Biography
Mark L. Lester is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Born on 26 November 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his career with the documentary Twilight of the Mayas (1971) before directing exploitation and drive-in features such as Steel Arena (1973), Truck Stop Women (1974) and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976).
He achieved wider recognition with Roller Boogie (1979), the vigilante thriller Class of 1984 (1982) and the Stephen King adaptation Firestarter (1984). His biggest commercial success was the action film Commando (1985), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other notable credits include Armed and Dangerous (1986), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) and Class of 1999 (1990). Lester founded the independent production and distribution company American World Pictures.
