Latest news with #RobertBenton
Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Robert Benton obituary: director of Kramer vs. Kramer
Robert Benton wrote his first screenplay, Bonnie and Clyde, after getting fired from Esquire magazine: there was a retrospective on Alfred Hitchcock at New York's Museum of Modern Art and he had spent afternoon after afternoon watching films with his colleague David Newman, a fellow cinephile, when he should have been at his desk. Benton had already worked with Newman on an article for Esquire called The New Sentimentality, which highlighted cultural changes in American life in the 1960s, and persuaded him to collaborate on a film. 'I am dyslexic,' Benton explained. 'I cannot spell or punctuate. I knew a young editor at Esquire, a wonderful writer. I sold him on the glamorous life of the Hollywood screenwriter.' The New Sentimentality had helped
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Robert Benton, Oscar-winning 'Kramer vs. Kramer' filmmaker and screenwriter, dies at 92
Robert Benton, the Texas-born filmmaker who surpassed the difficulties of severe dyslexia in his childhood to become the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter behind films including "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Bonnie and Clyde," has died. John Benton, the filmmaker's son, said the director died Sunday at his home in Manhattan of "natural causes." He was 92. Read more: James Foley, filmmaker who directed Madonna music videos and 'Fifty Shades' sequels, dies at 71 Robert Benton, during a career that spanned from the mid-1960s to the early aughts, was best known for projects that explored common lives and the connections between family and community, from the fallout of a divorce in "Kramer vs. Kramer" to the toll of loss on a single mother in "Places in the Heart." He was nominated for seven Oscars (including a co-nomination with late scribe David Newman for "Bonnie and Clyde") and won three, among them a directing award for "Kramer vs. Kramer." He also received writing Oscars for "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Places in the Heart." Veteran actors including Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Sally Field also enjoyed Oscars glory for their work in Benton's films. Newman received a lead actor nomination for "Nobody's Fool" and Hoffman and Streep each won their first Oscars for "Kramer vs. Kramer." Field won the lead actress prize for her work as single mother Edna Spalding in the Great Depression-set "Places in the Heart." "I loved Robert Benton with my whole heart. He was a rare artist and equally rare human," Field said to The Times on Wednesday. "I was lucky to know him. There will never be another. Rest, if you can, Benton.' His Oscar-nominated projects also include "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Late Show" and "Nobody's Fool." Read more: A storyteller focused on the ties that bind Benton, deemed "one of our last remaining masters of humanist drama" in 2007 by former Times film critic Patrick Goldstein, was born in Waxahachie, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1932. He struggled with reading in his childhood and found comfort in drawing, which he said "allowed me to extend my attention span and rejoin the world.' His passion for film and knack for storytelling can be traced back to trips to the cinema with his father. "I became a storyteller just watching the stories on screen," he recalled in 2007. He attended University of Texas and Columbia University and served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956. Before breaking into the entertainment industry in 1964 with the short film "A Texas Romance, 1909," Benton moved to New York and was an art director for Esquire magazine. During his tenure, he helped the outlet launch its Dubious Achievement Awards with former colleague and 'Bonnie and Clyde" co-writer David Newman. He told The Times that his career in the editorial world encouraged him to move past certain creative inhibitions, which would later serve him in filmmaking, specifically for "Bonnie and Clyde." The classic film, which premiered in 1967, was directed by Arthur Penn and starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the titular crime duo. Read more: Ruth Buzzi, who played a purse-wielding spinster on 'Laugh-In,' dies at 88 "It taught you to be a lot less constipated about having a bad idea or being made fun of," he said of his time at Esquire. "You'd just cut loose.' After the success — and critical scrutiny of brutal violence — of "Bonnie and Clyde," Benton made his feature directorial debut in 1972 with "Bad Company," according to IMDb. He reunited with David Newman to co-write the western, which starred Jeff Bridges. For Benton, writing and directing films would prove lucrative and he would