Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New York University Film School in 1978. He started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Kansız (1984). This film began his collaboration with the Coen Bros., who used him for their next two pictures, Arizona Junior (1987) and Miller's Crossing (1990). He also worked with Danny DeVito on his Annemi Trenden Nasıl Atarım (1987) and Rob Reiner on Harry Sally'yle Tanışınca (1989) and Ölüm Kitabı (1990). Sonnenfeld got his first work as a director from Orion Pictures on Addams Ailesi (1991), a box-office success released in November 1991 followed by its sequel, Addams Ailesi 2 (1993). He received critical acclaim for his fourth directorial effort, Tut şu bücürü (1995). Produced by Jersey Films and based on a novel by Elmore Leonard, the film won a Golden Globe for best male performance. In 1996 Steven Spielberg asked him to direct Siyah Giyen Adamlar (1997). Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, the movie was a critical and financial smash. Producer Jon Peters then asked Sonnenfeld to direct Vahşi Vahşi Batı (1999), an adaptation of an old TV series. He also directed the comedy Büyük Bela (2002), after which he made his most successful film sequel, Siyah Giyen Adamlar 2 (2002).