Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American
documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the
Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films include ''
Salesman
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
'' (1969), ''
Gimme Shelter'' (1970) and ''
Grey Gardens'' (1975).
Biography
Early lives
The brothers were born in the
Dorchester neighborhood of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, living there until the family moved to
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
when Albert was 13.
Albert and David's parents, both Jewish, were immigrants to the United States; their father, born in Ukraine, was employed as a postal clerk, while their mother, originally from Poland, was a schoolteacher. The family originally settled in Dorchester to be near relatives (the brothers' great-uncle Josef Maysles and his daughter and son-in-law, Becky and Joe Kandib) who had moved there earlier.
Albert originally pursued a career as a
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
professor and researcher. After serving in the
U.S. Army Tank Corps during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
[Albert Maysles obituary; Original documentary film-maker best known for Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter.](_blank)
Bergan, Ronald. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. Published March 8, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Albert obtained a
BA from
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
and
MA in psychology from
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
. He taught psychology at Boston University for three years, also working as a research assistant at a mental hospital and as head of a research project at
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
. As an outgrowth of his research work, he traveled to Russia to photograph a mental hospital, and returned the following year with a camera provided by
CBS to film his first documentary, ''Psychiatry in Russia'' (1955). Although CBS did not air the film, it was televised on
NBC, on the
public broadcasting
Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
station
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV (channel 2), branded on-air as GBH or GBH 2 since 2020, is the primary PBS member television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship property of the WGBH Educational Foundation, which also owns Boston's sec ...
in Boston, and on Canadian network television.
David also studied psychology at Boston University, receiving a BA. Also like his brother, David served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. In the mid-1950s, he worked as a Hollywood production assistant on the
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
films ''
Bus Stop
A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...
'' and ''
The Prince and the Showgirl''. David later stated that he grew "disenchanted with conventional filming. The glamour had faded and the filming of take after take had become tedious."
By 1957 he had teamed up with Albert to shoot two documentaries behind the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
, ''Russian Close-Up'' (credited to Albert Maysles alone) and ''Youth in Poland'', the latter of which was broadcast on
NBC.
By 1960, the Maysles brothers had joined Drew Associates, the documentary film company founded by photojournalist
Robert Drew which also included
Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock (18 July 192123 March 2011)
The Telegraph (Lon ...
and
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker (; July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019) was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci ...
. Albert would film, while David would handle sound. During this time, the brothers worked on Drew Associates films such as ''
Primary
Primary or primaries may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Primary (band), from Australia
* Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea
* Primary Music, Israeli record label
Works
* ...
'' and ''Adventures on the New Frontier''. In 1962, Albert and David left Drew Associates to form their own production company, Maysles Films, Inc.
Maysles brothers' collaborative years
The Maysles brothers made over 30 films together. They are best known for three documentaries made in the late 1960s and early 1970s: ''
Salesman
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
'' (1969), ''
Gimme Shelter'' (1970), and ''
Grey Gardens'' (1975). ''Salesman'' documents the work of a group of door-to-door
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
salesmen in New England and Florida. Deeper down, the film is a dissection of the degenerative and devastating effects of capitalism on small towns and individuals, but more than any political statement the film is about normal people in all their ugliness and truthfulness.
''Gimme Shelter'', a film about
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
'
1969 U.S. tour culminating in the disastrous
Altamont Free Concert, unexpectedly captured on film the altercation between Altamont attendee
Meredith Hunter and
Hells Angel
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...
Alan Passaro that resulted in Hunter's death. Film footage shows Hunter drawing and pointing a
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
just before being stabbed by Passaro, who was later acquitted of Hunter's murder on self-defense grounds after the jury viewed the footage. ''Grey Gardens'' depicts the lives of a reclusive upper-class mother and daughter,
"Big Edie" and
"Little Edie" Beale (who were, respectively, the aunt and cousin of
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...
), residing in a derelict mansion in
East Hampton, New York. In order to finance these films and others, the Maysleses also made commercials for clients such as
IBM,
Shell Oil
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...
, and
Merrill Lynch
Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...
.
The Maysleses' films are considered examples of the style known as
direct cinema.
The brothers would let the story unfold as the camera rolled, rather than planning what exactly they wanted to shoot, in keeping with Albert Maysles' stated approach, "Remember, as a documentarian you are an observer, an author but not a director, a discoverer, not a controller."
However, the brothers also received criticism from those who thought that they had actually planned or otherwise influenced scenes.
Most notably,
Pauline Kael's negative review of the film ''Gimme Shelter'' in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' included a harsh accusation that much of ''Gimme Shelter'' and ''Salesman'' had been staged and that the main subject of ''Salesman'', Paul Brennan, was not a Bible salesman as the film portrayed, but was actually a roofing-and-siding salesman recruited as a professional actor. The Maysles brothers threatened legal action against ''The New Yorker'' after this accusation. They also sent an open letter to ''The New Yorker'' refuting Kael's claims; however, because the magazine at the time did not publish letters, the letter did not appear in print until 1996.
