American Beauty (1999 film) "American Beauty" to the fledgling DreamWorks studio, which bought the script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor. "American Beauty" marked theater director Mendes' film debut; courted after his successful productions of the musicals "Oliver!" and "Cabaret", Mendes was only given the job after 20 others were considered and several A-list directors turned down the opportunity. Spacey was Mendes' first choice for the role of Lester, though DreamWorks urged him to consider better-known actors; similarly, the studio suggested several actors for the role of Carolyn until Mendes
Julius Lester in 1952. In 1960 he received his BA from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, with a major in English and minors in Art and Spanish. In 1961 he moved to New York City where he married Joan Steinau. They had two children, Jody Simone (1965) and Malcolm Coltrane (1967). They divorced in 1970. In 1979 he married Alida Carolyn Fechner, who had a daughter, Elena Milad. Fechner and Lester had a son, David Julius. They divorced in 1991. He married Milan Sabatini in 1995. His daughter from this marriage is Lián Amaris. During college, Lester became involved in the Student