name	Neil Simon
birth name	Marvin Neil Simon
birth date	July 04, 1927
birth place	The Bronx, New York, U.S.
nationality	American
alma mater	New York University University of Denver
occupation	Playwright, writer, academic
spouse	Elaine Joyce (1999–present)Diane Lander (1990–1998)(1987–1988)Marsha Mason (1973–1981)Joan Baim (1953–1973)
children	Ellen, Nancy, Bryn (adopted)
period	1961–2010
genre	Comedy
notable works	''Brighton Beach Memoirs''''Biloxi Blues''
magnum opus	''Lost in Yonkers''''The Odd Couple''
awards	}}

Neil Simon (born July 4, 1927) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''Biloxi Blues'', and ''The Odd Couple''. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Lost In Yonkers.'' He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that were made into movies. He also has written the books for several musicals, including ''Sweet Charity''.

Early years[link]

Neil Simon was born on July 4, 1927 in The Bronx, New York City to Irving Simon, a garment salesman, and his wife Mamie. He was their second son and grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan during the Great Depression. His father often abandoned the family, causing financial and emotional difficulties. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School and graduated at the age of sixteen.

Early career[link]

He attended New York Universitybriefly from 1944 to 1945, where he was enlisted in the Army Air Force Reserve training program. He was assigned to Lowry Air Force Base during 1945 and attended the University of Denver from 1945 to 1946. He was a sports editor for the military magazine ''Rev-Meter''.

During 1946, he was discharged as a corporal. Two years later, he quit his job as a mailroom clerk in the Warner Brothers offices in Manhattan to write radio and television scripts with his brother Danny Simon, including tutelage by radio humourist Goodman Ace when Ace ran a short-lived writing workshop for CBS. They wrote for the radio series ''The Robert Q. Lewis Show'' and for the television series The Phil Silvers Show.

Their revues for Camp Tamiment in Pennsylvania during the early 1950s were noticed by Sid Caesar, who hired the duo for his popular television comedy series ''Your Show of Shows''. Simon later incorporated some of their experiences into his play ''Laughter on the 23rd Floor'' (1993). His work won him two Emmy Award nominations and the appreciation of Phil Silvers, who hired him to write for ''Sergeant Bilko'' during 1959. The first Broadway show Simon wrote was ''Catch a Star!'' (1955), collaborating on sketches with his brother, Danny.

Writing career[link]

During 1961, Simon's first Broadway play, ''Come Blow Your Horn'', began at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, where it played for 678 performances. Six weeks after its closing, his second production, the musical ''Little Me'' began to mixed reviews. Although it failed to attract a large audience, it earned Simon his first Tony Award nomination. Overall, he has garnered seventeen Tony nominations and won three. He also won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for ''Lost In Yonkers.''

During 1966 Simon had four shows playing in Broadway theaters at the same time: ''Sweet Charity'', ''The Star-Spangled Girl'', ''The Odd Couple'', and ''Barefoot in the Park''. His professional association with producer Emanuel Azenberg began with ''The Sunshine Boys'' during 1972 and continued with ''The Good Doctor'', ''God's Favorite'', ''Chapter Two'', ''They're Playing Our Song'', ''I Ought to Be in Pictures'', ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''Biloxi Blues'', ''Broadway Bound'', ''Jake's Women'', ''The Goodbye Girl'', and ''Laughter on the 23rd Floor'', among others.

Simon also has written screenplays for more than twenty films. These include adaptations of his own plays and also original work, including ''The Out-of-Towners'', ''Murder by Death'' and ''The Goodbye Girl''. He has received four Academy Award nominations for his screenplays.

Simon has been conferred with two ''honoris causa'' degrees; a Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University and a Doctor of Laws from Williams College. In 1983 Simon become the only living playwright to have a New York theatre named after him The legitimate Broadway theater the Neil Simon Theatre, formerly the Alvin Theatre, was named in his honor, and he is an honorary member of the Walnut Street Theatre's board of trustees.

Themes and genres[link]

Although primarily recognized for his comedies, Simon has experimented with other genres and themes. In the 1970s, he wrote several serious plays consisting of darker subject matter. Simon’s ''The Gingerbread Lady'' (1970), for example, explores self-destruction through the life of an alcoholic cabaret star. Typically, Simon validates traditional social norms in his comedies, but in ''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1971) Simon critiques American norms. Simon continued to experiment in the early seventies with ''The Good Doctor'' (1973), a collection of sketches based on Chekov’s stories, and ''God’s Favorite'' (1974), based on the Book of Job. In 1992, Simon attempted a surreal stream-of-consciousness play, ''Jake’s Women''. Simon’s popularity extends beyond his comedies to his autobiographical work. He wrote semi-autobiographical works, such as ''Chapter Two'' (1977), which concerns a widower’s second marriage. His most notable autobiographical works form the trilogy about his youth, which include ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' (1983), ''Biloxi Blues'' (1985), and ''Broadway Bound'' (1986). In addition to his more serious works, Simon has written the books for musicals such as ''Sweet Charity'' (1967), ''Promises, Promises'' (1968), ''They’re Playing Our Song'' (1978), and ''I Ought to Be in Pictures'' (1980). He also wrote a farcical play, ''The Female Odd Couple'' (1985), which is the feminine version of the original.

Personal life[link]

Simon has been married five times, to dancer Joan Baim (1953–1973), actress Marsha Mason (1973–1981), twice to Diane Lander (1987–1988 and 1990–1998), and currently actress Elaine Joyce. He is the father of Nancy and Ellen, from his first marriage, and Bryn, Lander's daughter from a previous relationship whom he adopted.

Awards[link]

1957 Emmy Award for Your Show of Shows

1959 Emmy Award for ''The Phil Silvers Show''

1965 Tony Award for Best Author - ''The Odd Couple''

1967 Evening Standard Award - ''Barefoot in the Park''

1968 Sam S. Shubert Award - ''Sweet Charity''

1969 Writers Guild of America Award ''The Odd Couple''

1970 Writers Guild of America Award ''The Last of the Red Hot Lovers''

1971 Writers Guild of America Award ''The Out-of-Towners''

1972 Writers Guild of America Award ''The Trouble With People''

1972 Cue Entertainer of the Year Award

1975 Special Tony Award for contribution to theatre

1975 Writers Guild of America Award ''The Goodbye Girl''

1978 Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Screenplay - ''The Goodbye Girl''

1979 Writers Guild of America Award Laurel Award

1981 Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University

1983 American Theatre Hall of Fame

1983 New York Drama Critics Circle Award - ''Brighton Beach Memoirs''

1983 Outer Critics Circle Award - ''Brighton Beach Memoirs''

1985 Tony Award for Best Play - ''Biloxi Blues''

1986 New York State Governor's Award

1989 American Comedy Awards Lifetime Achievement

1991 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play - ''Lost in Yonkers''

1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama - ''Lost in Yonkers''

1991 Tony Award for Best Play - ''Lost in Yonkers''

1995 Kennedy Center Honoree

1996 Helmerich Award, the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award is presented annually by the Tulsa Library Trust.

1996 William Inge Theatre Festival Distinguished Achievement in the American Theater

2006 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor

Work[link]

Plays[link]

''Come Blow Your Horn'' (1961)

''Little Me'' (1962)

''Barefoot in the Park'' (1963)

''The Odd Couple'' (1965)

''Sweet Charity'' (1966)

''The Star-Spangled Girl'' (1966)

''Plaza Suite'' (1968)

''Promises, Promises'' (1968)

''The Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' (1969)

''The Gingerbread Lady'' (1970)

''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1971)

''The Sunshine Boys'' (1972)

''The Good Doctor'' (1973)

''God's Favorite'' (1974)

''California Suite'' (1976)

''Chapter Two'' (1977)

''They're Playing Our Song'' (1979)

''I Ought to Be in Pictures'' (1980)

''Fools'' (1981)

''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' (1983)

''Biloxi Blues'' (1985)

''The Female Odd Couple'' (1986)

''Broadway Bound'' (1986)

''Rumors'' (1988)

''Lost in Yonkers'' (1991)

''Jake's Women'' (1992)

''The Goodbye Girl'' (1993)

''Laughter on the 23rd Floor'' (1993)

''London Suite'' (1995)

''Proposals'' (1997)

''The Dinner Party'' (2000)

''45 Seconds from Broadway'' (2001)

''Rose's Dilemma'' (2003)

''Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple'' (2004)

Selected Filmography[link]

''The Garry Moore Show'' (1950) (TV)

''Your Show of Shows'' (1950-1954) (TV)

''Caesar's Hour'' (1954-1957) (TV)

''Stanley'' (1956) (TV)

''The Phil Silvers Show'' (1958-1959) (TV)

''Kibbee Hates Twitch'' (1965) (TV)

''After the Fox'' (with Cesare Zavattini) (1966)

