A power elite or The Grand Elite, in political and sociological theory, is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, and access to decision-making of global consequence. The term was coined by Charles Wright Mills in his 1956 book, ''The Power Elite'', which describes the relationship between individuals at the pinnacles of political, military, and economic institutions, noting that these people share a common world view.

The power elite is described as consisting of members of the corporate community, academia, politicians, media editors, military service personnel, and high-profile journalists. Individuals identified as belonging to the power elite include David Rockefeller, W. Averell Harriman and Robert McNamara.

Mills argues in his book that the US power elite consists of members of society characterized by consensus building and the homogenization of viewpoints. This power elite has historically dominated the three major sectors of US society: economy, government, and military. Elites circulate from one sector to another, consolidating their power as they go.

Social structure

The power elite are the leadership of the upper class, able to shape the economy through their simultaneous access to both state and corporate power.

Unlike the ruling class, a social formation based on heritage and social ties, the power elite is characterized by the organizational structure through which its wealth is acquired. According to Mills, the power elite is "the managerial reorganization of the propertied classes into the more or less unified stratum of the corporate rich." Domhoff further clarified the differences in the two terms: "The upper class as a whole does not do the ruling. Instead, class rule is manifested through the activities of a wide variety of organizations and institutions... Leaders within the upper class join with high-level employees in the organizations they control to make up what will be called the power elite."

Mills wrote that the power elite refers to "those political, economic, and military circles, which as an intricate set of overlapping small but dominant groups share decisions having at least national consequences. Insofar as national events are decided, the power elite are those who decide them." According to Mills, the governing elite in the US primarily draws its members from three areas: (i) the highest political leaders (including the president) and a handful of key cabinet members and close advisers; (ii) major corporate owners and directors; and (iii) high ranking military officers. The elite occupies what Mills terms the top command posts of society.

Such positions give their holders enormous authority over governmental, financial, educational, social, civic, and cultural institutions. A small group is thus able to make decisions and take actions that touch everyone.

In literature

The following authors are among those who have explored the concept of a power elite:

Charles Wright Mills (''The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America'')

G. William Domhoff (''Who Rules America?'')

James Truslow Adams (''The Epic of America'')

Noam Chomsky

Murray Rothbard

Carroll Quigley (''The Anglo-American Establishment'' and ''Tragedy and Hope'')

Chris Hedges

The Marxist theoretician Nikolai Bukharin anticipated the power elite theory in his 1929 work, ''Imperialism and World Economy:'' "present-day state power is nothing but an entrepreneurs' company of tremendous power, headed even by the same persons that occupy the leading positions in the banking and syndicate offices.". The phrase 'Power Elite' also appears in Aldous Huxley's 1958 work Brave New World Revisited, referencing Mills' book.

See also

Bourgeoisie

Ruling class

The Establishment

Siloviki

The Man

References

External links

Charles Wright Mills on the Power Elite "The Higher Circles"

G. William Domhoff's online supplement to his book Who Rules America

Domhoff interview - September 2004, Public Eye.Org - Domhoff on the American Ruling Class as opposed to conspiracy theories.

NY Books G. William Domhoff: "IS THERE A RULING CLASS?" In response to What Rules America? (May 1, 1975)

Category:Social classes Category:Political terms Category:Political science terms Category:Sociology Category:Military-industrial complex Category:Oligarchs

de:Machtelite sv:Makteliten

name	Rizwan Khan
birth date
birth place	Aden, South Yemen
education	University of Wales Medical Physiology (B.Sc.) University of Portsmouth Radio Journalism (B.A.)
occupation	Reporter and Anchor at Al Jazeera
years active
website	}}

Rizwan "Riz" Khan (born April 1962) is a British television news reporter and interviewer who until April 2011 hosted his own eponymous television show on Al Jazeera English. He first rose to prominence while working for the BBC and CNN.

Life and career

Khan was born in Aden, South Yemen, to a Punjabi father and Gujarati mother. His father's roots hail from Pakistan-administered Kashmir while his mother's roots go back to Kutch, Gujarat. He considers himself as a British Pakistani. Khan moved with his family to London, at the age of four. He attended both Springwell Junior and Hounslow Manor Comprehensive Schools and joined the Air Training Corps, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Medical Physiology from the University of Wales, and then completed a postgraduate course in Radio Journalism at the University of Portsmouth.

