American Beauty (1999 film) American Beauty (1999 film) American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in his feature film directorial debut. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a midlife crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela (Mena Suvari). Annette Bening co-stars as Lester's materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Jane. Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. The film is described by academics as a satire of American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction; analysis has
Helen Lester writing children's literature. Her works are mainly influenced by her old second-grade students who helped produced characters such as Tacky the Penguin, Pinkerton the Pig and Fragility the Hippopotamus. Lester's first children's book was published in 1979 and her writing career took off from there. She has now published more than two dozen books. Lester has also illustrated a few of her own books, but typically illustrator Lynn Munsinger has produced the illustration for Lester's books. Lester and Munsinger have collaborated on over a dozen children books. Beyond writing, Lester spends time traveling the country, visiting schools and encouraging children