In the case of ''Grey Gardens'', the brothers were also accused of unfairly exploiting their subjects.
Many of the Maysleses' documentaries focus on art, artists and musicians. The Maysleses documented
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' first visit to the United States in 1964, and a 1965 conceptual art project by
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
called "Cut Piece" in which she sat on the stage of
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
while audience members cut off her clothing with scissors. Several Maysles films document art projects by
Christo and Jeanne-Claude over a three-decade period, from 1974 when ''
Christo's Valley Curtain
''Christo's Valley Curtain'' is a 1974 American short documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles, about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's ''Valley Curtain'' project.
Accolades
It was nominated for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards ...
'' was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
,
to 2005 when ''The Gates'' (started in 1979 and completed by Albert after David's death) headlined New York's
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...
. Other Maysles subjects include
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
,
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
,
Vladimir Horowitz, and
Seiji Ozawa
Seiji (written: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Japanese ski jumper
*, Japanese racing driver
*, Japanese politician
*, Japanese film directo ...
.
For many years, the Maysleses worked closely with film editor
Charlotte Zwerin
Charlotte Zwerin (born Charlotte Mitchell, August 15, 1931January 22, 2004) was an American documentary film director and editor known for her work concerning artists and musicians. However, she is most known for her editing contributions to th ...
, who received a directing credit for her work on ''Gimme Shelter''. Zwerin eventually stopped working with the Maysleses because, according to Zwerin, they would not let her produce.
Death of David Maysles
David Maysles, the younger brother, died of a stroke on January 3, 1987, seven days shy of his 56th birthday, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
[David Maysles is Dead at 54, Maker of Documentary Films.](_blank)
Kleiman, Dena. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' via Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
. Published January 4, 1987. Retrieved July 27, 2021. Following his death, Albert was involved in litigation with David's widow over the terms of a financial settlement. According to David's daughter Celia Maysles, this resulted in the family developing a "code of silence" regarding David. In 2007, Celia released a documentary about her father, ''Wild Blue Yonder'', which included interviews with Albert.
Later life and death of Albert Maysles
After his brother's death, Albert Maysles continued to make films. His notable works include ''
LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton'' (2001, co-directed with Deborah Dickson and Susan Froemke), which focused on the struggles of a poor African-American family living in the contemporary
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
, and was nominated for an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Documentary Feature; and ''
The Love We Make
''The Love We Make'' is a cinéma vérité documentary film by Albert Maysles. The film chronicles Paul McCartney's experiences in New York City after the September 11 attacks of 2001, following him as he prepared The Concert for New York City Oc ...
'' (2011, co-directed with Bradley Kaplan) which documented
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
's experiences in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
following the
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, and premiered on
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
on September 10, 2011, the eve of the tenth anniversary of the attacks.
Albert continued the series of documentaries begun with David about the public art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. He also contributed cinematography to
Leon Gast
Leon Jacques Gast (March 30, 1936 – March 8, 2021) was an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary, ''When We Were Kings'' depicts the iconic heavyweight boxing match: The Rumble in the Jungle b ...
's
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
-winning documentary ''
When We Were Kings'', about the "
Rumble in the Jungle
George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Rumble in the Jungle'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match on October 30, 1974, at the 20th of May Stadium (now the Stade Tata Raphaël) in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of t ...
"
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
–
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
championship boxing match. In 2005, Albert founded the Maysles Documentary Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the exhibition and production of documentary films that inspire dialogue and action, located in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
.
Albert died of pancreatic cancer at his home in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
on March 5, 2015, aged 88. His films ''
Iris'', about fashion icon
Iris Apfel, and ''In Transit'', about the longest train route in the United States, were released posthumously later that year. At the time of his death, Albert had also been working on an autobiographical documentary ''Handheld and from the Heart''.
Legacy and contribution to documentary cinema
By letting real-life action unfold on camera without interference from the crew, the Maysleses pioneered the "fly on the wall" perspective in documentary cinema. This perspective is typical with the genre of documentary known as Direct Cinema which they helped pioneer. This genre is similar to cinéma vérité. They broke tradition with mid-century documentary tropes by eschewing narration, inter-titles and extraneous music tracks. The editing process could be interpreted as their narrative "voice," depending on what footage and sound they chose to use and how the timeline of the story unfolded in the final cut.
Their success from a technical aspect was based in part on separating the camera from the sound recording device (David used a
Nagra
Nagra is a brand of portable audio recorders produced from 1951 in Switzerland. Beginning in 1997 a range of high-end equipment aimed at the audiophile community was introduced, and Nagra expanded the company’s product lines into new markets.