In 1987 he was selected for the BBC News Trainee scheme - a two-year BBC training system, usually taking only 6 people per course. Khan progressed to jobs as a BBC reporter, producer, and writer, working in both television and radio, and would later become one of the founding News Presenters on BBC World Service Television News. He hosted the news bulletin that launched BBC World Service Television News in 1991. In 1993, he moved to CNN International, where he became a senior anchor for the network's global news shows. Events he covered included the 1996 and 1999 coverage of elections in India; the 1997 historic election in Britain; and in April 1998 the unprecedented live coverage from the Muslim pilgrimage, the Hajj.

In 1996 he launched his interactive interview show ''CNN: Q&A; with Riz Khan'', and he has conducted interviews with guests including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former US Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, and genomic scientist J. Craig Venter. Khan also secured the world exclusive with Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf following his coup in October 1999. Khan also hosted ''Q&A-Asia; with Riz Khan''. These interactive shows put world newsmakers and celebrities up for viewer questions live by phone, e-mail, video-mail and fax, along with questions and comments taken from the real-time chatroom that opens half-an-hour before each show.

Khan hosted his show, ''Riz Khan'', on Al Jazeera English, interviewing analysts and policy makers and allows viewers to interact with them via phone, email, SMS messages or fax. The show came to an end in April 2011.

Khan speaks Urdu and Hindi and also understands other South Asian languages such as Punjabi and Kutchi. He has studied French, and can understand some other European languages, including Swedish.

In 2005 he authored his first book, ''Al-Waleed: Businessman Billionaire Prince'', published by Harper Collins.

In 2011 he authored a preface for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) annual report "Attacks on the Press 2010", which examined working conditions for journalists in more than 100 countries.

References

"Why I'm Joining Al Jazeera", op-ed by Riz Khan, ''The Wall Street Journal'', 13 June 2005, p. A1

"Q&A; CNN Anchor: Riz Khan". ''India Today''. February 19, 2001.

External links

Riz Khan's official website

Profile at Al Jazeera English

MySpace Profile

Interview with Baron Dave Romm of KFAI-FM at the Republican National Convention Sept. 2, 2008 and picture

Category:1962 births Category:Al Jazeera people Category:Alumni of Cardiff University Category:Alumni of the University of Portsmouth Category:British Muslims Category:British people of Indian descent Category:English people of Pakistani descent Category:British journalists Category:British television presenters Category:Living people Category:Punjabi people Category:Gujarati people Category:People from Aden

ar:ريز خان he:ריז ח'אן sw:Riz Khan no:Riz Khan

name	Michio Kaku
birth date	January 24, 1947
birth place	San Jose, California, United States
residence	New York City, New York, United States
nationality	American
field	Theoretical physics
work institutions	City University of New YorkNew York UniversityInstitute for Advanced Study
alma mater	Harvard University (B.S., 1968)University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.,1972)
doctoral advisor	Stanley Mandelstam
known for	String field theory, Popular science
footnotes	}}

is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science. He has written several books on physics and related topics, he has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film, and he writes extensive online blogs and articles.

Early life and education

Kaku was born in San Jose, California to Japanese immigrant parents. His grandfather came to the United States to take part in the clean-up operation after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. His father was born in California but was educated in Japan and spoke little English. Both his parents were put in the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, where they met and where his two brothers were born.

At Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, Kaku assembled an atom smasher in his parent's garage for a science fair project. At the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. Kaku graduated ''summa cum laude'' from Harvard University in 1968 and was first in his physics class. He attended the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in 1972, and in 1972 he held a lectureship at Princeton University.

During the Vietnam War, Kaku completed his U.S. Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and his advanced infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington. However, the Vietnam War ended before he was deployed as an infantryman.

Academic career

Kaku became a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and New York University. He currently holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York.