''Barefoot in the Park'' (1967)

''The Odd Couple'' (1968)

''Sweet Charity'' (1969)

''The Out-of-Towners'' (1970)

''Plaza Suite'' (1971)

''The Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' (1972)

''The Heartbreak Kid'' (1972)

''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1972)

''The Sunshine Boys'' (1975)

''Murder by Death'' (1976)

''The Goodbye Girl'' (1977)

''The Cheap Detective'' (1978)

''California Suite'' (1978)

''The Good Doctor'' (1978) (TV)

''Chapter Two'' (1979)

''Seems Like Old Times'' (1980)

''Only When I Laugh'' (1981)

''I Ought to Be in Pictures'' (1982)

''Max Dugan Returns'' (1983)

''The Lonely Guy'' (1984)

''The Slugger's Wife'' (1985)

''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' (1986)

''Plaza Suite'' (1987) (TV)

''Biloxi Blues'' (1988)

''The Marrying Man'' (1991)

''Lost in Yonkers'' (1993)

''The Sunshine Boys'' (1995) (TV)

''Jake's Women'' (1996) (TV)

''London Suite'' (1996) (TV)

''The Odd Couple II'' (1998)

''Laughter on the 23rd Floor'' (2001) (TV)

''The Goodbye Girl'' (2004) (TV)

Further reading[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

''The Concise Oxford Companion to Theatre''. Eds. Phyllis Hartnoll and Peter Found. Oxford University Press, 1996. Oxford Reference Online. Web. York University. 18 Oct. 2011. "Simon, (Marvin) Neil".

Koprince, Susan. ''Understanding Neil Simon''. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2002. 53-60. Print.

''The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance''. Ed. Dennis Kennedy. Oxford University Press, 2003. Oxford Reference Online. Web. York University. 18 Oct. 2011. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry;=t177.e3658 “Simon, Neil”.

External links[link]

Neil Simon Theatre Festival

PBS article, American Masters

Category:1927 births Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American screenwriters Category:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:Mark Twain Prize recipients Category:People from the Bronx Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Category:Tony Award winners Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish American dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from New York City

ar:نيل سيمون de:Neil Simon es:Neil Simon eu:Neil Simon fa:نیل سایمون fr:Neil Simon ko:닐 사이먼 it:Neil Simon he:ניל סיימון nl:Neil Simon ja:ニール・サイモン pl:Neil Simon pt:Neil Simon ro:Neil Simon ru:Саймон, Нил sr:Нил Сајмон fi:Neil Simon sv:Neil Simon tr:Neil Simon zh:尼爾·賽門

birth name	Charles Robert Redford, Jr.
birth date	August 18, 1936
birth place	Santa Monica, California, United States
occupation	Actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist
years active	1959–present
spouse	Lola van Wagenen(1958–1985; divorced)Sibylle Szaggars(2009–present)
children	Scott (deceased), Shauna, Jamie, Amy }}

Charles Robert Redford, Jr. (born August 18, 1936), better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing ''Ordinary People'', and one for Lifetime Achievement in 2002. In 2010 he was awarded French Knighthood in the ''Legion d'Honneur''. At the height of his fame in the 1970s and 1980s, he was often described as one of the world's most attractive men and remains one of the most popular movie stars. His popular films include ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969), ''Downhill Racer'' (1969), ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (1972), ''The Candidate'' (1972), ''The Sting'' (1973), ''The Way We Were'' (1973), ''The Great Gatsby'' (1974), ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975), ''The Great Waldo Pepper'' (1975), ''All the President's Men'' (1976), ''A Bridge Too Far'' (1977), ''The Natural'' (1984), ''Out of Africa'' (1985), ''Sneakers'' (1992), ''Indecent Proposal'' (1993),''The Last Castle'' and ''Spy Game'' (2001). As a filmmaker, his notable films include ''Ordinary People'' (1980), ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' (1988), ''A River Runs Through It'' (1992), ''Quiz Show'' (1994), ''The Horse Whisperer'' (1998) and ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' (2000).

Early life [link]

Redford's family moved to Van Nuys while his father worked in El Segundo. He attended Van Nuys High School, where he was classmates with baseball player Don Drysdale. He has described himself as having been a "bad" student, finding inspiration outside the classroom, and being interested in art and sports. He hit tennis balls with Pancho Gonzales at the Los Angeles Tennis Club to warm him up. After high school, he attended the University of Colorado for a year and a half, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. While there, he worked at the restaurant/bar The Sink; a painting of his likeness is prominent in the bar's murals. After being asked to leave the University of Colorado, he traveled in Europe, living in France, Spain, and Italy. He later studied painting at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and took classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Career [link]

Television [link]

Redford's career — like that of almost all major stars who emerged in the 1950s — began in New York, where an actor could find work both in television and on stage. Starting in 1959, he appeared as a guest star on numerous programs, including ''The Untouchables'', ''Whispering Smith'', ''Perry Mason'', ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'', ''Route 66'', ''Dr. Kildare'', ''Playhouse 90'', ''Tate'', and ''The Twilight Zone'', among others. He earned an Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''The Voice of Charlie Pont'' (ABC, 1962). One of his last television appearances was on October 7, 1963, on ''Breaking Point,'' an ABC medical drama about psychiatry.

Theater [link]

Redford's Broadway debut was in a small role in ''Tall Story'' (1959), followed by parts in ''The Highest Tree'' (1959) and ''Sunday in New York'' (1961). His biggest Broadway success was as the stuffy newlywed husband of Elizabeth Ashley in Neil Simon's ''Barefoot in the Park'' (1963).

Film [link]

While still largely an unknown, Redford made his screen debut in ''War Hunt'' (1962), co-starring with John Saxon in a film set during the last days of the Korean War. This film also marked the debuts of director Sydney Pollack, with whom Redford would often collaborate in the near future, and actor Tom Skerritt. After his Broadway success, he was cast in larger feature roles in movies. He was cast alongside screen legend Alec Guinness in the war comedy ''Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious'', in which he played a soldier who has to spend years of his life hiding behind enemy lines. In ''Inside Daisy Clover'' (1965), which won him a golden globe for best new star, he played a bisexual movie star who marries starlet Natalie Wood, and rejoined her along with Charles Bronson for Pollack's ''This Property Is Condemned'' (1966) — again as her lover, though this time in a film which achieved even greater success. The same year saw his first teaming with Jane Fonda, in Arthur Penn's ''The Chase''. This film marked the only time Redford would star with Marlon Brando. Fonda and Redford were paired again in the popular big screen version of ''Barefoot in the Park'' (1967) and were again co-stars much later in Pollack's ''The Electric Horseman'' (1979).

After this initial success, Redford became concerned about his blond male stereotype image and turned down roles in ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' and ''The Graduate''. Redford found the property he was looking for in George Roy Hill's ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969), scripted by William Goldman, in which he was paired for the first time with Paul Newman. The film was a huge success and made him a major bankable star, cementing his screen image as an intelligent, reliable, sometimes sardonic good guy.

Redford suffered through a few films that did not achieve box office success during this time, including ''Downhill Racer'' (1969); ''Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here'' (1969); ''Little Fauss and Big Halsy'' (1970), and ''The Hot Rock'' (1972). But his overall career was flourishing with the critical and box office hit ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (1972); the political satire ''The Candidate'' (1972); the hugely popular period drama ''The Way We Were'' (1973); and the biggest hit of his career; the blockbuster crime caper ''The Sting'' (1973), which became one of the top 20 highest grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation and for which he was also nominated for an Oscar.

Between 1974 and 1976, exhibitors voted Redford Hollywood's top box-office name. His hits included ''The Great Gatsby'' (1974), ''The Great Waldo Pepper'' (1975), and ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975). The popular and acclaimed ''All the President's Men'' (1976), directed by Alan J. Pakula and scripted once again by Goldman, was a landmark film for Redford. Not only was he the executive producer and co-star, but the film's serious subject matter — the Watergate scandal — and its attempt to create a realistic portrayal of journalism also reflected the actor's offscreen concerns for political causes.

He also starred in a segment of the war film ''A Bridge Too Far'' (1977), the prison drama ''Brubaker'' (1980), playing a prison warden attempting to reform the system, and the fantasy baseball drama ''The Natural'' (1984). Redford continued his involvement in mainstream Hollywood movies, though with a newfound focus on directing. The first film he directed, ''Ordinary People'', which followed the disintegration of an upper class American family after the death of a son, was one of the most critically and publicly acclaimed films of the decade, winning a number of Oscars, including the Academy Award for best director for Redford himself. His followup directorial project, ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' (1987), failed to generate the same level of attention. Sydney Pollack's ''Out of Africa'' (1985), with Redford in the male lead role opposite Meryl Streep, became an enormous critical and box office success and won seven Oscars including Best Picture, proving to be Redford's biggest success of the decade and Redford and Pollack's most successful of their six movies together. His next film, ''Legal Eagles'' (1986), was only a minor success at the box office.

