Many celebrated film directors have influenced their peers and artistic descendants, and even casual film fans know their names: Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, Orson Welles, Steven Spielberg, and D. W. Griffith, just to name a few. The following is a list of some noteworthy directors who are considerably less well known, yet played a significant role in inspiring future directors.

1. Oscar Micheaux

Before Oscar Micheaux, African-Americans had only a marginal presence in American movies, and only then as figures of menace or derision. In 1919, Micheaux made a film of his book The Homesteader, and followed it with Within Our Gates in 1920, a tough-minded drama designed to expose the ugliness of racism. For the next 30 years, Micheaux wrote, produced, and directed nearly 40 films that portrayed the difficulties of black Americans. Hollywood regarded his productions as unimportant "race films" that were played only in segregated theaters. But to African-American audiences and the black actors he employed, Micheaux was a trailblazer who addressed contemporary concerns. Today's black cinema -- and the mainstream stardom of Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, and others -- has roots in the work of Oscar Micheaux.

2. David Hand

Tobe Hooper, one of the 16 on this list, directed Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

For years, Walt Disney allowed the general public to believe that he alone was the creator of his cartoons and live-action movies, and even the originator of such stories as Robin Hood, Cinderella, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But Disney's landmark 1937 release, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was directed by a longtime animator and animation supervisor named David Hand. Snow White was the first feature-length cartoon, and its visual beauty and mammoth commercial success inspired generations of future animators, including those who work today with computer-generated images instead of pen and ink. Hand also directed Bambi (1942) and remained active until 1980's Mickey Mouse Disco.

3. Anthony Mann

Anthony Mann was a highly skilled Hollywood studio director who pushed the limits of film noir in the late 1940s with T-Men (1947) and Raw Deal (1948) and later reinvigorated the Western via driven, neurotically vengeful antiheroes. Many of these Mann productions star James Stewart, including Winchester '73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), and The Naked Spur (1953). From this new approach came the concept of the "adult Western," which carried through Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) and beyond.

On the next page, discover more great film directors you may have overlooked.