hold directing and writing credits for films including later projects "Still of the Night" (which reunited him with Streep), "Nadine," "Nobody's Fool" and "Twilight." "Kramer vs. Kramer," which premiered in 1979, was an adaptation of Avery Corman's novel of the same name. The film starred Hoffman as an advertising executive and Streep as his ex-wife who navigate the throes of divorce and its effects on their young son. Despite often pulling double duty, Benton told The Times he saw himself "like Dracula — I don't leave a trace in the mirror," and said he is "shaped by who I collaborate with." Notable collaborators included Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman and Radha Mitchell, among others. Read more: Priscilla Pointer, 'Dallas' and 'Carrie' actor and mom to Oscar nominee Amy Irving, dies at 100 Later in life, Benton struggled to earn the same critical acclaim that defined his film career. "Nobody's Fool," which starred Paul Newman as an aging trouble-maker, earned Newman his second-to-last Oscar nomination and also starred Bruce Willis and Jessica Tandy. Benton was nominated for adapted screenplay. The 2005 Christmas action-comedy "The Ice Harvest" was Benton's final writing credit and 2007's "Feast of Love," starring Freeman and Mitchell, marked his final directing project. Ahead of the film's release, Benton told The Times about his more laissez-faire approach to filmmaking. 'The gift of getting older is the gift of making things simpler,' Benton said. 'I used to agonize over things. I worry a lot less today. You realize that what shows up in the process, that might take you by surprise, is often better than what you'd planned for.' Benton, who briefly dated writer-activist Gloria Steinem, married artist Sallie Rendigs in 1964. She died in 2023 at age 88, according to the Hollywood Reporter. They had one son. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Sign up for Indie Focus, a weekly newsletter about movies and what's going on in the wild world of cinema. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Robert Benton, Oscar-winning ‘Kramer vs. Kramer' filmmaker and screenwriter, dies at 92
Robert Benton, the Texas-born filmmaker who surpassed the difficulties of severe dyslexia in his childhood to become the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter behind films including 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and 'Bonnie and Clyde,' has died. John Benton, the filmmaker's son, said the director died Sunday at his home in Manhattan of 'natural causes.' He was 92. Robert Benton, during a career that spanned from the mid-1960s to the early aughts, was best known for projects that explored common lives and the connections between family and community, from the fallout of a divorce in 'Kramer vs. Kramer' to the toll of loss on a single mother in 'Places in the Heart.' He was nominated for seven Oscars (including a co-nomination with late scribe David Newman for 'Bonnie and Clyde') and won three, among them a directing award for 'Kramer vs. Kramer.' He also received writing Oscars for 'Kramer vs. Kramer' and 'Places in the Heart.' Veteran actors including Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Sally Field also enjoyed Oscars glory for their work in Benton's films. Newman received a lead actor nomination for 'Nobody's Fool' and Hoffman and Streep each won their first Oscars for 'Kramer vs. Kramer.' Field won the lead actress prize for her work as single mother Edna Spalding in the Great Depression-set 'Places in the Heart.' 'I loved Robert Benton with my whole heart. He was a rare artist and equally rare human,' Field said to The Times on Wednesday. 'I was lucky to know him. There will never be another. Rest, if you can, Benton.' His Oscar-nominated projects also include 'Bonnie and Clyde,' 'The Late Show' and 'Nobody's Fool.' Benton, deemed 'one of our last remaining masters of humanist drama' in 2007 by former Times film critic Patrick Goldstein, was born in Waxahachie, Texas, on Sept. 29, 1932. He struggled with reading in his childhood and found comfort in drawing, which he said 'allowed me to extend my attention span and rejoin the world.' His passion for film and knack for storytelling can be traced back to trips to the cinema with his father. 'I became a storyteller just watching the stories on screen,' he recalled in 2007. He attended University of Texas and Columbia University and served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956. Before breaking into the entertainment industry in 1964 with the short film 'A Texas Romance, 1909,' Benton moved to New York and was an art director for Esquire magazine. During his tenure, he helped the outlet launch its Dubious Achievement Awards with former colleague and 'Bonnie and Clyde' co-writer David Newman. He told The Times that his career in the editorial world encouraged him to move past certain creative inhibitions, which would later serve him in filmmaking, specifically for 'Bonnie and Clyde.' The classic film, which premiered in 1967, was directed by Arthur Penn and starred Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty as the titular crime duo. 