Stuart Rosenberg (August 11, 1927 – March 15, 2007) was an American film and television director. He was most noted for his collaborations with actor
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...
, whom he directed in ''
Cool Hand Luke
''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American Prison film, prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Academy Awards, Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a pri ...
'' (1967), ''
WUSA'' (1970), ''
Pocket Money'' (1972), and ''
The Drowning Pool'' (1975). He was a five-time
Directors Guild of America Award nominee, and a
Primetime Emmy Award
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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
winner.
His other notable films included ''
Question 7'' (1961), ''
Voyage of the Damned
''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an Ensemble cast, all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, Lynne Frederick and Malco ...
'' (1976), ''
The Amityville Horror'' (1979), ''
Brubaker
''Brubaker'' is a 1980 American prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent pe ...
'' (1980) and ''
The Pope of Greenwich Village'' (1984).
[Noalnd, Claire (March 18, 2007)]
Stuart Rosenberg, 79; TV, film director.
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' Later in his career, he taught directing at the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
, where his students included
Todd Field and
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
.
[White, Anath (December 14, 2012]
The AFI Class of ‘92.
''RogerEbert.com''
Early life
Rosenberg was born to Jewish parents in
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
on August 11, 1927. He studied
Irish literature at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
,
and began working as an apprentice film editor while in graduate school.
Career
After advancing to film editor, he began directing with episodes of the television series ''
Decoy
A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''eenden kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to ...
'' (1957–1959), starring
Beverly Garland as an undercover police woman. It was the first police series on American television built around a female protagonist. Over the next two years, Rosenberg directed 15 episodes of the police-detective series ''
Naked City'' (1958–1963), which like ''Decoy'' was shot in New York City. Meanwhile, Rosenberg was then hired to direct his first film, ''
Murder, Inc.'' (1960), starring
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011) was an American film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Columbo (character), Lieutenant Columbo on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC series ''Columbo'' (196 ...
, but a strike by both the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
and the
Writers Guild resulted in his leaving the film and being replaced by its producer, Burt Balaban. Rosenberg returned to television, directing 15 episodes of ''
The Untouchables'', eight of the
anthology series
An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...
''
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
Presents the Chrysler Theatre'', five of ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...
'', and three of ''
The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'', along with episodes of ''
Adventures in Paradise'', ''
The Barbara Stanwyck Show'', ''
Ben Casey
''Ben Casey'' is an American medical drama television series that aired on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member ...
'', ''
Rawhide'' with
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...
, and Falk's ''
The Trials of O'Brien
''The Trials of O'Brien'' is a 1965 television series starring Peter Falk as sordid, Shakespeare-quoting lawyer Daniel J. "Danny" O'Brien, and featuring Elaine Stritch as his secretary "Miss G", and Joanna Barnes as his ex-wife Katie.
The ser ...
''. He won a 1963
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
for directing "The Madman", one of his 19 episodes of the courtroom drama ''
The Defenders''.
Following the U.S.-German co-production ''
Question 7'' (1961), filmed in West Berlin, Rosenberg shot the 1965 TV movie ''Memorandum for a Spy'' and the 1966 telefilm ''
Fame Is the Name of the Game''. In July 1965, he was signed to a non-exclusive contract with actor Jack Lemmon's independent film production company, Jalem Productions, which called for the director to make for them three pictures in five years. This led to his major-studio distributed debut, the
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and activist. He was the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Paul Newman, numerous awards ...
hit ''
Cool Hand Luke
''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American Prison film, prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Academy Awards, Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a pri ...
'' (1967). Rosenberg had come across
Donn Pearce's
chain gang novel and developed the film with actor
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...
's production company Jalem. He was next announced to direct Lemmon in the comedy film ''The Job Hunter'', based on a novel by Allen R. Dodd, for Jalem Productions-Warner Brothers Pictures, but this was abandoned. Also for Jalem Productions, he made ''
The April Fools'' (1969), with French actress
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress. She is considered one of the greatest European actresses on film. In 2020, ''The New York Times'' ranked her as one of th ...
in her American debut opposite
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, he was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in comedy-drama films. He received num ...
(who plays the first Rosenberg lead character named H. Brubaker).
Other Rosenberg films include the Newman movies ''
WUSA'' (1970), ''
Pocket Money'' (1972) and ''
The Drowning Pool'' (1975); the
Walter Matthau police-detective thriller ''
The Laughing Policeman'' (1973); the
Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson (born Charles Dennis Buchinsky; November 3, 1921 – August 30, 2003) was an American actor. He was known for his roles in action films and his "granite features and brawny physique". Bronson was born into extreme poverty in ...
action picture ''
Love and Bullets'' (1979); and another action movie ''
Let's Get Harry
''Let's Get Harry'' is a 1986 American adventure film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Michael Schoeffling, Thomas F. Wilson, Glenn Frey, Rick Rossovich, Ben Johnson (actor), Ben Johnson, Mark Harmon, Gary Busey, and Robert Duvall. The fil ...