Redford continued as a major star throughout the 1990s and 2000s. He released his third film as a director, ''A River Runs Through It'', in 1992, which was a return to mainstream success for Redford as a director and brought a young Brad Pitt to greater prominence. 1993 brought Redford one of his most popular and recognised roles when he starred as a millionaire businessman who tests people's morals through bribery in ''Indecent Proposal'', which became one of the year's biggest hits. He co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in the newsroom romance ''Up Close & Personal'' (1996), and with Kristin Scott Thomas in ''The Horse Whisperer'' (1998), which he also directed. Redford also continued work in films with political context, such as ''Havana'' (1990), playing Jack Weil, a professional gambler in 1959 Cuba during the Revolution, as well as ''Sneakers'' (1992), in which he co starred with the late River Phoenix among others.

He appeared as a disgraced Army general sent to prison in the political thriller ''The Last Castle'' (2001), directed by Rod Lurie, someone else with a strong interest in politics. In the same year, Redford reteamed with Brad Pitt for ''Spy Game'', another success for the pair but with Redford switching this time from director to actor. Redford, a leading environmental activist, narrated the IMAX documentary ''Sacred Planet'' (2004), a sweeping journey across the globe to some of its most exotic and endangered places. In ''The Clearing'' (2004), a thriller co-starring Helen Mirren, Redford was a successful businessman whose kidnapping unearths the secrets and inadequacies that led to his achieving the American Dream.

Redford stepped back into producing with ''The Motorcycle Diaries'' (2004), a coming-of-age road film about a young medical student, Ernesto "Che" Guevera, and his friend Alberto Granado. It also explored political and social issues of South America that influenced Guevara and shaped his future. With five years spent in the film's making, Redford was credited by director Walter Salles for being instrumental in getting it made and released.

Back in front of the camera, Redford received good notices for his role in director Lasse Hallstrom's ''An Unfinished Life'' (2005) as a cantankerous rancher who is forced to take in his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez) — whom he blames for his son's death — and the granddaughter he never knew he had when they fled an abusive relationship. The film, which sat on the shelf for many months while its distributor Miramax was restructured, was generally dismissed as clichéd and overly sentimental. Meanwhile, Redford returned to familiar territory when he reteamed with Meryl Streep 22 years after they starred in Out of Africa, for his personal project ''Lions for Lambs'' (2007), which also starred fellow superstar Tom Cruise. After a great deal of hype, the film opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box office. Redford more recently signed on to direct and star in an update of ''The Candidate''.

Redford appears in the 2011 documentary ''Buck'', where he discusses his experiences with title subject Buck Brannaman during the production of ''The Horse Whisperer'' in 1998.

Director [link]

Redford had long harbored ambitions to work on both sides of the camera. As early as 1969, Redford had served as the executive producer for ''Downhill Racer''. His first outing as director was in 1980's ''Ordinary People'', a drama about the slow disintegration of an upper-middle class family, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director. Redford was credited with obtaining a powerful dramatic performance from Mary Tyler Moore, as well as superb work from Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton, who also won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Redford did not direct again until ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' (1988), a well-crafted, though not commercially successful, screen version of John Nichols' acclaimed novel of the Southwest. ''The Milagro Beanfield War'' is the story of the people of Milagro, New Mexico (based on the real town of Truchas in northern New Mexico), overcoming big developers who set about to ruin their community and force them out because of tax increases. Other directorial projects have included the period drama ''A River Runs Through It'' (1992), based on Norman Maclean's novella, and the exposé ''Quiz Show'' (1994), about the quiz show scandal of the late 1950s. In the latter film, Redford worked from a screenplay by Paul Attanasio with noted cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and a strong cast that featured Paul Scofield, John Turturro, Rob Morrow, and Ralph Fiennes. Redford handpicked Morrow for his part in the film (Morrow's only high-profile feature film role to date), because he liked his work on ''Northern Exposure''. Redford also directed Matt Damon and Will Smith in ''The Legend of Bagger Vance'' (2000). In 2010, Redford released ''The Conspirator'', a period drama revolving around the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Despite a subject matter of personal interest to Redford, the film received mixed reviews and proved to be a flop at the box office.

Honors [link]

Redford attended the University of Colorado in the 1950s and received an Honorary Degree in 1983.

In 1995, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Bard College. He was a 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award/Honorary Oscar recipient at the 74th Academy Awards.

In 1996, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

In December 2005, he received the Kennedy Center Honors for his contributions to American culture. The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts: whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television.

In 2008 he was awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the arts, given annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."

The University of Southern California (USC) School of Theater announced the first annual ''Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists'' in 2009. According to the school's web site, the award was created "to honor those who have distinguished themselves not only in the exemplary quality, skill and innovation of their work, but also in their public commitment to social responsibility, to increasing awareness of global issues and events, and to inspiring and empowering young people."

Robert Redford received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Brown University at the 240th Commencement exercises on May 25, 2008. He also spoke during the ceremonies.

On 14 October 2010, he was appointed ''Chevalier'' of the Légion d'honneur.

Sundance [link]

With the financial proceeds of his acting success, starting with his salaries from ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and ''Downhill Racer'', Redford bought an entire ski area on the east side of Mount Timpanogos northeast of Provo, Utah, called "Timp Haven", which was renamed "Sundance". Redford's wife Lola was from Utah and they had built a home in the area in 1963. Portions of the movie ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (1972), a film which is both one of Redford's favorites and one that has heavily influenced him, were shot near the ski area. He founded the Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Sundance Cinemas, Sundance Catalog, and the Sundance Channel, all in and around Park City, Utah, 30 miles (48 km) north of the Sundance ski area. The Sundance Film Festival caters to independent filmmakers in the United States and has received recognition from the industry as a place to open films. In 2008, Sundance exhibited 125 feature-length films from 34 countries, with more than 50,000 attendees. The name Sundance comes from his ''Sundance Kid'' character. In addition, Redford owns a celebrated restaurant called Zoom, located on Main Street in the former mining town of Park City.

Independent films [link]

Since founding the nonprofit Sundance Institute in Park City, in 1981, Redford has been deeply involved with independent film. Through its various workshop programs and popular film festival, Sundance has provided much-needed support for independent filmmakers. In 1995, Redford signed a deal with Showtime to start a 24-hour cable television channel devoted to airing independent films — the Sundance Channel premiered on February 29, 1996.

Personal life [link]

On August 9, 1958, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Redford married Lola Van Wagenen, who dropped out of college to marry him. They had four children: Scott Anthony, David James "Jamie", Shauna, and Amy Redford.

Son Jamie Redford is a writer/producer.

Scott — their first child — was born September 1, 1959, and died of sudden infant death syndrome on November 17, 1959, at age 2½ months. His remains have been buried at Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah. Lola and Redford divorced in 1985. He has five grandchildren: Dylan and Lena Redford (of son Jamie), Mica and Conor Schlosser (of daughter Shauna) and Eden August (of daughter Amy).

In July 2009, Redford married his longtime partner, Sibylle Szaggars, at the luxurious Louis C. Jacob Hotel in Hamburg, Germany. She had moved in with Redford in the 1990s and shares his Sundance, Utah, home. In May 2011 Alfred A Knopf published ''Robert Redford: The Biography'' by Michael Feeney Callan, written over fifteen years with Redford's input, and drawn from his personal papers and diaries.

Political activity [link]

Redford is politically liberal, and has supported environmentalism, Native American rights, and the arts. He has been noted as "an admirer of Edward Abbey, the late great anarchist voice of the desert Southwest." Most of his federal political contributions have been to Democrats (61%) or advocacy groups (34.6%), such as the Political Action Committee of the Directors Guild of America. Redford has on occasion also supported Republicans, including Brent Cornell Morris in his unsuccessful 1990 race for Utah's 3rd congressional district seat. Redford also supported Gary R. Herbert, another Republican and a friend, in Herbert's successful campaign to be elected Utah's Lieutenant Governor (he is currently the Governor of Utah). Redford is an avid environmentalist and is a trustee of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Redford has been a vocal critic of Barack Obama for his lack of follow-through on environmental policies. He wrote, "One reason I supported President Obama is because he said we must protect clean air, water and lands. But what good is it to say the right thing unless you act on it?"