'It taught you to be a lot less constipated about having a bad idea or being made fun of,' he said of his time at Esquire. 'You'd just cut loose.' After the success — and critical scrutiny of brutal violence — of 'Bonnie and Clyde,' Benton made his feature directorial debut in 1972 with 'Bad Company,' according to IMDb. He reunited with David Newman to co-write the western, which starred Jeff Bridges. For Benton, writing and directing films would prove lucrative and he would hold directing and writing credits for films including later projects 'Still of the Night' (which reunited him with Streep), 'Nadine,' 'Nobody's Fool' and 'Twilight.' 'Kramer vs. Kramer,' which premiered in 1979, was an adaptation of Avery Corman's novel of the same name. The film starred Hoffman as an advertising executive and Streep as his ex-wife who navigate the throes of divorce and its effects on their young son. Despite often pulling double duty, Benton told The Times he saw himself 'like Dracula — I don't leave a trace in the mirror,' and said he is 'shaped by who I collaborate with.' Notable collaborators included Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman and Radha Mitchell, among others. Later in life, Benton struggled to earn the same critical acclaim that defined his film career. 'Nobody's Fool,' which starred Paul Newman as an aging trouble-maker, earned Newman his second-to-last Oscar nomination and also starred Bruce Willis and Jessica Tandy. Benton was nominated for adapted screenplay. The 2005 Christmas action-comedy 'The Ice Harvest' was Benton's final writing credit and 2007's 'Feast of Love,' starring Freeman and Mitchell, marked his final directing project. Ahead of the film's release, Benton told The Times about his more laissez-faire approach to filmmaking. 'The gift of getting older is the gift of making things simpler,' Benton said. 'I used to agonize over things. I worry a lot less today. You realize that what shows up in the process, that might take you by surprise, is often better than what you'd planned for.' Benton, who briefly dated writer-activist Gloria Steinem, married artist Sallie Rendigs in 1964. She died in 2023 at age 88, according to the Hollywood Reporter. They had one son. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Robert Benton obituary
Cultured, modest, intelligent: not words that immediately spring to mind when describing most Hollywood moviemakers. But for the writer-director Robert Benton, who has died aged 92 they are entirely apt. Combined with a sparse output, those qualities kept him on the periphery of mainstream cinema and its publicity treadmill – despite Oscar-winning successes including Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984), plus one of the most celebrated debuts in movie history when, at 35, he won his first Oscar nomination as co-writer of Bonnie and Clyde (1967). He was 40 when he made the Jeff Bridges western Bad Company – the first of only 11 feature film directorial credits. Born in a small town not far from Dallas, Texas, to Dorothy (nee Spaulding) and Ellery Benton, who worked for a telephone company, Robert studied art at the state university before joining the army, where his talent found a modest outlet in the painting of dioramas. He subsequently studied at Columbia University before joining the art department of Esquire magazine, eventually becoming a contributing editor until he finally abandoned journalism in 1972. During those years he formed two relationships crucial to his life and career. The first was with the artist Sallie Rendig, who illustrated his children's book, Little Brother No More, in 1960. Four years later they were married. He also met David Newman, a slightly younger fellow editor on Esquire and they became regular collaborators, initially on books and then on an unsuccessful Broadway show, It's a Bird … It's a Plane … It's Superman. When they wrote a film script it was with the French new wave director François Truffaut in mind, but luckily Bonnie and Clyde became a project for director Arthur Penn and actor-producer Warren Beatty. This highly original take on 1930s rural lawlessness blended grotesque comedy with brutal actuality and became one of the most imitated of all movies. It enjoyed the rare distinction of being a cult success that moved on to become a critical and commercial hit. The duo, who won two Writers Guild of America awards for best drama and best original screenplay, stayed in their day jobs while working on their next project, another