Stephen Gyllenhaal (pronounced "JILL-en-hall"), born October 4, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio, is an American film and television director.

He is the second husband of screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal, father of actors Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jake Gyllenhaal, and brother of Anders Gyllenhaal , managing editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune since 2002. The family are descendants of the aristocratic Gyllenhaal family, which was ennobled in 1652 when Queen Christina conferred on cavalry officer Nils Gunnesson Haal a title, crest, and the name Gyllenhaal (loosely translated as "golden-hall").

He grew up in rural Pennsylvania in a close-knit Swedenborgian family and attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut with a degree in English. His mentor at Trinity was the poet Hugh Odgen.

As well as being a director of fine feature films, Stephen is also a poet of emerging reputation, whose poetry has been published in literary journals such as Prairie Schooner and Nimrod. His first collection of poetry is being published in June, 2006 by Cantara Christopher's New York-based literary small press, Cantarabooks .

Filmography

• (1979) Exit 10
• (1985) Certain Fury
• (1991) Paris Trout
• (1992) Waterland
• (1993) A Dangerous Woman
• (1995) Losing Isaiah
• (1998) Homegrown