Filmography [link]

Actor [link]

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1960	''Tall Story''	Basketball Player
1962		Death	1 episode: "Nothing in the Dark"
1962	''War Hunt''	Private Roy Loomis
1967	''Clambake''	Azu
1965	''Inside Daisy Clover''	Wade Lewis
1965	''Situation Hopeless ... But Not Serious''	Captain Hank Wilson
1966	''This Property Is Condemned''	Owen Legate
1966		Charlie 'Bubber' Reeves
1967		Paul Bratter
1969	''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''		BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Rolealso for ''Downhill Racer'' and ''Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here''
1969	''Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here''	Deputy Sheriff Christopher 'Coop' Cooper	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Rolealso for ''Downhill Racer'' and ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''
1969	''Downhill Racer''	David Chappellet	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Rolealso for ''Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here'' and ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''
1970	''Little Fauss and Big Halsy''	Halsy Knox
1972		Jeremiah Johnson
1972		Bill McKay
1972		John Archibald Dortmunder
1973	''The Sting''	Johnny Hooker	Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1973	''The Way We Were''	Hubbell Gardiner
1974		Jay Gatsby
1975	''Three Days of the Condor''	Joseph Turner/The Condor
1975	''The Great Waldo Pepper''	Waldo Pepper
1976		Bob Woodward
1977		Major Julian Cook
1979	''The Electric Horseman''	Norman 'Sonny' Steele
1980	''Brubaker''	Henry Brubaker
1984		Roy Hobbs
1985		Denys Finch Hatton
1986	''Legal Eagles''	Tom Logan
1990		Jack Weil
1992		Narrator	Voice onlyUncreditedAlso Producer/Director
1992		Martin "Marty" Bishop
1992	''Incident at Oglala''	Narrator
1993	''Indecent Proposal''	John Gage
1993	''La Classe américaine''	Steven
1996	''Up Close & Personal''	Warren Justice
1998		Tom Booker	Also Producer/Director
2001	''Spy Game''	Nathan D. Muir
2001	''The Last Castle''	Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin
2004	''The Clearing''	Wayne Hayes
2004	''Sacred Planet''	Narrator
2005	''An Unfinished Life''	Einar Gilkyson
2006		Ike the Horse	Voice only
2007	''Lions for Lambs''	Dr. Stephen Malley	Also Producer/Director
2012		Jim Grant/Jason Sinai	Also Producer/Director

Director [link]

! Year	! Title	Notes
1980	''Ordinary People''	Academy Award for Best DirectorDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature FilmGolden Globe Award for Best Director
1988	''The Milagro Beanfield War''	Nominated — Political Film Society
1992		Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1994	''Quiz Show''	Nominated — Academy Award for Best DirectorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best FilmNominated — Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature FilmNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1998		Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Director
2000	''The Legend of Bagger Vance''
2007	''Lions for Lambs''
2010	''The Conspirator''
2012

References [link]

External links [link]

Movie, Museum Exhibits Shine New Light on US Civil War is an April 2011 radio and internet report on the Robert Redford movie "The Conspirator." The report aired on Voice of America and was written by VOA's Special English branch.

Redford interviewed about his life, independent film making and political activism. January 2010, 45 minute video and audio interview with transcript.

Dublin">Cinema Retro covers Robert Redford at Trinity College in Dublin

Sundance Resort

The Sundance Institute

Robert Redford slideshow at AMCtv.com

Redford Teams up to Train Minority Filmmakers ''NY Daily News'', May 15, 2009

Robert Redford: Through the Years — slideshow by ''Life magazine''

Category:1936 births Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Actors from California Category:American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni Category:American environmentalists Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film producers Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:American people of Scotch-Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American philanthropists Category:American stage actors Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Category:Film festival founders Category:Kappa Sigma Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Living people Category:People from Santa Monica, California Category:Pratt Institute alumni Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:University of Colorado at Boulder alumni Category:Van Nuys High School alumni Category:Western (genre) film actors

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name	Mike Nichols
birth name	Michael Igor Peschkowsky
birth date	November 06, 1931
birth place	Berlin, Germany
occupation	Film director, theatrical director, comedian
years active	1963–present
spouse	Patricia Scott(m. 1957–1960)Margo Callas(m. 1963–1974)Annabel Davis-Goff(1975–1986)Diane Sawyer(m. 1988–present) }}

Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931) is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film ''The Graduate''. His other noteworthy films include ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', ''Carnal Knowledge'', ''Working Girl'', ''Closer'' and the TV mini-series ''Angels in America''. He also staged the original theatrical productions of ''Barefoot in the Park'', ''Luv'', ''The Odd Couple'' and ''Spamalot''.

Nichols is one of a small group of people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award. His other honors include the Lincoln Center Gala Tribute in 1999, the National Medal of Arts in 2001, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2003 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2010.

Early life and education[link]

Mike Nichols was born Michael Igor Peschkowsky in Berlin, Germany, the son of Brigitte (née Landauer) and Paul Peschkowsky, a physician. His father was born in Vienna, Austria, to a Russian Jewish immigrant family that had been wealthy and lived in Siberia, leaving after the Russian Revolution and settling in Germany around 1920. His mother's family were German Jews. His maternal grandparents were anarchist Gustav Landauer and author Hedwig Lachmann. Nichols is a third cousin twice removed of scientist Albert Einstein, through Nichols' mother. He moved to the United States to flee the Nazis on April 28, 1939. His father, who had changed his name to Paul Nichols, had successfully set up a medical practice in Manhattan and the family lived near Central Park. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1944 and attended public elementary school in Manhattan (PS 87). After graduating from Walden High School, Nichols briefly attended New York University before dropping out. In 1950, he enrolled in the pre-med program at the University of Chicago.

While attending the University of Chicago in the 1950s, Nichols began skipping class to attend theatrical activities. Nichols first met Elaine May at this time when she criticized his acting in a performance of August Strindberg's ''Miss Julie''. At the University, Nichols made his theatrical debut as a director with a performance of William Butler Yeats' ''Purgatory''.

In 1954, Nichols dropped out of the University of Chicago and moved back to New York City, where he was accepted into the Actor's Studio and studied under Lee Strasberg.

Nichols and May[link]

In 1955 Nichols was invited to join the Compass Players, which was predecessor to Chicago's Second City and whose members included Elaine May, Shelley Berman, Paul Sills, Del Close, and Nancy Ponder.

Nichols moved back to Chicago to perform comedy with Compass and starting doing improvisational routines with Elaine May, which led to the formation of the comedy duo Nichols and May in 1958. They gradually gained popularity, appearing in nightclubs, and on radio. They released three best-selling records, made guest appearances on several television programs and won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 1960 Nichols and May opened the Broadway show ''An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May'', directed by Arthur Penn. In the show they were accompanied by Chicago pianist Marty Rubenstein, host of the television show ''Marty's Place'' and the musical director at Mister Kelly's. . Personal idiosyncrasies and tensions eventually drove the duo apart to pursue other projects in 1961. They later reconciled and worked together many times, such as the unsuccessful ''A Matter of Position'', a play written by May and starring Nichols. May scripted Nichols films ''The Birdcage'' and ''Primary Colors''. They appeared together at President Jimmy Carter's inaugural gala and in a 1980 New Haven stage revival of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' with Swoosie Kurtz and James Naughton.

Career as a director[link]

1960s[link]

After the professional split with May, Nichols went to Vancouver, B.C. to pursue his theatrical directing career. He directed a production of ''The Importance of Being Ernest'' and acted in a production of George Bernard Shaw's ''St. Joan''.

In 1963, Nichols was chosen to direct Neil Simon's ''Barefoot In The Park''. He realized almost at once that directing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. ''Barefoot in the Park'' was a blockbuster hit, running for 1530 performances and earning Nichols a Tony Award for his direction. This began a series of highly successful plays on Broadway (often from works by Simon) that would establish his reputation. After an off-Broadway production of Ann Jellicoe's ''The Knack'', Nichols directed Murray Schisgal's play ''Luv'' in 1964. Again the show was a hit and Nichols won a Tony Award (shared with ''The Odd Couple''). In 1965 he directed another play by Neil Simon, ''The Odd Couple''. The original production starred Art Carney as Fexlin Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. The play ran for 966 performances and won Tony Awards for Nichols, Simon and Matthau. Overall, Nichols has won eight Tony Awards: six for Best Director of either a play or a musical, one for Best Play and one for Best Musical.

By 1966, Nichols was a star director and Time Magazine called him a superstar and "the most in-demand director in the American theatre." With no experience in filmmaking, Warner Brothers invited Nichols to direct a screen adaptation of Edward Albee's ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' The film was a huge success, grossing $14.5 million, winning five Academy Awards with thirteen nominations (including Nichols first nomination for Best Director), three BAFTA Awards, and was critically acclaimed, with critics calling Nichols "the new Orson Welles."

After his successful directorial debut, Nichols returned to Broadway to direct ''The Apple Tree'' before starting production on his second film,''The Graduate''. On its initial release ''The Graduate'' grossed $50 million, making it both the highest grossing film of 1967 and one of the highest grossing films in history up to that date. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Mike Nichols won the Academy Award for Best Director.

