Fred Zinnemann

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Alfred Fred Zinnemann April 29 1907 March 14 1997 born in the former AustroHungarian Empire was an American film director He won four Academy Awards for directing films in various genres including thrillers westerns film noir and play adaptations He made 25 feature films during his 50year career Zinnemann was among the first directors to insist on using authentic locations and for mixing stars with civilians to give his films more realism Within the film industry he was considered a maverick for taking risks and thereby creating unique films with many of his stories being dramas about lone and principled individuals tested by tragic events According to one historian Zinnemanns style demonstrated his sense of psychological realism and his apparent determination to make worthwhile pictures that are nevertheless highly entertaining Some of his most notable films were The Men 1950 High Noon 1952 From Here to Eternity 1953 Oklahoma 1955 The Nuns Story 1959 A Man For All Seasons 1966 The Day of the Jackal 1973 and Julia 1977 His films have received 65 Oscar nominations winning 24 Zinnemann directed and introduced a number of stars in their US film debuts including Marlon Brando Rod Steiger Pier Angeli Julie Harris Brandon deWilde Montgomery Clift Shirley Jones and Meryl Streep He directed 19 actors to Oscar nominations including Frank Sinatra Montgomery Clift Audrey Hepburn Glynis Johns Paul Scofield Robert Shaw Wendy Hiller Jason Robards Vanessa Redgrave Jane Fonda Gary Cooper and Maximilian Schell Fred Zinnemann died in London England in 1997 He was 89 years old