...
) by accurately controlling the speed of the camera and the tape recorder, allowing the two devices to be moved independently with respect to each other, an impossibility in commercially available equipment at the time. Long takes with ordinary equipment of the era would invariably lose synchronization.
Albert built his own
16 mm
16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...
camera with existing parts that could be comfortably balanced on his shoulder, eliminating the need for a tripod, allowing him to shoot fluidly in the moment. He added a brace so he could hold the camera steady during long takes. He installed a mirror near the lens and a ring on the focus-pull and could then set the aperture and focus while the camera rolled, ensuring continuity during a take.
[Maysles, David; Maysles, Albert; Zwerin, Charlotte (Directors) (November 14, 2000). ''Gimme Shelter'' (Motion picture). The Criterion Collection DVD commentary: Maysles, Albert.]
Albert claimed to have a form of attention deficit disorder that made the leisurely pace of editing difficult for him but benefited him while shooting. Stating that his in-the-moment ability to focus let him, "Zero in on a situation as it's happening
ith his camera
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
and pay much closer attention and somehow anticipate what's going to happen the next moment, be ready for it and get it, the way people with normal attention spans are incapable of doing."
The Maysles brothers' films ''Salesman'' and ''Grey Gardens'' have been preserved in the Library of Congress'
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
as being culturally, historically or aesthetically significant. In May 2002, Ralph Blumenthal in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' referred to Albert as "the dean of documentary film making" and
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
once called Albert "the best American cameraman". The moving image collection of Albert and David Maysles is held at the
Academy Film Archive. The archive has preserved two of the Maysleses' films: ''Showman'', in 2012, and ''Salesman'', in 2018.
Awards
Their only Oscar nomination was for the 1973 short film ''
Christo's Valley Curtain
''Christo's Valley Curtain'' is a 1974 American short documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles, about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's ''Valley Curtain'' project.
Accolades
It was nominated for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards ...
''.
Albert was awarded a 2013 National Medal of Arts by President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
on July 28, 2014. He also won a
Primetime Emmy
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...
for 1991's ''Soldiers of Music''.
David won a
Primetime Emmy
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime E ...
for 1985's ''Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic'' alongside Albert.
Filmography
Filmography of Albert and David Maysles
* ''Youth in Poland'' (1957)
* ''Showman'' (1963) – featuring
Joseph E. Levine
* ''Orson Welles in Spain'' (1963)
* ''What's Happening! The Beatles In The U.S.A.'' (1964) – featuring
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
; re-edited and re-released in 1991 as ''
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit''
* ''IBM: A Self-Portrait'' (1964)
* ''
Meet Marlon Brando
''Morituri'' (also known as ''The Saboteur: Code Name Morituri'') is a 1965 war film about the Allied sabotage during World War II of a German merchant ship carrying rubber, a critical product during the war. The film stars Marlon Brando, Yul Br ...
'' (1965)
* ''Cut Piece'' (1965) – featuring
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
* ''Store Front'' (1965) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''With Love from Truman'' (1966, with
Charlotte Zwerin
Charlotte Zwerin (born Charlotte Mitchell, August 15, 1931January 22, 2004) was an American documentary film director and editor known for her work concerning artists and musicians. However, she is most known for her editing contributions to th ...
) – featuring
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
* ''
Salesman
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
'' (1968, with Charlotte Zwerin)
* ''
Gimme Shelter'' (1970, with Charlotte Zwerin) – featuring
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
* ''
Christo's Valley Curtain
''Christo's Valley Curtain'' is a 1974 American short documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles, about Christo and Jeanne-Claude's ''Valley Curtain'' project.
Accolades
It was nominated for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards ...
'' (1974, with Ellen Hovde) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''
Grey Gardens'' (1975, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer)
* "The Burks of Georgia" from ''Six American Families'' (1976, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer)
* ''
Running Fence'' (1978, with Charlotte Zwerin) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''
Muhammad and Larry'' (1980) – featuring
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
and
Larry Holmes
* ''
Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic'' (1985, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson, Pat Jaffe)
* ''
Ozawa Ozawa (written: or lit. "small swamp") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Eitaro Ozawa (1909-1988), Japanese actor
*Ichirō Ozawa (born 1942), Japanese politician
*Hideaki Ozawa (born 1974), Japanese football goalkee ...
'' (1986, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
* ''
Islands'' (1986, with Charlotte Zwerin) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''Christo in Paris'' (1990, with Deborah Dickson and Susan Froemke) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Filmography of Albert Maysles
* ''Psychiatry in Russia'' (1955)
* ''Russian Close-Up'' (1957)
* ''Six in Paris'' (1965) – as cinematographer for segment "Montparnasse-Levallois" written and directed by
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran ...