Nichols then returned to the Broadway stage with a revival of Lillian Hellman's ''The Little Foxes'' in 1967, which ran for 100 performances. He then directed Neil Simon's ''Plaza Suite'' in 1968, earning him another Tony Award for Best Director. He also directed the short film ''Teach Me!'' in 1968, which starred actress Sandy Dennis

1970s[link]

At the height of his success and fame, Mike Nichols next film was a big-budget adaptation of Joseph Heller's famous novel ''Catch-22'', released in 1970. Nichols then directed the controversial film ''Carnal Knowledge'' in 1971. The film grossed $12.3 million but was highly controversial upon release because of the casual and blunt depiction of sexual intercourse.

Nichols then returned to Broadway to direct Neil Simon's ''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' in 1971. The play won Nichols another Tony Award for Best Director. In 1973 Nichols directed a revival of Anton Chekhov's ''Uncle Vanya'' on Broadway starring George C. Scott and with a new translation written by himself and Albert Todd.

In 1973 Nichols directed ''The Day of the Dolphin'', based on the novel ''A Sentient Animal'') by Robert Merle and adapted by Buck Henry. The film was not successful financially and received mixed reviews from critics.

In 1975 Nichols directed ''The Fortune''. The film was a financial failure and received mostly negative reviews. Nichols has described it as "a leap into extremes of behavior and last resorts. It's about people so innocent that they don't know when you kill someone she dies. It's like kids playing bang-bang." It was Nichols last feature narrative film for eight years.

Nichols then returned to the stage with two moderately successful production in 1976. David Rabe's ''Streamers'' opened in April and ran for 478 performances. Trevor Griffiths's ''Comedians'' ran for 145 performances.

Also in 1976 Nichols worked as Executive Producer to create the television sitcom ''Family'' for ABC. The series ran until 1980.

In 1977 Nichols produced the original Broadway production of the hugely successful musical ''Annie'', it ran for 2,377 performances in 1983. Nichols won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Later in 1977, Nichols directed D.L. Coburn's ''The Gin Game''. The play ran for 517 performances and won a Tony Award for Best Actress for Jessica Tandy.

1980s[link]

In 1980 Nichols directed the documentary ''Gilda Live'', a filmed performance of comedian Gilda Radner's one-woman show ''Gilda Radner Live on Broadway''. It was released at the same time as the album of the show, both of which were successful.

Nichols then returned to the Broadway stage with two unsuccessful shows. ''Billy Bishop Goes to War'' opened in 1980 and closed after only twelve performances. In 1981 Nichols directed Neil Simon's ''Fools'', which closed after forty performances.

Nichols career seemed to rebound in 1983 with the film ''Silkwood'', based on the life of whistleblower Karen Silkwood. The film was a financial and critical success, earning $35 million at the box office. Film critic Vincent Canby called it "the most serious work Mike Nichols has yet done." The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Nichols.

Later that year Nichols and Peter Stone helped to fix up and rewrite the musical My One and Only just days before its Boston premiere. The show eventually went to Broadway and ran for 767 performances, winning Tony Awards for Best Actor, Best Choreography (both for Tommy Tune) and best Supporting Actor (Charles "Honi" Coles).

In 1984 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Tom Stoppard's ''The Real Thing''. ''The New York Times'' critic Frank Rich wrote that "The Broadway version of ''The Real Thing'' - a substantial revision of the original London production - is not only Mr. Stoppard's most moving play, but also the most bracing play that anyone has written about love and marriage in years." The play was nominated for seven Tony Awards and won five, including a Best Director Tony for Nichols.

Nichols quickly followed this success with the Broadway premiere of David Rabe's ''Hurlyburly'', also in 1984. It was performed just two block away from the theater showing ''The Real Thing''. It was nominated for three Tony Awards and won Best Actress for Judith Ivey.

In 1983 Nichols had seen comedian Whoopi Goldberg's one woman show ''The Spook Show'' and decided to help Goldberg expand it. Goldberg's self titled Broadway show opened in October 1984 and ran for 156 performances. It also led to Goldberg's film career.

In 1986 Nichols directed the Broadway premiere of Andrew Bergman's ''Social Security''. The show ran for 188 performances. That same year Nichols made the film ''Heartburn''. The film earned $25 million at the box office and got mixed reviews.

In 1988 Nichols completed two feature films. The first was an adaptation of Neil Simon's autobiographical stage play ''Biloxi Blues''. The film received mixed critical reviews, but earned over $51 million worldwide.

Later in 1988 Nichols directed one of his most successful films, ''Working Girl''. ''Working Girl'' was a huge hit upon its release, earning $103 million worldwide. It also received mostly positive reviews from critics with an 84% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and a 73 metascore at Metacritic. It was nominated for six Academy Awards (including Best Director for Nichols) and won the Academy Award for Best Song for Carly Simon's "Let the River Run".

1990s[link]

Nichols' other films include ''Wolf'', ''Regarding Henry'', ''Postcards from the Edge'', and ''Primary Colors''. He also directed ''The Birdcage'', a remake of the French film ''La Cage aux Folles''. Both ''The Birdcage'' and ''Primary Colors'' were written by Nichols's stand-up partner May.

2000s[link]

In the 2000s Nichols directed the theatrical films ''What Planet Are You From?'', ''Closer'' and ''Charlie Wilson's War''. He directed ''Wit'' and ''Angels in America'' for television.

He's also won Emmy Awards for his direction of ''Wit'' (2001) and ''Angels in America'' (2003).

Nichols is a contributing blogger at ''The Huffington Post''. He's also a co-founder of The New Actors Workshop in New York City, where he occasionally teaches.

Personal life[link]

Nichols has been married four times. His first wife was Patricia Scott; they were married from 1957 to 1960. He was married to Margo Callas from 1963 to 1974, producing a daughter, Daisy Nichols. His third marriage, to Annabel Davis-Goff, produced two children, Max Nichols and Jenny Nichols. They were divorced in 1986. He married ''ABC World News'' anchor Diane Sawyer, on April 29, 1988.

According to research done by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., of Harvard University, in 2010 for the PBS series ''Faces of America'', Nichols' grandfather was a leading theorist on anarchism in the early 20th century and Nichols is related to Albert Einstein who was a cousin on his mother’s side.

Among Nichols' personal pursuits is a lifelong interest in Arabian horses. From 1968-2004, he owned a farm in Connecticut and was a noted horse breeder. Over the years, he also imported quality Arabian horses from Poland, some of which later resold for record-setting prices.

Work[link]

Broadway stage productions[link]

''Barefoot in the Park'' (1963)

''Luv'' (1964)

''The Odd Couple'' (1965)

''The Apple Tree'' (1966)

''The Little Foxes'' (1967)

''Plaza Suite'' (1968)

''The Prisoner of Second Avenue'' (1971)

''Uncle Vanya'' (1973)

''Streamers'' (1976)

''Comedians'' (1976)

''Annie'' (1977)

''Billy Bishop Goes to War'' (1980)

''Fools'' (1981)

''The Real Thing'' (1984)

''Hurlyburly'' (1984)

''Whoopi Goldberg'' (1984)

''Social Security'' (1986)

''Death and the Maiden'' (1992)

''The Seagull'' (2001)

''Spamalot'' (2005)

''The Country Girl'' (2008)

''Death of a Salesman'' (2012)

Filmography[link]

''The Graduate'' ''Teach Me!'' ''Catch-22 (film) ''Carnal Knowledge'' ''The Day of the Dolphin'' ''The Fortune'' ''Gilda Live'' ''Silkwood'' ''Heartburn (film) ''Biloxi Blues (film) ''Postcards from the Edge (film) ''Regarding Henry'' ''Wolf (film) ''The Birdcage'' ''Primary Colors (film) ''What Planet Are You From?'' ''Wit (film) ''Angels in America (TV miniseries) ''Closer (film) ''Charlie Wilson's War''

Year	nominations !! Oscarwins
1966	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)>Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''	13
1967	|	7	1
1968	|
1970	Catch-22'' ||
1971	|	1
1973	|	2
1975	|
1980	|
1983	|	5
1986	Heartburn'' ||
rowspan="2">1988	Biloxi Blues'' ||
''Working Girl''	6
1990	Postcards from the Edge'' ||	2
1991	|
1994	Wolf'' ||
1996	|	1
1998	Primary Colors'' ||	2
2000	|
2001	Wit'' ||
2003	Angels in America'' ||
2004	Closer'' ||	2
2007	|	1

Discography[link]

Nichols and May- ''Improvisations to Music'' (1959) Mercury

Nichols and May- ''An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May'' (1960) Mercury

Nichols and May- ''Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors'' (1962) Mercury MG 20680/SR 60680

Nichols and May- ''In Retrospect'' (1982) Polygram, re-released as compact disc in 1996

Awards and honors[link]

;Awards

1961 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album

1964 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play – ''Barefoot in the Park''

1965 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''Luv'' and ''The Odd Couple''

