Aram Avakian

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Aram A. Avakian (born April 23, 1926 in New York City , New York , USA , † January 17, 1987 there ) was an American film director , screenwriter and film editor . Avakian has directed a number of movies including films like Jazz on a Summer Evening , My Best Friend , The Path into the Abyss and Meeting Point Central Park .

life and career

Aram "Al" Avakian was born in 1926 in New York City. He was the son of Armenian parents from Persia . Avakian graduated from Horace Mann School and Yale University before serving as a naval officer on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. After the war he went to France , where he studied at the Sorbonne . There he was part of a close group of young friends, an American literary movement from 1950 in Paris, including Terry Southern , William Styron , John P. Marquand Jr. and George Plimpton .

In 1953 Avakian returned to the United States and began an apprenticeship as a photographer under the guidance of Gjon Mili , who also sparked his enthusiasm for documentary film. In his spare time, Avakian took part in the legendary jazz sessions of his brother, jazz producer George Avakian, as a photographer . From 1955 to 1958, Avakian was the editor of Edward R. Murrow's See It Now program .

In the late 1950s, Avakian became a sought-after film editor and director . Arthur Penn engaged him in the 1960s for his two film dramas Licht im Dunkel with Anne Bancroft (1962) and Mickey One (1965) with Warren Beatty . In 1964 he worked on Robert Rossen's film drama Lilith .

In 1970 Avakian directed the drama The Road into the Abyss with the cast of Stacy Keach , Harris Yulin , James Earl Jones and his wife Dorothy Tristan . The film received an X rating in the US for the graphic representation of an abortion. Avakian received the Golden Leopard Award at the Locarno International Film Festival for The Path into the Abyss . George Avakian, the jazz producer and brother of Aram, oversaw the music. Avakian's old friend, writer Terry Southern , co-produced the film and also wrote the script with Avakian and Dennis McGuire .

With the crime satire Treffpunkt Central Park , Avakian filmed the book Cops and Robbers by the novelist Donald E. Westlake , who also wrote the screenplay for the film, in 1973 with Cliff Gorman and Joseph Bologna in the leading roles . The music for Treffpunkt Central Park was provided by film composer and jazz legend Michel Legrand . A year later Avakian directed the British crime comedy Diamonds and Cockroaches . His last movie as a director came in 1974 with a very well-known cast: Charles Grodin , Candice Bergen , James Mason , Trevor Howard and John Gielgud .

From 1983 to 1986 Avakian was chairman of the film department at New York State University in Purchase .

Avakian was married to actress and screenwriter Dorothy Tristan until 1972 , but for the last two years of his life he was dating former ballerina Allegra Kent.

Daughter Alexandra Avakian is a writer, the son is the guitarist Tristan Avakian.

In his career, Aram Avakian worked as an editor on around a dozen films by well-known directors such as Arthur Penn , Robert Rossen , Richard C. Sarafian , Jerry Schatzberg and Francis Ford Coppola and directed several times himself.

On January 17, 1987 Avakian died in New York City in the state of New York in the United States .

Awards

Filmography (selection)

As a film director

As a film editor

  • 1959: Jazz on a Summer's Day
  • 1960: Girl of the Night
  • 1962: Light in the Dark (The Miracle Worker)
  • 1964: Lilith
  • 1965: Andy
  • 1965: Mickey One
  • 1966: You're a Big Boy Now
  • 1976: Oil (The Next Man)
  • 1980: On the Road Again (Honeysuckle Rose)

As a screenwriter

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Biographical data by Aram Avakian in: Dizionario Larousse del cinema americano , by Enrico Lancia, 1998, p. 50
personal data
SURNAME Avakian, Aram
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avakian, Aram A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director, screenwriter and film editor
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York, USA
DATE OF DEATH 17th January 1987
Place of death New York City , New York, USA