'' (1986), for which Rosenberg used the pseudonym
Alan Smithee. He was famous for straight dramas and especially crime films. The most acclaimed movie he did after ''Cool Hand Luke'' was ''
The Pope of Greenwich Village''. Years later, Rosenberg replaced
Bob Rafelson on the prison movie ''
Brubaker
''Brubaker'' is a 1980 American prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent pe ...
'' (1980).
He made his last film, the independent drama ''
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys'' in 1991.
In 1992, Rosenberg became a teacher at the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
. Among his students were
Todd Field,
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...
,
Mark Waters
Mark Stephen Waters (born June 30, 1964) is an American director.
Early life
Waters was raised in South Bend, Indiana. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania in theatre arts before studying at the American Film Institute. When studying a ...
,
Scott Silver
Scott Silver (born November 30, 1964) is an American screenwriter and film director.
Silver is best known for such films as ''Johns (film), Johns'', ''The Mod Squad (film), The Mod Squad'', ''8 Mile (film), 8 Mile'', ''The Fighter'', for which h ...
,
Doug Ellin
Douglas Reed Ellin (born ) is an American screenwriter and film and TV director, known best for creating the HBO television series '' Entourage''. Ellin also served as executive producer, director, head writer and supporting actor for the seri ...
and
Rob Schmidt
Rob Schmidt Barracano (born September 25, 1965) is an American filmmaker. His film credits include ''Wrong Turn (2003 film), Wrong Turn'' and ''Crime and Punishment in Suburbia''. He also created a pilot called American Town for Twentieth Cent ...
.
[Kehr, Dave (March 19, 2007)]
Stuart Rosenberg, Director of TV and Films, Dies at 79.
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
Personal life and legacy
Rosenberg died in 2007 of a heart attack at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was survived by his wife Margot Pohoryles, whom he had met at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
; son Benjamin Rosenberg, a
first assistant director; as well as four grandchildren.
Filmography
*''
Murder, Inc.'' (1960)
*''
Question 7'' (1961)
*''
Cool Hand Luke
''Cool Hand Luke'' is a 1967 American Prison film, prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Academy Awards, Oscar-winning performance. Newman stars in the title role as Luke, a pri ...
'' (1967)
*''
The April Fools'' (1969)
*''
Move
Move or The Move may refer to:
Brands and enterprises
* Move (company), an American online real estate company
* Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer
* Daihatsu Move, a Japanese car
* PlayStation Move, a motion ...
'' (1970)
*''
WUSA'' (1970)
*''
Pocket Money'' (1972)
*''
The Laughing Policeman'' (1973)
*''
The Drowning Pool'' (1975)
*''
Voyage of the Damned
''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an Ensemble cast, all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, Lynne Frederick and Malco ...
'' (1976)
*''
Love and Bullets'' (1979)
*''
The Amityville Horror'' (1979)
*''
Brubaker
''Brubaker'' is a 1980 American prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent pe ...
'' (1980)
*''
The Pope of Greenwich Village'' (1984)
*''
Let's Get Harry
''Let's Get Harry'' is a 1986 American adventure film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Michael Schoeffling, Thomas F. Wilson, Glenn Frey, Rick Rossovich, Ben Johnson (actor), Ben Johnson, Mark Harmon, Gary Busey, and Robert Duvall. The fil ...
'' (1986)
*''
My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys'' (1991)
Awards
*1961
National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...
Winner, Best Film of the Year for ''Question 7'' and selected for Top Ten Films of the Year for ''Question 7''
*1961
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
OCIC Award, for ''Question 7''
*1961 Berlin International Film Festival Youth Film Award, Best Feature Film Suitable for Young People, for ''Question 7''
*1961 nomination, Berlin International Film Festival
Golden Bear
The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...
, for ''Question 7''
*1963 Emmy Award, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama, for ''The Defenders'': "The Madman"
*1967 nomination,
Directors Guild of America Award: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures, for: ''Cool Hand Luke''
*1977 nomination,
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...
Awards: Best Picture of Year for ''Voyage of the Damned''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenberg, Stuart
1927 births
2007 deaths
Film directors from California
Film directors from New York City
American television directors
Primetime Emmy Award winners
American film editors
Jewish American film people
20th-century American Jews
21st-century American Jews
New York University alumni