1968 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''Plaza Suite''

1968 BAFTA Award for Best Director – ''The Graduate''

1968 Academy Award for Best Director – ''The Graduate''

1968 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – ''The Graduate''

1972 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''The Prisoner of Second Avenue''

1977 Tony Award for Best Musical – ''Annie''

1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''Comedians''

1977 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Musical – ''Annie''

1984 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''The Real Thing''

1984 Tony Award for Best Play – ''The Real Thing''

1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – ''The Real Thing''

1999 Film Society of Lincoln Center Gala tribute

2001 Emmy Award for Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special – ''Wit''

2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Made for Television Movie – ''Wit''

2003 Kennedy Center Honors

2004 Emmy Award for Direction - Miniseries/Movie – ''Angels in America''

2004 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries – ''Angels in America''

2005 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – ''Spamalot''

2010 American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award

;Nominations

1967 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical – ''The Apple Tree''

1967 Academy Award for Best Director – ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''

1967 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''

1974 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''Uncle Vanya''

1976 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''Streamers''

1977 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series – ''Family''

1977 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''Comedians''

1978 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play – ''The Gin Game''

1978 Tony Award for Best Play – ''The Gin Game''

1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''The Gin Game''

1978 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – ''The Gin Game''

1982 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play – ''Grown Ups''

1984 Academy Award for Best Director – ''Silkwood''

1984 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – ''Silkwood"

1984 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play – ''The Real Thing''

1985 Tony Award for Best Play – ''Hurlyburly''

1989 Academy Award for Best Director – ''Working Girl''"

1989 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – ''Working Girl''

1994 Academy Award for Best Picture – ''The Remains of the Day''

2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Miniseries/Movie – ''Wit''

2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event – ''The Play What I Wrote''

2003 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience – ''The Play What I Wrote''

2005 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event – ''Whoopi''

2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Director – ''Closer''"

2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical – ''Spamalot''

References[link]

;Notes

;Further reading

Schuth, H. Wayne. ''Mike Nichols'', Twayne Publishers, 1978. ISBN 0-8057-9255-4.

External links[link]

Category:1931 births Category:Living people Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American theatre directors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:Drama Desk Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:German Jews who emigrated to the United States to escape Nazism Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Second City alumni Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Jewish comedians Category:Jewish American writers

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name	Neal Hefti
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	Neal Hefti
birth date	October 29, 1922
death date	October 11, 2008
origin	Hastings, Nebraska, U.S.
instrument	Trumpet
genre	SwingTelevision musicBig band music
occupation	Trumpeter, Composer, Arranger
associated acts	Charlie Barnet, Count Basie
notable instruments	}}

Neal Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, tune writer, and arranger. He was perhaps best known for composing the theme music for the ''Batman'' television series of the 1960s, and for scoring the 1968 film ''The Odd Couple'' and the subsequent TV series of the same name.

He began arranging professionally in his teens, when he wrote charts for Nat Towles. He became a prominent composer and arranger while playing trumpet for Woody Herman; while working for Herman he provided new arrangements for "Woodchopper's Ball" and "Blowin' Up a Storm," and composed "The Good Earth" and "Wild Root." After leaving Herman's band in 1946, Hefti concentrated on arranging and composing, although he occasionally led his own bands. He is especially known for his charts for Count Basie such as "Li'l Darlin'" and "Cute".

Beginnings[link]

Neal Paul Hefti was born October 29, 1922 to an impoverished family in Hastings, Nebraska. As a young child, he remembers his family relying on charity during the holidays. He started playing the trumpet in school at the age of eleven, and by high school was spending his summer vacations playing in local territory bands to help his family make ends meet.

Growing up in and near a big city like Omaha, Hefti was exposed to some of the great bands and trumpeters of the Southwest territory bands, and he was also able to see some of the virtuoso jazz musicians from New York that came through Omaha on tour. His early influences all came from the North Omaha scene. He said,

We'd see Basie in town, and I was impressed by Harry Edison and Buck Clayton, being a trumpet player. And I would say I was impressed by Dizzy Gillespie when he was with Cab Calloway. I was impressed by those three trumpet players of the people I saw in person... I thought Harry Edison and Dizzy Gillespie were the most unique of the trumpet players I heard.

These experiences seeing Gillespie and Basie play in Omaha foreshadowed his period in New York watching Gillespie play and develop the music of bebop on 52nd Street and his later involvement with Count Basie's band.

In 1939, while still a junior at North High in Omaha, he got his start in the music industry by writing arrangements of vocal ballads for local Mickey Mouse bands, like the Nat Towles band. Harold Johnson recalled that Hefti's first scores for that band were "Swingin' On Lennox Avenue" and "More Than You Know," as well as a very popular arrangement of "Anchors Aweigh". Some material that he penned in high school was also used by the Earl Hines band.

Two days before his high school graduation ceremony in 1941, he got an offer to go on tour with the Dick Barry band, and traveled with them to New Jersey. He was quickly fired from the band after two gigs because he couldn't sight-read music well enough. Stranded in New Jersey because he didn't have enough money to get home to Nebraska, he finally joined Bob Astor's band. Shelly Manne, drummer with Bob Astor at the time, tells that, even then, Hefti's writing skills were quite impressive:

We roomed together. And at night we didn't have nothing to do, and we were up at this place — Budd Lake. He said, "What are we going to do tonight?" I said, "Why don't you write a chart for tomorrow?" Neal was so great that he'd just take out the music paper, no score, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trumpet part, [hums] — trombone part, [hums], and you'd play it the next day. It was the end. Cooking charts. I never forget, I couldn't believe it. I kept watching him. It was fantastic.

Hefti wouldn't focus on arranging seriously for a few more years. As a member of Astor's band, he concentrated on playing trumpet.

After an injury forced him to leave Bob Astor, he stayed a while in New York, playing with Bobby Byrne in late 1942, and then with Charlie Barnet for whom he wrote the classic arrangement of ''Skyliner''. During this time in New York, he hung around the clubs on 52nd Street, listening to bebop trumpet master Dizzy Gillespie and other musicians, and immersing himself in the new music. Since he didn't have the money to actually go into the clubs, he would sneak into the kitchen and hang out with the bands, and he got to know many of the great beboppers.

He finally left New York for a while to play with the Les Lieber rhumba band in Cuba. When he returned from Cuba in 1943, he joined the Charlie Spivak band, which led him out to California for the first time, to make a band picture. Hefti fell in love with California. After making the picture in Los Angeles, he dropped out of the Spivak band to stay in California.

First Herd[link]

After playing with Horace Heidt in Los Angeles for a few months in 1944, Hefti met up with Woody Herman who was out in California making a band picture. Hefti then joined Herman's progressive First Herd band as a trumpeter. The Herman band was a different from any band that he had played with before. He referred to it as his first experience with a real jazz band. He said:

I would say that I got into jazz when I got into Woody Herman's band because that band was sorta jazz-oriented. They had records. It was the first band I ever joined where the musicians carried records on the road... Duke Ellington records... Woody Herman discs [and] Charlie Barnet V-Discs... That's the first time I sort of got into jazz. The first time I sort of felt that I was anything remotely connected with jazz.

Even though he had been playing with swing bands and other popular music bands for five years, this was the first time he had been immersed in the music of Duke Ellington, and this was the first music that really felt like jazz to him.

First Herd was one of the first big bands to really embrace bebop. They incorporated the use of many bebop ideas in their music. As part of the ensemble, Hefti was instrumental in this development, drawing from his experiences in New York and his respect for Gillespie, who had his own bebop big band. Chubby Jackson, First Herd's bassist, said

Neal started to write some of his ensembles with some of the figures that come from that early bebop thing. We were really one of the first bands outside of Dizzy's big band that flavored bebop into the big band — different tonal quality and rhythms, and the drum feeling started changing, and that I think was really the beginning of it...

I fell in love with it, and I finally got into playing it with the big band because Neal had it down. Neal would write some beautiful things along those patterns.

During these years with Herman's band, as they started to turn more and more towards bop ideas, Hefti started to turn more of his attention and effort to writing, at which he quickly excelled. He composed and arranged some of First Herd's most popular recordings, including two of the band's finest instrumentals: "Wild Root" and "The Good Earth".

He contributed to the band a refinement of bop trumpet style that reflected his experience with Byrne, Barnet, and Spivak, as well as an unusually imaginative mind, essentially restless on the trumpet, but beautifully grounded on manuscript paper.

He also wrote band favorites such as "Apple Honey" and "Blowin' Up a Storm". His first hand experience in New York, hanging around 52nd Street and listening to the great Dizzy Gillespie, became an important resource to the whole band.

His bebop composition work also started to attract outside attention from other composers, including the interest of neo-classicist Igor Stravinsky, who later wrote "Ebony Concerto" for the band.

