Kubrick, Stanley

born July 26, 1928, New York, N.Y., U.S.

died March 7, 1999, Childwickbury Manor, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, Eng.

U.S. film director.

He began his career as a photographer for Look magazine (1945–50). He directed two documentary films before directing his first feature film, Fear and Desire (1953). He won fame with Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), and the internationally acclaimed 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which earned an Academy Award for special visual effects. His later movies include A Clockwork Orange (1971), Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). His films are characterized by a cool visual style, meticulous attention to detail, and a detached, often ironic pessimism.

* * *

▪ 2000

      American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter (b. July 26, 1928, Bronx, N.Y.—d. March 7, 1999, Childwickbury Manor, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, Eng.), was one of the most noted and respected directors of the 20th century. A meticulous, obsessive, and demanding master of his craft, he was the creative force behind such classics as Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and A Clockwork Orange (1971) and, though he made only 13 feature films in his more than 40-year career, was considered a legend and a cult figure. He was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won 8. Kubrick took up photography at about age 12 and by age 17 was a photographer for Look magazine. He switched to motion pictures in 1950 to make the short documentary Day of the Fight, about a boxer. Another short documentary, Flying Padre, followed in 1951, and in 1953 Kubrick's first feature film, Fear and Desire, appeared. Killer's Kiss followed in 1955, and a year later came The Killing, a thriller that centred on a racetrack robbery and gained Kubrick his first serious attention. His reputation was further enhanced by the antiwar classic Paths of Glory (1957). After taking over the direction of Kirk Douglas's production of Spartacus (1960), Kubrick moved to England and thereafter, beginning with the darkly humorous Lolita (1962), maintained complete control over his motion pictures. His next films—the classic Cold War satire Dr. Strangelove, the space travel masterpiece 2001, and the violent and controversial A Clockwork Orange—sealed his status as a legend. The films that followed those, however—Barry Lyndon (1975), The Shining (1980), and Full Metal Jacket (1987)—were not as successful, and it was some 10 years before Kubrick began shooting what became his final work, Eyes Wide Shut, which was released in the summer of 1999.

* * *

▪ American director

born July 26, 1928, New York, New York, U.S.

died March 7, 1999, Childwickbury Manor, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England

 American motion-picture director and writer whose films are characterized by a cool, formal visual style, meticulous attention to detail, and a detached, often ironic pessimism.

      Having become interested in photography in high school, Kubrick became a staff photographer for Look magazine at age 17. His first film, The Day of the Fight (1951), is a short documentary about the boxing world. His first feature-length film, Fear and Desire (1953), dealt with World War II.

 Paths of Glory (1957), a story of military injustice in the French army during World War I, brought Kubrick into prominence as a director. It was followed by films, mostly shot in England, that explored the incongruities and violence underlying modern life and reached imaginatively into the world of the future. After Spartacus (1960), a historical epic, Kubrick made Lolita (1962), based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov (Nabokov, Vladimir); Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), which turned the possibility of a nuclear war into a grim joke; 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which earned an Academy Award for special visual effects; A Clockwork Orange (1971), based on the dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess (Burgess, Anthony); Barry Lyndon (1975), based on William Makepeace Thackeray (Thackeray, William Makepeace)'s novel of manners; The Shining (1980), a horror film based on the novel by Stephen King; Full Metal Jacket (1987), about the Vietnam War; and the posthumously released Eyes Wide Shut (1999), an exploration of marital fidelity and sexuality.

 

* * *