American director and filmmaker Norman René was BOTD in 1951. Born in Bristol, Rhode Island, he studied psychology at Johns Hopkins University before transferring to Carnegie Mellon University to pursue acting. After graduating, he moved to New York City, co-founding an independent theatre group. He befriended playwright Craig Lucas, working together on the 1981 musical collage Marry Me a Little, based on discarded songs from Stephen Sondheim musicals. They continued collaborating on plays throughout the 1980s, scoring their first significant hit with 1988’s Prelude to a Kiss, which transferred to Broadway. In 1990, René’s debut feature film Longtime Companion, based on Craig’s screenplay about a group of gay New Yorkers whose friendship circle is decimated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Premiering at the 1990 Sundance Festival, where it won the Audience Award, it was acclaimed for its authentic and unflinching portrait of queer friendships and the social stigma around HIV/AIDS in Reagan-era America. René later directed the 1992 film version of Prelude to a Kiss, starring Alec Baldwin and Meg Ryan, and a 1995 film of Lucas’ play Reckless with Mia Farrow and Mary-Louise Parker. René was in a long-term relationship with Kevin McKenna. He died in 1996 of an AIDS-related illness, aged 45.