brilliant, literary screenplay for a quirky western. There Was a Crooked Man (1970) starred Henry Fonda as a prison governor and Kirk Douglas as a devious convict. It was innovatory and witty, giving colourful roles to the fine supporting cast, just as its predecessor had done. Having up-ended aspects of the western and gangster genres, the pair were called on for a script indebted to the screwball comedies of the 1930s in general and Bringing Up Baby in particular. Their screenplay, polished by Buck Henry, became What's Up Doc? (1972) and won the WGA's award for best comedy. After contributing to Oh! Calcutta! that same year, they wrote what became Benton's first – and most original – movie. Bad Company (1972) had a youthful cast headed by Jeff Bridges and Barry Brown as draft dodgers from the American civil war, travelling west and leading a small gang into lawlessness on their traumatic journey. Once again the work took an almost perversely original view of its subject, blending dark comedy with a vivid portrait of a world where poverty is rife, thievery is commonplace and the myth of chivalry out west – perpetuated by movies – is completely demolished. Benton gave up journalism, having enjoyed several productive and profitable years, although it was a further five years before his next movie, The Late Show (1977), written by him and produced by Robert Altman. Showing that nothing was sacred, Benton turned his attention to the private eye works of the 1930s and 40s with a sympathetic, even nostalgic, film that added a wryly comic twist to familiar characters. The hard-boiled detective had aged, there was a capricious modernity to the narrative and an elegance in the performances, the script and direction typical of his best work. He received an Oscar nomination for the film and a lucrative commission to help on the screenplay for the 1978 Superman, directed by Richard Donner. After that blockbuster Benton made his first adaptation of a novel for the screen and the result remains his most famous work. Although inherently conventional, Kramer vs. Kramer transcended melodrama to become, in the words of one commentator, 'an upmarket new-fashioned tearjerker'. Its story, of a couple who divorce and start a battle over the custody of their son, struck a chord with audiences and with the less cynical critics. It also struck gold at the Oscars, with Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman collecting statuettes and Benton taking two, for best direction and best adapted screenplay. As usual he had surrounded himself with the cream of the movie business. His rapport with actors meant that stars including Streep, Bridges, Hoffman, Bruce Willis and Paul Newman returned to work with him, as did the composer Howard Shore and designer Paul Sylbert, while the great cameraman Néstor Almendros shot five of his movies, before his untimely death in 1992 after filming with Benton on Billy Bathgate. Despite the success of Kramer, Benton took time out before his next project and, interestingly, never looked to television or the theatre to mop up periods of inactivity. In 1982, another genre fell under his acquisitive gaze and, reunited with Streep, he wrote and directed the thriller Still of the Night. Some critics found Alfred Hitchcock's influence oppressive and the story, of a psychiatrist who falls in love with his possibly murderous patient, conventional. The literary screenplay allowed the actors to adopt an overly serious tone for what was an old-fashioned suspense story brought into the 1980s. Perhaps to shake off the claustrophobia of that movie, Benton headed for his native Texas and a sentimental story, which offered his lead actor, Sally Field, a heaven-sent opportunity to plunder Oscar-ville. It was a chance she successfully took through playing a tough, put-upon farmer battling against the Depression. Places in the Heart was filmed in and around Benton's home town, drawing on locations and values of a time past and containing specific references to his ancestors. The highly personal work gained him another Oscar, for the screenplay, plus the Berlin festival Silver Bear for best direction. Benton remained in Texas for Nadine (1987), a movie with roots in the screwball comedies and thrillers of Hollywood's golden age that reunited him with Bridges. Considered a comparative misfire, it had admirers but proved difficult to assess, since various cuts gave the movie running times of between 78 and 88 minutes. The gap between this mild-mannered movie and Billy Bathgate (1991) was several years, and his ambitious return to period-set gangsterdom failed commercially. It was the first time that he had worked as a director for hire, from a discursive screenplay by Tom Stoppard based on EL Doctorow's novel. Hoffman took the lead, giving an intriguingly mannered performance as the