Best known as the founder and lead guitarist of the chart-busting English rock band Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler has also dedicated himself to an equally successful second career composing film scores. He was a late bloomer who worked as a journalist and a teacher before forming Dire Straits in 1977. Two years later, the band (which included his younger brother David) scored their first hit, "Sultan of Swing", and anonymity was a thing of the past. His restrained, thoughtful songs provided an alternative to punk that was not a retread of some tired style and had the added appeal of his mournful
