Alexander David Turner (born 6 January, 1986) is an English musician and member of Sheffield band, Arctic Monkeys. He is the band's lead vocalist and plays lead guitar for the band, as well as being the songwriter.
Alex Turner was a slave who escaped from his plantation at the start of the Civil War, and joined the 1st New Jersey Cavalry under the Union army.
In the Spring of 1863, Turner guided his regiment to his old plantation in Port Royal, Virginia where he killed his former overseer.
At the end of the war, Turner returned to New England where he worked as a logger.
In 1883, his daughter Daisy Turner was born. Daisy can be seen reciting Civil War poetry, at the remarkable age of 104, in Ken Burns' critically acclaimed PBS documentary The Civil War.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIe1nf38KkU
Alex Turner was eleven years old when he made his first film with a home movie camera given to him by his father, legendary photographer Pete Turner. His skewed vision of the world was apparent at an early age in 8mm epics like Dr. Griffin's Creation and Starflight 7.
A graduate of the distinguished film program at SUNY Purchase, Turner immersed himself in the world of feature and commercial production in New York and Los Angeles. Memorable events from this time include a disastrous stint as a pigeon wrangler on a shoot for commercial director Steve Horn and working as a production assistant on several low budget films. Turner eventually began directing music videos and made the transition to directing commercials for clients including McDonald's, General Electric and Quaker State.
Alex's acclaimed short film Chuck has screened in over thirty film festivals. It was featured on the Sci-Fi Channel, and won the Rod Serling award at the 2001 Long Island Film Festival. Turner's latest short film, Disposal can be seen on IFC and was shown as part of LACMA's Young Directors Night.
Dead Birds, Turner's first feature, staring Henry Thomas, Isaiah Washington and Patrick Fugit, premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.