Kaku has had over 70 articles published in physics journals such as Physical Review, covering topics such as superstring theory, supergravity, supersymmetry, and hadronic physics. In 1974, along with Prof. Keiji Kikkawa of Osaka University, he authored the first papers describing string theory in a field form.

Kaku is the author of several textbooks on string theory and quantum field theory.

Popular science

Kaku is most widely known as a popularizer of science. He has written books and appeared on many television programs as well as film. He also hosts a weekly radio program.

Books

Kaku is the author of various popular science books.

''Physics of the Future''

''Physics of the Impossible''

''Hyperspace''

''Einstein's Cosmos''

''Parallel Worlds''

''Beyond Einstein'' (with Jennifer Thompson)

''Hyperspace'' was a best-seller and was voted one of the best science books of the year by both ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. ''Parallel Worlds'' was a finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in the UK.

Radio

Kaku is the host of the weekly, one-hour radio program ''Explorations'', produced by the Pacifica Foundation's WBAI in New York. "Explorations" is syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the program's website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace, and the environment.

In April 2006, Kaku began broadcasting ''Science Fantastic'' on 90 commercial radio stations, the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the United States. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network and now reaches 130 radio stations and America's Talk on XM. The program is formatted as a live listener call-in show, focusing on "futurology," which he defines as the future of science. Featured guests include Nobel laureates and top researchers on the topics of string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence, and SETI. When Kaku is busy filming for television, ''Science Fantastic'' goes on hiatus, sometimes for several months. Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs, where he is outspoken in all areas and issues he considers of importance, such as the program "Coast to Coast AM," where on 30 November 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that there is a 100% probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe.

Kaku has appeared on ''The Opie and Anthony Show'' a number of times, discussing popular fiction such as ''Back to The Future'', ''Lost,'' and the theories behind time-travel that these and other fictional entertainment focus on. Steven G. Spruill's novel ''The Janus Equation'', which describes the time travel of a post-op transsexual mating with her past self and thereby becoming father and mother to her present self, prompted Dr. Kaku's comment: "Well, you're in deep doo doo if that happens."

Television and film

Kaku has appeared in many forms of media and on many programs and networks, including ''Good Morning America'', ''The Screen Savers'', ''Larry King Live'', ''60 Minutes'', ''Nightline'', ''20/20'', ''Naked Science'', CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Al Jazeera English, Fox News Channel, The History Channel, ''Conan'', The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, TLC, ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', ''The Colbert Report'', ''The Art Bell Show'' and its successor, ''Coast To Coast AM'', ''BBC World News America'', ''The Opie & Anthony Show'', ''The Covino & Rich Show'', ''Head Rush'', ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', and ''Real Time with Bill Maher.

We Are the Guinea Pigs (1980)

Borders (1989)

''Synthetic Pleasures'' (1995)

Einstein Revealed (1996)

''Future Fantastic'' (1996)

''Stephen Hawking's Universe'' (1997)

Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (1998)

Exodus Earth (1999)

Me & Isaac Newton (1999)

Space: The Final Junkyard (1999)

''Big Questions'' (2001)

''Parallel Universes'' (2001)

''Horizon'': "Time travel" (2003)

Robo sapiens (2003)

Brilliant Minds: Secret Of The Cosmos (2003)

''Nova'': "The Elegant Universe" (2003)

''Hawking'' (2004)

''The Screen Savers'' (2004)

''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent'' (2004)

''Alien Planet (2005)

''ABC News'' "UFOs: Seeing Is Believing" (2005)

''HARDtalk Extra'' (2005)

''Last Days on Earth'' (2005)

Obsessed & Scientific (2005)

''Horizon'': "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony" (2005)

Prophets of Science Fiction (2006)

''Time'' (2006)

''2057'' (2007)

''The Universe'' (2007)

Futurecar (2007)

''Attack of the Show!'' (2007)

''Visions of the Future'' (2008)

''Horizon'': "The President's Guide to Science" (2008)

Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (2008)

''Horizon'': "Who's Afraid of a Big Black Hole" (2009–2010)

''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'' (2009–2010)

''Horizon'': "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" (2010)

''GameTrailers TV With Geoff Keighley'': "The Science of Games" (2010)

''How the Universe Works'' (2010)

''Through the Wormhole'' (2011)

In 1999, Kaku was one of the scientists profiled in the feature-length film ''Me and Isaac Newton'', directed by Michael Apted. It played theatrically in the United States, was later broadcast on national TV, and won several film awards.

