James Francis Ivory (born June 7, 1928) is an American film director, best known for the results of his long collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions, which included both Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Their films won six Academy Awards. Ivory was born in Berkeley, California, the son of Hallie Millicent (née De Loney) and Edward Patrick Ivory, a sawmill operator. He is of Irish and French descent, and grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He was educated at the University of Oregon, majoring in Architecture and Fine Arts and then at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he directed the short film Four in the Morning (1953). Then he wrote, photographed, and produced Venice: Theme and Variations a half-hour documentary submitted as a thesis film for his degree in cinema at USC. The film was named by The New York Times in 1957 as one of the ten best non-theatrical films of the year. He graduated from USC in 1957. In 1961, Ivory created the film production company, Merchant Ivory Productions, with Indian-born producer Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who served as the screenwriter for many of their productions. Until Merchant's death in 2005, the company produced a number of award winning films. Of this collaboration, Ismail Merchant once commented: "IT IS a strange marriage we have at Merchant Ivory ... I am an Indian Muslim, Ruth is a German Jew, and Jim is a Protestant American ...

• published: 18 Jul 2011
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• author: Erekton99