* ''
Monterey Pop
''Monterey Pop'' is a 1968 American concert film by D. A. Pennebaker that documents the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967. Among Pennebaker's several camera operators were fellow documentarians Richard Leacock and Albert Maysles. The pa ...
'' (1968) – as a cinematographer, with
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker (; July 15, 1925 – August 1, 2019) was an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of direct cinema. Performing arts and politics were his primary subjects. In 2013, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sci ...
as director
* ''Horowitz Plays Mozart'' (1987, with Susan Froemke, Charlotte Zwerin)
* ''Jessye Norman Sings Carmen'' (1989, with Susan Froemke)
* ''They Met in Japan'' (1989, with Susan Froemke)
* ''Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Returns to Russia'' (1991, with Susan Froemke,
Peter Gelb and Bob Eisenhardt)
* ''Abortion: Desperate Choices'' (1992, with Susan Froemke and Deborah Dickson)
* ''Baroque Duet'' (1992, with Susan Froemke,
Peter Gelb, Pat Jaffe)
* ''Accent on the Offbeat'' (1994, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
* ''Umbrellas'' (1995, with Henry Corra, Grahame Weinbren) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''Letting Go: A Hospice Journey'' (1996, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
* ''
When We Were Kings'' (1996) – as a cinematographer, with
Leon Gast
Leon Jacques Gast (March 30, 1936 – March 8, 2021) was an American documentary film director, producer, cinematographer, and editor. His documentary, ''When We Were Kings'' depicts the iconic heavyweight boxing match: The Rumble in the Jungle b ...
as director
* ''Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center'' (1997, with Susan Froemke, Bob Eisenhardt)
* ''
LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton'' (2000, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
* ''
The Beales of Grey Gardens
''The Beales of Grey Gardens'' is a documentary film by Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Ian Markiewicz, released in 2006.
Background
This film is a follow-up to the celebrated 1975 documentary ''Grey Gardens'' about Jackie Kennedy's aunt a ...
'' (2006, with Ian Markiewicz) – follow-up to ''Grey Gardens'' composed entirely of unused footage shot with David Maysles for the original film
* ''
The Gates
''The Gates'' were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along of p ...
'' (2007, with Antonio Ferrera) – featuring
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
* ''Sally Gross: The Pleasure of Stillness'' (2007)
* ''Close Up: Portraits'' (2008)
* ''Four Seasons Lodge'' (2008) – as a cinematographer, with
Andrew Jacobs as director
* ''
Rufus Wainwright: Milwaukee At Last'' (2009)
* ''Hollywood Renegade: The Life of Budd Schulberg'' (2009) – as a cinematographer, with Benn Schulberg as director
* ''
The Love We Make
''The Love We Make'' is a cinéma vérité documentary film by Albert Maysles. The film chronicles Paul McCartney's experiences in New York City after the September 11 attacks of 2001, following him as he prepared The Concert for New York City Oc ...
'' (2011, with Bradley Kaplan, Ian Markiewicz)
* ''
Iris'' (2014) – featuring
Iris Apfel
* ''In Transit'' (2015, with Lynn True, David Usui, Nelson Walker III, and Benjamin Wu)
In popular culture
A
2006 musical based on ''Grey Gardens'' premiered at Playwrights Horizons
and transferred to Broadway later that same year.
A dramatized version of the Maysles brothers making the Beales documentary appeared in the
2009 HBO film ''Grey Gardens''; actor
Arye Gross portrayed Albert and
Justin Louis
Louis Ferreira (born Luís Ferreira; born 20 February 1966) is a Canadian actor. Ferreira is known for his roles in ''Stargate Universe'' as Colonel Everett Young, serial killer Ray Prager in the first season of '' Durham County'', FBI Assistant ...
portrayed David.
In 2015 the IFC
mockumentary series ''
Documentary Now!
''Documentary Now!'' is an American mockumentary television series, created by Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and Rhys Thomas, that premiered on August 20, 2015, on IFC. Armisen and Hader star in many episodes, and Thomas and Alex Buono ...
'' paid homage to ''Grey Gardens'' with the episode "Sandy Passage" which follows two women named "Big Vivvy" and "Little Vivvy" and takes "An in depth look at the daily lives of two aging socialites and their crumbling estate."
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
* Maysles Films
*
*
Lifetime Achievement Award DetailsInterviewwith Albert Maysles in ''The Brooklyn Rail''
Finding aid to Albert and David Maysles papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maysles, Albert and David
American documentary film directors
American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Cinema pioneers
Artists from Boston
People from Brookline, Massachusetts
Sibling filmmakers
Sibling duos
United States National Medal of Arts recipients
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts
Film directors from Massachusetts
Primetime Emmy Award winners