What first attracted Stravinsky to Herman was the five trumpet unison on "Caldonia," which mirrored the new music of Gillespie... First it had been [Neal Hefti's] solo on Herman's "Woodchopper's Ball", then it became the property of the whole section, and finally, in this set form, it was made part of [Hefti's] arrangement of "Caldonia."

Hefti's work successfully drew from many sources. As composer, arranger, and as a crucial part of the Herman ensemble, he provided the Herman band with a solid base which led to their popularity and mastery of the big band bebop style.

Late 1940s[link]

While playing with the First Herd, Neal married Herman's vocalist, Frances Wayne. Playing with the band was very enjoyable for Hefti, which made it doubly hard for him to leave when he wanted to pursue arranging and composing full time. Talking about Herman's band, Hefti said,

The band was a lot of fun. I think there was great rapport between the people in it. And none of us wanted to leave. We were always getting sort of offers from other bands for much more money than we were making with Woody, and it was always like if you left, you were a rat. You were really letting down the team.

The Heftis finally left Woody Herman in late 1946, and Neal began freelance arranging. He wrote charts for Buddy Rich's band, and the ill-fated Billy Butterfield band. He wrote a few arrangements and compositions for George Auld's band, including the outstanding composition "Mo Mo." He joined the short-lived Charlie Ventura band as both sideman and arranger (arranging popular songs such as "How High the Moon"). He also arranged for the best of Harry James's bands in the late forties.

One of the serendipitous highlights of his work in the late forties was the recording of his Cuban-influenced song "Repetition" using a big band and string orchestra, for an anthology album called ''The Jazz Scene'' intended to showcase the best jazz artists around at that time. What saved this otherwise uncharacteristically bland arrangement was the featuring of Charlie Parker as soloist. Hefti had written the piece with no soloist in mind, but Parker was in the studio while Hefti was recording, heard the arrangement, and asked to be included as soloist. In the liner notes to the album, producer Norman Granz wrote:

Parker actually plays on top of the original arrangement; that it jells as well as it does is a tribute both to the flexible arrangement of Hefti and the inventive genius of Parker to adapt himself to any musical surrounding.

The Basie years[link]

In 1950, Hefti started arranging for Count Basie and what became known as "The New Testament" band. According to Hefti in a Billboard interview, Basie wanted to develop a stage band that could appear on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''. Although the New Testament band never became a show band in that sense, it was much more of an ensemble band than Basie's previous orchestras. Hefti's tight, well-crafted arrangements resulted in a new band identity that was maintained for more than twenty years. In his autobiography, Count Basie recalls their first meeting and the first compositions that Hefti provided the new band:

Neal came by, and we had a talk, and he said he'd just like to put something in the book. Then he came back with "Little Pony" and then "Sure Thing," "Why Not?" and "Fawncy Meeting You," and we ran them down, and that's how we got married.

Hefti's compositions and arrangements featured and recorded by the orchestra established the distinctive, tighter, modern sound of the later Basie. His work was popular with both the band and with audiences. Basie said, "There is something of his on each one of those first albums of that new band."

One of the new Basie band's most popular records was titled "Basie" and subtitled "E=MC²=Count Basie Orchestra+Neal Hefti Arrangements," now more commonly referred to as ''Atomic Basie'', an album featuring eleven songs composed and arranged by Hefti, including the now-standard ballad "Lil' Darlin" and "Splanky." Also on the album were "The Kid from Red Bank" featuring a gloriously sparse piano solo that was Basie's hallmark, and other songs that quickly became Basie favorites, such as "Flight of the Foo Birds" with Eddie Lockjaw Davis' flying tenor solo, "Fantail" with Frank Wess's soaring alto solo, and the masterpiece ensemble lines of "Teddy the Toad". These pieces are evidence of both Hefti's masterful hand, and the strong ensemble that Count Basie had put together.

During the Fifties, Hefti didn't get as much respect as a musician and band leader as he did as composer and arranger. In a 1955 interview, Miles Davis said "if it weren't for Neal Hefti, the Basie band wouldn't sound as good as it does. But Neal's band can't play those same arrangements nearly as well." This disparity is not so much a reflection of Hefti's ability (or lack thereof) as a musician, as it is a reflection of his focus as a writer. In the liner notes to ''Atomic Basie'', critic Barry Ulanov says:

In a presentation of the Count Basie band notable of its justness, for its attention to all the rich instrumental talent and all the high good taste of this band — in this presentation, not the least of the achievements is the evenness of the manuscript. Neal Hefti has matched — figure for figure, note for note-blower — his talent to the Basie band's, and it comes out, as it should, Basie.

Much the same way that the influential Duke Ellington matched his scores to the unique abilities of his performers, Hefti was able to take advantage of the same kind of 'fine-tuning' to bring out the best of the talents of the Basie band. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that when the same charts are played by a different band, even the composer's own, that the result is not as strong.

As composer, Hefti garnered many accolades. In addition to Ulanov's praise, Hefti won two Grammy awards for his composition work on ''Atomic Basie'' including "Li'l Darlin," "Splanky," and "Teddy the Toad." The success of the album had Basie and Hefti in the studio six months later making another album. This second album was also very successful for Basie. Basie recalled:

That is the one that came out under the title of "Basie Plays Hefti". All the tunes were very musical. That's the way Neal's things were, and those guys in that band always had something to put with whatever you laid in front of them.

Hefti's influence on the Basie sound was so successful, his writing for the band so strong, that Basie used his arranging talents even when recording standard jazz tunes with the likes of Frank Sinatra. Basie said,

So we went on out to Los Angeles and did ten tunes in two four-hour sessions [with Frank Sinatra]. All of those tunes were standards, which I'm pretty sure he had recorded before (and had hits on). But this time they had been arranged by Neal Hefti with our instrumentation and voicing in mind.

Again, by matching the individual parts of the arrangements to the unique abilities of Basie's band, Hefti was able to highlight the best of their talents, and make the most of the ensemble.

Overall, Basie was very impressed with Hefti's charts, but was perhaps too proud to admit the extent of his influence:

I think Neal did a lot of marvelous things for us, because even though what he did was a different thing and not quite the style but sort of a different sound, I think it was quite musical.

1950s and 1960s[link]

Outside of his work with the new Basie band, Hefti also led a big band of his own during the fifties. In 1951, one of these bands featured his wife Frances on vocals. They recorded and toured off and on with this and other incarnations of this band throughout the 1950s. Although his own band did not attain the same level of success as the famous bands he arranged for, he did receive a Grammy nomination for his own album ''Jazz Pops'' (1962), which included recordings of "Li'l Darlin," "Cute," and "Coral Reef". It was his last work in the Jazz idiom.

Later in the 1950s he finally abandoned trumpet playing altogether to concentrate on scoring and conducting. He had steady work conducting big bands, backing singers in the studio during recording sessions, and appearing on the television shows of Arthur Godfrey, Kate Smith and others.

He moved back to his beloved California in the early 1960s. During this time he began working for the Hollywood film industry, and he enjoyed tremendous popular success writing music for film and television. He wrote much background and theme music for motion pictures, including the films ''Sex and the Single Girl'', ''How to Murder Your Wife'' (1965), ''Synanon'', ''Boeing Boeing'' (1965), ''Lord Love a Duck'' (1966), ''Duel at Diablo'' (1966), ''The Odd Couple'' (1968), ''Barefoot in the Park'' (1967) and ''Harlow'' (1965), for which he received two Grammy nominations for the song "Girl Talk". While most of his compositions during this period were geared to the demands of the medium and the directors, there were many moments when he was able to infuse his work with echoes of his jazz heritage.

In 1961 Hefti joined with Frank Sinatra on his ''Sinatra and Swingin' Brass'' album where Hefti was credited as arranger and conductor of the album's 12 cuts.

He also wrote background and theme music for television shows, including ''Batman'' and ''The Odd Couple''. He received three Grammy nominations for his television work and received one award for his ''Batman'' television score. His ''Batman'' title theme, a simple cyclic twelve-bar blues-based theme, became a Top 10 single for The Marketts and later for Hefti himself. His theme for ''The Odd Couple'' movie was reprised as part of his score for the television series of the early 1970s. He received two Grammy nominations for his work on ''The Odd Couple'' television series.

Throughout these years and into the 1970s, Hefti periodically formed big bands either for club, concert or record dates.

Death[link]

He died on 11 October 2008 at his home in Toluca Lake, California at the age of 85. He was subsequently interred at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery. His grave can be found at the Court of Remembrance, (Sanctuary of Enduring Protection) in crypt #2763. The epitaph on the front of the crypt reads "Forever In Tune".

Awards[link]

; Grammy nominations

Nomination for ''Jazz Pops'' (Li'l Darlin', Cute, Coral Reef) as artist.

Two awards for ''Basie'', aka ''Atomic Basie'' (Li'l Darlin', Splanky, Teddy the Toad) as composer.