In 2005, Kaku appeared in the short documentary ''Obsessed & Scientific.'' The film is about the possibility of time travel and the people who dream about it. It screened at the Montreal World Film Festival and a feature film expansion is in development talks. Kaku also appeared in the ABC documentary ''UFOs: Seeing Is Believing'', in which he suggested that while he believes it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials have ever actually visited Earth, we must keep our minds open to the possible existence of civilizations a million years ahead of us in technology, where entirely new avenues of physics open up. He also discussed the future of interstellar exploration and alien life in the Discovery Channel special ''Alien Planet'' as one of the multiple speakers who co-hosted the show, and Einstein's Theory of Relativity on The History Channel.

In February 2006, Kaku appeared as presenter in the BBC-TV four-part documentary ''Time'' which seeks to explore the mysterious nature of time. Part one of the series concerns personal time, and how we perceive and measure the passing of time. The second in the series deal with cheating time, exploring possibilities of extending the lifespan of organisms. The geological time covered in part three explores the ages of the earth and the sun. Part four covers the topics of cosmological time, the beginning of time and the events that occurred at the instant of the big bang.

On January 28, 2007, Kaku hosted the Discovery Channel series ''2057.'' This three-hour program discussed how medicine, the city, and energy could change over the next 50 years.

In 2008, Kaku hosted the three-hour BBC-TV documentary ''Visions of the Future'', on the future of computers, medicine, and quantum physics, and he appeared in several episodes of the History Channel's ''Universe'' series.

On December 1, 2009, he began hosting a 12-episode weekly TV series for the Science Channel at 10 pm, called ''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'', based on his best-selling book. Each 30-minute episode discusses the scientific basis behind imaginative schemes, such as time travel, parallel universes, warp drive, star ships, light sabers, force fields, teleportation, invisibility, death stars, and even superpowers and flying saucers. Each episode includes interviews with the world's top scientists working on prototypes of these technologies, interviews with sci-fi fans, clips from science fiction movies, and special effects and computer graphics. Although these inventions are impossible today, the series discusses when these technologies might become feasible in the future.

In 2010, he began to appear in a series on the website Gametrailers.com called ''Science of Games'', discussing the scientific aspects of various popular video games such as ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed''.

Kaku is popular in mainstream media because of his knowledge and his accessible approach to presenting complex subjects in science. While his technical writings are confined to theoretical physics, his public speaking and media appearances cover a broad range of topics, from the Kardashev scale to more esoteric subjects such as wormholes and time travel. In January 2007, Kaku visited Oman. While there, he talked at length to select members of that country's decision makers. In an interview with local media, Dr Kaku elaborated on his vision of mankind's future. Kaku considers climate change and terrorism as serious threats in man's evolution from a Type 0 civilization to Type 1.

On October 11, 2010, Michio Kaku appeared in the BBC program "What Happened Before the Big Bang" (along with Laura Mersini-Houghton, Andrei Linde, Roger Penrose, Lee Smolin, Neil Turok, and other notable cosmologists and physicists), where he propounded his theory of the universe created out of nothing.

Social policy advocacy

Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over matters including the anthropogenic cause of global warming, nuclear armament, nuclear power and the general misuse of science. He was critical of the Cassini–Huygens space probe because of the of plutonium contained in the craft for use by its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Conscious of the possibility of casualties if the probe's fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a 'sling-shot' maneuver around earth, Kaku publicly criticized NASA's risk assessment. He has also spoken on the dangers of space junk and called for more and better monitoring. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of the exploration of outer space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie in extrasolar planets; but he is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods of NASA.

Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to programs he heard on the Pacifica Radio network, during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation of nuclear weapons in association with Edward Teller and focused on research, teaching, writing and media. Kaku joined with others such as Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell, Peace Action and was instrumental in building a global anti-nuclear weapons movement that arose in the 1980s, during the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Kaku was a board member of Peace Action and on the board of radio station WBAI-FM in New York City where he originated his long running program, ''Explorations,'' that focused on the issues of science, war, peace and the environment.

His remark from an interview in support of SETI, "We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation...and we wouldn't even ''know''.", is used in the third Symphony of Science installment "Our Place in the Cosmos".

Personal life

Kaku is married to Shizue Kaku and has one daughter.

Bibliography

References

External links

Getting Physical: Dr. Michio Kaku Explains Einstein's Genius

Russia Takes Aim at Asteroids, op-ed on asteroid defense, Wall St. Journal, Jan. 5, 2010

''The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe'' interview

Michio Kaku on National Public Radio

Category:City College of New York faculty Category:American physicists Category:American radio personalities Category:City University of New York faculty Category:Princeton University faculty Category:Futurologists Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American academics of Japanese descent Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:Japanese-American civil rights activists Category:Pacifica Radio Category:String theorists Category:Theoretical physicists Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:People from San Jose, California Category:1947 births Category:Living people

ar:ميتشيو كاكو bg:Мичио Каку ca:Michio Kaku cs:Michio Kaku de:Michio Kaku et:Michio Kaku es:Michio Kaku fa:میچیو کاکو fr:Michio Kaku id:Michio Kaku it:Michio Kaku he:מיצ'יו קאקו ht:Michio Kaku hu:Michio Kaku nl:Michio Kaku ja:ミチオ・カク no:Michio Kaku uz:Michio Kaku pl:Michio Kaku pt:Michio Kaku ro:Michio Kaku ru:Митио Каку sk:Michio Kaku fi:Michio Kaku sv:Michio Kaku tr:Michio Kaku uk:Мічіо Каку zh:加來道雄

Peter Levenda is an author who focuses primarily on occult history. He is best known for his book ''Unholy Aliance'', which is about Esoteric Hitlerism and Nazi occultism, and is also the probable author of the ''Simon Necronomicon''.

Biography

He was the president of the international division of Ortronics, Inc., a telecommunications company based in Asia.

He appeared in the TNT documentary ''Faces of Evil'' as an expert on Nazi history with special regard to occult and esoteric practices. He has also appeared on the History Channel special ''Nazi Prophecies''. Levenda lives in Miami, Florida.

Simon Necronomicon

Levenda is also believed to be "Simon", the author of The Simon Necronomicon, a purported grimoire that derives its title from H.P. Lovecraft's fictional Necronomicon, featured in Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos stories. The assessment of Peter Levenda as the author of the Simon Necronomicon is based upon the following sources:

The U.S. Copyright Office registration for Simon's ''Gates of the Necronomicon'' lists the author as "Peter Levenda, whose pseudonym is Simon".

On the radio program "Coast-to-Coast AM", Sunday May 10, 2009 Peter Levenda was asked directly by the host, Ian Punnett, if Peter was in fact "Simon", which Peter denied. Mr. Levenda did acknowledge working on the book with Simon. Ian Punnett made a reference to interviewing "Simon" and mentioned similarities with Peter Levenda and asked Peter to "say hello to Simon for him, next time he saw him", to which Peter laughed and said that he would.

In the article "The Doom That Came to Chelsea", Alan Cabal describes his inside information on the genesis of the Necronomicon as well as the New York Occult scene that he and Levenda/Simon were a part of.

Written works

''Unholy Alliance: A History of Nazi Involvement With the Occult'' (1994)

''Sinister Forces - The Nine: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft'' (Sinister Forces)(2005) - has researched the material for this book over the course of 25 years, visiting more than 40 countries and gaining access to temples, prisons, military installations, and government documents.

