Richard Brooks

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Richard Brooks (1986)

Richard Brooks (born May 18, 1912 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , † March 11, 1992 in Beverly Hills , California ; actually Ruben Sax ) was a screenwriter , director and producer in Hollywood .

Life

Brooks was born in Philadelphia, where he attended West Philadelphia High School and then Temple University . He worked for the radio and was also a theater director for a short time before writing screenplays. As a man of letters he made a name for himself with the novel The Brick Foxhole . In the 1940s, he wrote screenplays for the critically acclaimed films Gangster in Key Largo ( Key Largo , 1947) and Cell R 17 ( Brute Force , 1947). Both films are considered typical representatives of film noir . From 1962 Brooks was his own producer and increasingly devoted himself to literary material. His works are often about human values, about law and order, about the individual who opposes "clichés" and an "unholy order".

In 1950 he directed the film Hexenkessel ( Crisis ), in which the actor Cary Grant was cast in a very dark role contrary to his usual type. He won his only Oscar in 1960 for his screenplay for Elmer Gantry . He was nominated for an Oscar in 1955 for The Blackboard Jungle ( Blackboard Jungle ), in 1958 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ( Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ), in 1966 for The Professionals ( The Professionals ) and 1967 for In Cold Blood ( In Cold Blood ).

Since Brooks, as a director and producer, always insisted on writing the script himself or at least contributing to it as a co-writer, he can be counted among the classic representatives of auteur films .

In 1960 he married the British actress Jean Simmons , with whom he had a daughter and who played Elmer Gantry and Happy Ending for a Marriage in his films . The marriage ended in divorce in 1980.

Brooks died in Beverly Hills in 1992.

Filmography

Awards

Oscar

Directors Guild of America, USA

  • 1990: Preston Sturges Award

Edgar Allan Poe Awards

  • 1948: Edgar for the best film, Im Kreuzfeuer, together with John Paxton (screenplay); Dore Schary , Adrian Scott (producers); Edward Dmytryk (Director)

National Board of Review, USA

  • 1967: NBR Award for Best Director of Cold Blood

Western Heritage Awards

  • 1976: Wrangler bronze for the theatrical film 700 Miles West , with John C. Champion (director); Ben Johnson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Candice Bergen, James Coburn, Gene Hackman (actors)

Writers Guild of America, USA

  • 1961: WGA Award (Screen) for Best Screenplay (American Drama), Elmer Gantry

literature

Norbert Grob : Richard Brooks. In: Thomas Koebner (Ed.): Film directors. Biographies, descriptions of works, filmographies . Reclam, Stuttgart 2008 (1st edition 1999), ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4 , p. 89f (with references).

Web links

Commons : Richard Brooks  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Brooks, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sax, Ruben (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American director
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 1992
Place of death Beverly Hills