Three nominations (one award) for the ''Batman'' TV score.

Two nominations for the ''Harlow'' movie score ("Girl Talk").

Two nominations for ''The Odd Couple'' TV score.

; Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music - 1968 "The Fred Astaire Show" as conductor

; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers

Jazz Wall of Fame 2005

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

''Swingin' On Coral Reef'' - Coral CRL-56083 (1953)

''The Band With Young Ideas''

''Concert Miniatures'' - VIK LX-1092 (1957)

''Hefti, Hot and Hearty''

''Hefti in Gotham City'' - RCA Victor LSP-3621 (stereo) LPM-3621 (mono) (1966)

''Mr and Mrs Music''

''Neal Hefti's Singing Instrumentals'' - Epic LG 1013 (1955)

''Hollywood Songbook''

''Jazz Pops'' - Reprise Records 6039 (1962)

''Light and Right'' - Columbia CL-1516 (mono) CS-8316 (stereo) (1960)

''Li'l Darlin'' - 20th Century Fox Records TFS 41399 (1966)

''Music USA''

''Pardon my Doo-Wah''

''Presenting Neal Hefti and His Orchestra''

''A Salute to the Instruments''

''Definitely Hefti!'' - United Artists Records UAS 6573

Film scores[link]

1964: ''Sex and the Single Girl''

1965: ''Boeing Boeing''

1965: ''How to Murder Your Wife''

1965: ''Harlow''

1965: ''Synanon''

1966: ''Lord Love a Duck''

1966: ''Duel at Diablo''

1967: ''Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad''

1967: ''Barefoot in the Park''

1968: ''The Odd Couple''

1968: ''P. J.''

1976: ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood''

References[link]

Sources[link]

Frank Alkyer, editor. ''Downbeat: 60 Years of Jazz.'' Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, 1995.

Count Basie and Albert Murray. ''Good Morning Blues, the Autobiography of Count Basie.'' Donald Fine, Inc., New York, 1985.

Stanley Dance. ''The World of Count Basie.'' Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1980.

Ira Gitler. ''Jazz Masters of the 40s.'' Da Capo Press, New York, 1983.

Ira Gitler. ''Swing to Bop.'' Oxford University Press, New York, 1985.

Norman Granz. ''Album Liner Notes for The Jazz Scene.'' Verve Records, 1949.

Kinkle, editor. ''Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900–1950, volume 2.'' Arlington House Publishers, Westport, Connecticut, 1974.

Colin Larkin, editor. ''Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, volume 3.'' Guinness Publishing, Enfield, England, 1995.

Albert McCarthy. ''Big Band Jazz.'' G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1974.

Barry Ulanov. ''Album Liner Notes for Atomic Basie.'' Roulette Jazz, 1957.

Barry Ulanov. ''A History of Jazz in America.'' Da Capo Press, New York, 1972.

Further reading[link]

Neal Hefti, ''Jazz classics for the young ensemble: By Neal Hefti, arranged by Dave Barduhn (Unknown Binding)''. Publisher: Jenson (1962) ASIN: B0007I4VDM

Neal Hefti, ''Batman Theme: From the Original TV Series (Beginning Band)'' 130 pages. Publisher: Alfred Pub Co (September 1989). ISBN 978-0-7579-3346-2

Neal Hefti, Roy Phillippe ''Li'l Darlin' (First Year Charts for Jazz Ensemble)''. 46 pages. Publisher: Warner Bros Pubns (July 1998). ISBN 978-0-7579-3514-5

Neal Hefti ''Li'l Darlin'''. Publisher: Encino Music (1958). ASIN: B000ICUQ72

Neal Hefti, ''Anthology''. Publisher: Warner Bros Pubns (July 1999). ISBN 978-0-7692-0735-3

Neal Hefti, Roy Phillippe ''Splanky (First Year Charts for Jazz Ensemble)''. 42 pages. Publisher: Warner Bros Pubns (June 2004) ISBN 978-0-7579-3513-8

Neal ; Styne, Stanley Hefti ''Cute''. # Publisher: Encino Music (1958). ASIN: B000ICQX8I

Neal Hefti, ''Duel at Diablo''. Publisher: United Artists (1963) ASIN: B000KWOIFQ

Bobby ; Hefti, Neal Troup ''Girl Talk''. Publisher: Famous Music Corporation (1965). ASIN: B000ICULIG

External links[link]

Information re. grave site at Findagrave

Category:1922 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American jazz composers Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American music arrangers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Nebraska Category:People from Hastings, Nebraska Category:Swing trumpeters Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Jazz record producers

da:Neal Hefti de:Neal Hefti eo:Neal Hefti fr:Neal Hefti hu:Neal Hefti it:Neal Hefti nl:Neal Hefti ja:ニール・ヘフティ no:Neil Hefti ru:Хефти, Нил fi:Neal Hefti sv:Neal Hefti

name	Paula Prentiss
birth name	Paula Ragusa
birth date	March 04, 1938
birth place	San Antonio, Texas
yearsactive	1960 – 2007
spouse	Richard Benjamin(1961 – present; 2 children)
children	Ross Thomas Benjamin (b. 1974)Prentiss Benjamin (b. 1978) }}

Paula Prentiss (born March 4, 1938), born as Paula Ragusa, is an American actress well known for her film roles in ''Where the Boys Are'', ''Man's Favorite Sport?'', ''The Stepford Wives'', ''What's New Pussycat?'', ''The Black Marble'', and ''The Parallax View'' and her co-starring role in the television situation comedy ''He and She''.

Early life[link]

Prentiss was born Paula Ragusa in San Antonio, Texas, the daughter of Paulene (née Gardner) and Thomas J. Ragusa, who was a Social Sciences professor at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. Prentiss' father was of Italian descent. Prentiss was always the tallest person in her school classes. In 1958, while attending Northwestern University's school of drama, she met someone taller: her future husband, Richard Benjamin, who also impressed her with his sophistication. While still a student at Northwestern, she was discovered and offered a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film contract. Prentiss initially intended to be a doctor, but somehow became involved with theater while at Northwestern.

Career[link]

Prentiss first became known as a comedic actress with such films as ''Where the Boys Are'', ''The Honeymoon Machine'', ''Bachelor in Paradise'', and ''The Horizontal Lieutenant'', where she was teamed with actor Jim Hutton.

She later starred with Rock Hudson in ''Man's Favorite Sport?'', in ''The World of Henry Orient'' and ''What's New, Pussycat?'' with Peter Sellers, ''Catch-22'' and ''Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' with Alan Arkin, ''In Harm's Way'' with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas, ''Move'' with Elliott Gould, ''The Parallax View'' with Warren Beatty, and Billy Wilder's last film ''Buddy Buddy'' with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

For one season (1967–1968), Prentiss starred with her husband, Richard Benjamin, in the CBS sitcom ''He & She''. Although not a big ratings success, the stylish series was considered ahead of its time in humor and sophistication. It is viewed as a landmark sitcom and a thematic precursor to the crop of MTM-style sitcoms to emerge a couple of seasons later. Prentiss was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy.

Personal life[link]

Prentiss and actor/director Richard Benjamin married on October 26, 1961; her career was soaring while Benjamin still struggled for acting roles. In 1965, while filming ''What's New, Pussycat'' in Paris, Prentiss suffered a nervous breakdown which kept her out of films for five years, returning to work with Benjamin in the short-lived television series, ''He and She''. The couple also appeared together in ''Catch-22'' (1970) and ''Saturday the 14th'' (1981), as well as various plays.

They have two adult children, Ross and Prentiss, and live in the Hollywood Hills.

Ann Prentiss, her sister, was also an actress.

Filmography[link]

''Where the Boys Are'' (1960)

''The Honeymoon Machine'' (1961)

''Bachelor in Paradise'' (1961)

''The Horizontal Lieutenant'' (1962)

''Follow the Boys'' (1963)

''Man's Favorite Sport?'' (1964)

''The World of Henry Orient'' (1964)

''In Harm's Way'' (1965)

''What's New, Pussycat?'' (1965)

''Move'' (1970)

''Catch-22'' (1970)

''Born to Win'' (1971)

''Last of the Red Hot Lovers'' (1972)

''The Parallax View'' (1974)

''The Stepford Wives'' (1975)

''The Black Marble'' (1980)

''Saturday the 14th'' (1981)

''Buddy Buddy'' (1981)

''Mrs. Winterbourne'' (1996)

''Hard Four'' (2007)

References[link]

;Notes

External links[link]

Category:1938 births Category:American film actors Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:Living people Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:People from San Antonio, Texas

de:Paula Prentiss es:Paula Prentiss fr:Paula Prentiss it:Paula Prentiss nl:Paula Prentiss ja:ポーラ・プレンティス ru:Прентисс, Паула fi:Paula Prentiss