''Sinister Forces - A Warm Gun: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft'' (Sinister Forces) (2005)

''Allianza Malefica / Unholy Alliance: The Nazis and the Power of the Occult'' (2006)

''Sinister Forces - The Manson Secret: A Grimoire of American Political Witchcraft'' (Sinister Forces) (2006)

''Gates of the Necronomicon'' (as Simon) (2006)

''The Mao of Business: Guerrilla Trade Techniques for the New China'' (2007)

''Stairway to Heaven: Chinese Alchemists, Jewish Kabbalists, and the Art of Spiritual Transformation'' (2008)

''The Secret Temple: Masons, Mysteries and the Founding of America'' (2009)

''Tantric Temples: Eros and Magic in Java (2011)

References

External links

February 1998 ''Straits Times'' article listing Levenda as president of Ortronics' Asia-Pacific division

Personal website

Levendas blog

Category:American occult writers Category:Living people

fr:Peter Levenda

name	George Stevens
birth date	December 18, 1904
birth place	Oakland, California, U.S.
death date	March 08, 1975
death place	Lancaster, California, U.S.
occupation	Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Writer, Producer
years active	1915–70
spouse	Yvonne Howell (1930–47)Joan McTavish (1968–75)
academyawards	Best Director1951 ''A Place in the Sun''1956 ''Giant'' Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award1954 Lifetime Achievement
awards	NBR Award for Best Director1953 ''Shane'' NYFCC Award for Best Director1943 ''The More the Merrier''Hollywood Walk of Fame1701 Vine Street }}

George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.

Among his most notable films were ''Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), nominated for Best Director, ''Giant'' (1956), winner of Oscar for Best Director, ''Shane'' (1953), Oscar nominated, and ''A Place in the Sun'' (1951), winner of Oscar for Best Director.

Film career

He was born in Oakland, California, and his family included his father Landers Stevens and his mother Georgie Cooper, both of them stage actors. He also had two brothers, Jack and writer Aston Stevens. He learned about the stage from his parents and worked and toured with them, on his way to filmmaking. He broke into the movie business as a cameraman, working on many Laurel and Hardy shorts. His first feature film was ''The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble'' in 1933.

In 1934 he got his first directing job, the slapstick ''Kentucky Kernels''. His big break came when he directed Katharine Hepburn in ''Alice Adams'' in 1935. He went on in the late 1930s to direct several Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies, not only with the two actors together, but on their own. In 1940, he directed Carole Lombard in ''Vigil in the Night'', and the film has an alternate ending for European audiences in recognition of World War II, which the US had not yet entered.

During the Second World War, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946, under General Eisenhower. His unit shot footage documenting D-Day—including the only Allied European Front color film of the war—the liberation of Paris and the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River, as well as horrific scenes from the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens also helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials. In 2008, his footage was entered into the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as an "essential visual record" of World War II.

One result of his World War II experiences was that his subsequent films became more dramatic. ''I Remember Mama'' in 1948 was the last movie that he made with comic scenes. He was responsible for such classic films as ''A Place in the Sun'', ''Shane'', ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', ''Giant'' and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told''. He ended his directing career with the 1970 film ''The Only Game in Town'' with Warren Beatty and in her final film with Stevens, Elizabeth Taylor. In the same year, he was head of the jury at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival.

Personal life

Stevens is the father of TV and film writer-producer-director George Stevens, Jr. (who was named the first CEO and director of the American Film Institute), and is the grandfather of TV and film producer-director Michael Stevens.

Stevens died following a heart attack on March 8, 1975 on his ranch in Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles.

