George Stevens

Infobox Actor
name = George Stevens


birthdate = birth date|1904|12|18|mf=y
location = Oakland, California, USA
deathdate = Death date and age|1975|3|8|1904|12|18
yearsactive = 1915-1970
deathplace = Lancaster, California, USA
spouse = Yvonne Howell (1930-1947)
Joan McTavish (1968-1975)
academyawards = Best Director
1951 "A Place in the Sun"
1956 "Giant"
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
1954 Lifetime Achievement
awards = NBR Award for Best Director
1953 "Shane"
NYFCC Award for Best Director
1943 "The More the Merrier"
Hollywood Walk of Fame
1701 Vine Street

George Stevens (December 18, 1904 - March 8, 1975) was an Academy Award-winning American motion picture director, producer, writer and cinematographer.

Career

Born in Oakland, California, Stevens broke into the movie business as a cameraman, working on many Laurel and Hardy shorts. His first feature film was "The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble" in 1933.

In 1934 he got his first directing job, the slapstick "Kentucky Kernels". His big break came when he directed Katharine Hepburn in "Alice Adams" in 1935. He went on in the late 1930s to direct several Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movies, not only with the two actors together, but on their own. In 1940, he directed Carole Lombard in "Vigil in the Night", and the film has an alternate ending for European audiences in recognition of World War II, which the US had not yet entered.

During the Second World War, Stevens' crew captured the only Allied European Front color film of the war, in addition to filming the graphic scenes at the Dachau concentration camp. As a result of his experiences, his films became more dramatic following the war. "I Remember Mama" in 1948 was the last movie with comic scenes that he made. He was responsible for such classic films as "A Place in the Sun", "Shane", "The Diary of Anne Frank", "Giant" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told".

Stevens is the father of TV and film writer-producer-director George Stevens, Jr. (who was named the first CEO and director of the American Film Institute), and is the grandfather of TV and film producer-director Michael Stevens. George Stevens died following a heart attack on his ranch in Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles.

Stevens has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1701 Vine Street.

Filmography

*"Ladies Last" (1930)
*"Air-Tight" (1931)
*"Blood and Thunder" (1931)
*"Call a Cop!" (1931)
*"High Gear" (1931)
*"Mama Loves Papa" (1931)
*"The Kick-Off!" (1931)
*"Boys Will Be Boys" (1932)
*"The Finishing Touch" (1932)
*"Who, Me?" (1932)
*"The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble" (1933)
*"A Divorce Courtship" (1933)
*"Family Troubles" (1933)
*"Flirting in the Park" (1933)
*"Grin and Bear It" (1933)
*"Quiet Please!" (1933)
*"Rock-a-Bye Cowboy" (1933)
*"Room Mates" (1933)
*"Should Crooners Marry" (1933)
*"What Fur" (1933)
*"Bachelor Bait" (1934)
*"Cracked Shots" (1934)
*"Kentucky Kernels" (1934)
*"Ocean Swells" (1934)
*"The Undie-World" (1934)
*"Hollywood Party" (1934)
*"Alice Adams" (1935)
*"Annie Oakley" (1935)
*"Bridal Bail" (1935)
*"Hunger Pains" (1935)
*"Laddie" (1935)
*"The Nitwits" (1935)
*"Swing Time" (1936)
*"A Damsel in Distress" (1937)
*"Quality Street" (1937)
*"Vivacious Lady" (1938)
*"Gunga Din" (1939)
*"Vigil in the Night" (1940)
*"Penny Serenade" (1941)
*"The Talk of the Town" (1942)
*"Woman of the Year" (1942)
*"The More the Merrier" (1943)
*"That Justice Be Done" (1945)
*"Nazi Concentration Camps" (1945)
*"The Nazi Plan" (1945)
*"I Remember Mama" (1948)
*"On Our Merry Way" (1948)
*"A Place in the Sun" (1951)
*"Something to Live For" (1952)
*"Shane" (1953)
*"Giant" (1956)
*"The Diary of Anne Frank" (1959)
*"The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965)
*"The Only Game in Town" (1970)
*"D-Day: The Color Footage" (1999)

Further reading

* Cronin, Paul: "George Stevens: Interviews". Jackson, MI, University Press of Mississippi, 2004. ISBN 1-57806-639-5
* Moss, Marilyn Ann: "Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film". Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press, 2004. ISBN 0-299-20430-8
* Richie, Donald: "George Stevens: An American Romantic". New York, Taylor & Francis, 1984 (reprint of 1970 original). ISBN 0-82405-773-2
* Petri, Bruce: "A Theory of American Film: The Films and Techniques of George Stevens". New York, Taylor & Francis, 1987. ISBN 0-82400-070-6

External links

*imdb|0828419