vicious hoodlum Dutch Schulz. Visually it was memorable, but audiences were mystified by the sometimes witty and oblique tone, used as they were to more visceral depictions of 30s gangsterdom. However, Benton was not a director given to compromise. His penultimate movie, Nobody's Fool (1994), was a characteristically graceful work, starring Newman as a wilful 60-year-old living alone in a small town, forced to confront his alienation by the return of his son. Benton introduced personal elements into his screenplay – not least for Newman, whose own estranged son had killed himself, and for Jessica Tandy as an elderly woman facing death. Critically the film was well received, but audiences showed scant regard for such a thoughtful character study. Newman received an Oscar nomination for his cleverly nuanced performance, and four years later made yet another sortie from 'retirement' to star in Twilight, the director's second private eye movie. Heading a cast that included Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon and James Garner, Newman was well cast as another ageing, alcoholic misfit – a detective living with a terminally ill actor and his wife, embroiled in a complicated blackmail scam. Co-scripted with Richard Russo, whose novel was the basis of Nobody's Fool, it owed much to 40s noir movies, but at 90 minutes seemed leisurely and was subject to postproduction editing. Praised for its atmosphere, laconic dialogue and ensemble acting, it proved overly sophisticated for modern-day cinemagoers. The same could be said of his next film, The Human Stain (2003), which he directed, but did not write, from a novel by Philip Roth. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, it was an intriguing story of a distinguished academic who for years has hidden his racial origins. The film was crafted with Benton's usual skill but was not a commercial success. Two years later he was reunited with his friend Russo on the screenplay of The Ice Harvest, a lively thriller with a witty and literate script directed by Harold Ramis. His final directorial credit was on a meditative film, Feast of Love (2007), concerning four different couples. It was not well received critically and took less than $6m worldwide. However, it could not detract from the brilliant Bad Company, the witty homages to various film genres and the Oscar-winning successes of Kramer vs. Kramer and Places in the Heart by one of Hollywood's most independent and original writer-directors. Sallie died in 2023. Benton is survived by their son, John. Robert Douglas Benton, film writer and director, born 29 September 1932; died 11 May 2025
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Robert Benton, Oscar-winning director of ‘Kramer vs. Kramer', dies at 92
Robert Benton, the three-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker known for directing the 1979 best picture winner Kramer vs. Kramer and co-writing the groundbreaking Bonnie and Clyde, died Sunday in Manhattan. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his assistant and manager, Marisa Forzano. Benton's career spanned more than four decades, during which he earned acclaim for both his writing and directing. Beginning his professional life as art director at Esquire magazine, Benton partnered early with colleague David Newman. Their writing collaboration led to the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, which, after initial rejections, became a cultural landmark and earned them an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Benton made his directorial debut with 1972's Bad Company and gained wider recognition with The Late Show (1977), a noir-tinged detective film starring Art Carney and Lily Tomlin. His major breakthrough came with Kramer vs. Kramer, a drama about divorce and fatherhood starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. The film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director for Benton, and Best Adapted Screenplay. He continued to write and direct several character-driven dramas. Places in the Heart (1984), inspired by his Texas upbringing, earned him another Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and brought Sally Field her second Best Actress win. Later films included Nobody's Fool (1994), Twilight (1998), and The Human Stain (2003). While not all were box office successes, they were often praised for their strong performances and thoughtful writing. Throughout his career, Benton was recognized for his contributions to film. He received the Writers Guild of America's Ian McLellan Hunter Award in 1995 and the Laurel Award for screenwriting in 2007. Born in Waxahachie, Texas, Benton studied at the University of Texas and Columbia University. Before moving into film, he worked in publishing and aspired to be a painter. He is survived by his son, John.