Awards

Stevens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1701 Vine Street. He won the Academy Award for Best Director twice, in 1951 for ''A Place in the Sun'' and in 1956 for ''Giant''. He was also nominated in 1943 for ''The More the Merrier'', in 1954 for ''Shane'', and in 1959 for ''The Diary of Anne Frank''.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable sortable" width="100%" !Year||Title||Production Co.||Cast||Notes |- |1930 || ''Ladies Last'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 3rd episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- style=background:#efefef; |1931 || ''Blood and Thunder'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 4th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- |1931 || ''High Gear'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 5th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- style=background:#efefef; |1931 || ''Air-Tight'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 7th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- |1931 || ''Call a Cop!'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 8th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- style=background:#efefef; |1931 || ''Mama Loves Papa'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 9th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- |1931 || ''The Kick-Off!'' || Hal Roach Studios || || 10th episode from the "Boy Friends" series |- style=background:#efefef; |1932 || ''Who, Me?'' || Universal || || Short film |- |1932 || ''The Finishing Touch'' || Universal || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1932 || ''Boys Will Be Boys'' || Universal || || Short film |- |1933 || ''A Divorce Courtship'' || Universal || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1933 || ''Family Troubles'' || Universal || || Short film |- |1933 || ''Rock-a-Bye Cowboy'' || Universal || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1933 || ''Should Crooners Marry'' || Universal || || Short film |- |1933 || ''The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble'' || Universal || George Sidney / Charles Murray || Part of "The Cohens and Kellys" comedy series |- style=background:#efefef; |1933 || ''Room Mates'' || Universal || || Short film |- |1933 || ''Quiet Please!'' || RKO || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1933 || ''Flirting in the Park'' || RKO || June Brewster / Carol Tevis || Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series |- |1933 || ''What Fur'' || RKO || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1933 || ''Grin and Bear It'' || RKO || || Short film |- |1934 || ''Ocean Swells'' || RKO || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1934 || ''The Undie-World'' || RKO || June Brewster / Carol Tevis || Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series |- |1934 || ''Cracked Shots'' || RKO || || Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1934 || ''Hollywood Party'' || MGM || Hollywood Revue || In an attempt to salvage the film Harry Kapf hired Stevens, and 8 other directors, to direct a sequence for the film. |- |1934 || ''Bachelor Bait'' || RKO || Stuart Erwin / Rochelle Hudson || |- style=background:#efefef; |1934 || ''Kentucky Kernels'' || RKO || Robert Woolsey / Bert Wheeler / George McFarland || |- |1935 || ''Bridal Bail'' || RKO || June Brewster / Carol Tevis || Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series |- style=background:#efefef; |1935 || ''Hunger Pains'' || RKO || June Brewster / Carol Tevis || Part of "The Blonde and The Redhead" comedy series |- |1935 || ''Laddie'' || RKO || || |- style=background:#efefef; |1935 || ''The Nitwits'' || RKO || Robert Woolsey / Bert Wheeler / Betty Grable || |- |1935 || ''Alice Adams'' || RKO || Katharine Hepburn / Fred MacMurray || |- style=background:#efefef; |1935 || ''Annie Oakley'' || RKO || Barbara Stanwyck || |- |1936 || ''Swing Time'' || RKO || Fred Astaire / Ginger Rogers || |- style=background:#efefef; |1937 || ''Quality Street'' || RKO || Katharine Hepburn / Franchot Tone || |- |1937 || ''A Damsel in Distress'' || RKO || Fred Astaire / Joan Fontaine / George Burns / Gracie Allen || |- style=background:#efefef; |1938 || ''Vivacious Lady'' || RKO || Ginger Rogers / Jimmy Stewart || |- |1939 || ''Gunga Din'' || RKO || Cary Grant / Douglas Fairbanks Jr. / Victor McLaglen / Joan Fontaine || |- style=background:#efefef; |1940 || ''Vigil in the Night'' || RKO || Carole Lombard / Brian Aherne / Anne Shirley || |- |1941 || ''Penny Serenade'' || Columbia || Cary Grant / Irene Dunne || |- style=background:#efefef; |1942 || ''Woman of the Year'' || MGM || Spencer Tracy / Katharine Hepburn || |- |1942 || ''The Talk of the Town'' || Columbia || Cary Grant / Jean Arthur / Ronald Colman || |- style=background:#efefef; |1943 || ''The More the Merrier'' || Columbia || Jean Arthur / Charles Coburn / Joel McCrea || |- |1945 || ''That Justice Be Done'' || War Activities Committee || || Documentary / Short film |- style=background:#efefef; |1945 || ''Nazi Concentration Camps'' || || || Documentary |- |1945 || ''The Nazi Plan'' || U.S. Council for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality|| || Documentary |- style=background:#efefef; |1948 || ''On Our Merry Way'' || Miracle Productions || || Anthology story / Co-directed a sequence |- |1948 || ''I Remember Mama'' || RKO || Irene Dunne || |- style=background:#efefef; |1951 || ''A Place in the Sun'' || Paramount || Montgomery Clift / Elizabeth Taylor / Shelley Winters || |- |1952 || ''Something to Live For'' || MGM || Joan Fontaine / Ray Milland / || |- style=background:#efefef; |1953 || ''Shane'' || Paramount || Alan Ladd || Technicolor film |- |1956 || ''Giant'' || Warner Bros. || Elizabeth Taylor / Rock Hudson / James Dean || Warnercolor film |- style=background:#efefef; |1959 || ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' || 20th Century Fox || Millie Perkins / Joseph Schildkraut / Shelley Winters || |- |1965 || ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' || George Stevens Prod. || Max von Sydow || Ultra Panavision 70 Technicolor film |- style=background:#efefef; |1970 || ''The Only Game in Town'' || 20th Century Fox || Elizabeth Taylor / Warren Beatty || Color film |}

