone tall and athletic. And it was Anspaugh's idea to hire NFL Films to shoot the movie's game footage.

Anspaugh started his career as a producer and director of acclaimed TV shows Hill Street Blues (1981), St.

Has a daughter, Vanessa Anspaugh (Vanessa Christine b. 1979), with his first wife, Tamara Kramer.

Anspaugh and his first wife won $23,000 on the game show Spin-Off (1975).

Graduated from Indiana University in 1970. Did graduate work at the University of Southern California film school.

Attended the Woodstock Music & Art Fair (August 1969).

His favorite movies include The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), El Cid (1961), and Grand Prix (1966).

Anspaugh and Pizzo also collaborated on 1950s World Cup soccer film The Game of Their Lives (2005). Anspaugh has rounded out his career by directing motion pictures and TV movies on many topics other than sports.

Born in Decatur, Indiana in 1946 to Lawrence Anspaugh, a portrait photographer, and his wife, Marie, he was a member of his high school's football, basketball, and track teams. As a student majoring in secondary education at Indiana University, Anspaugh shot his own short movies and filmed concerts, football games, and Vietnam War protests using a 16mm camera. After graduation he moved to Aspen, Colorado, where he worked as a substitute teacher, waiter, and ski instructor before relocating to Los Angeles to attend film school at the University of Southern California. At the time he couldn't imagine ever working in Hollywood, although that would change in just a few years.