Academy Awards

Year	Award !! Film !! Result
			Sidney Franklin (director)
rowspan=2
rowspan=2		rowspan=2
rowspan=3		rowspan=2	[[Buddy Adler – ''From Here to Eternity''
	Fred Zinnemann – ''From Here to Eternity''
rowspan=2		rowspan=2
rowspan=2		rowspan=2	Sam Zimbalist – ''[[Ben-Hur (1959 film)

Directed Academy Award performances

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Performer ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result |- |colspan="4" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Actor |- | 1941 | Cary Grant | ''Penny Serenade'' | |- | 1951 | Montgomery Clift | ''A Place in the Sun'' | |- | 1956 | James Dean | ''Giant'' | |- | 1956 | Rock Hudson | ''Giant'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Actress |- | 1935 | Katharine Hepburn | ''Alice Adams'' | |- | 1942 | Katharine Hepburn | ''Woman of the Year'' | |- | 1943 | Jean Arthur | ''The More the Merrier'' | |- | 1948 | Irene Dunne | ''I Remember Mama'' | |- | 1951 | Shelley Winters | ''A Place in the Sun'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |- | 1943 | Charles Coburn | ''The More the Merrier'' | |- | 1948 | Oskar Homolka | ''I Remember Mama'' | |- | 1953 | Brandon De Wilde | ''Shane'' | |- | 1953 | Jack Palance | ''Shane'' | |- | 1959 | Ed Wynn | ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |- | 1948 | Barbara Bel Geddes | ''I Remember Mama'' | |- | 1948 | Ellen Corby | ''I Remember Mama'' | |- | 1956 | Mercedes McCambridge | ''Giant'' | |- | 1959 | Shelley Winters | ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' | |- |}

Academy Awards in George Stevens Films

! Year !! Film !! Academy Award Nominations !! Academy Award Wins
		2	0
		2	1
rowspan=2		1	0
	2	1
	''Vivacious Lady''	2	0
		1	0
	''Penny Serenade''	1	0
rowspan=2	''Woman of the Year''	2	1
	7	0
	''The More the Merrier''	6	1
	''I Remember Mama''	5	0
		9	6
		6	1
		10	1
		8	3
	''The Greatest Story Ever Told''	5	0

Notes

Bibliography

Cronin, Paul: ''George Stevens: Interviews''. Jackson, MI, University Press of Mississippi, 2004. ISBN 1-57806-639-5

Moss, Marilyn Ann: ''Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film''. Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. ISBN 0-299-20430-8

Petri, Bruce: ''A Theory of American Film: The Films and Techniques of George Stevens''. New York, Taylor & Francis, 1987. ISBN 0-82400-070-6

Richie, Donald: ''George Stevens: An American Romantic''. New York, Taylor & Francis, 1984 (reprint of 1970 original). ISBN 0-82405-773-2

External links

George Stevens: Movie Movie

Category:1904 births Category:1975 deaths Category:American film directors Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Presidents of the Directors Guild of America Category:Presidents of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Category:People from Oakland, California Category:Western (genre) film directors Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Stevens, George World War II Footage Category:American cinematographers Category:American screenwriters Category:American film producers

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