John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films.
In 1947, he graduated from La Salle Military Academy in Oakdale, Long Island, New York.
Throughout the 1950s he directed over 140 episodes of shows like Playhouse 90, Climax!, and Danger, including The Comedian, written by Rod Serling and starring Mickey Rooney as a ragingly vicious television comedian. Frankenheimer's first theatrical film was The Young Stranger (1957), starring James MacArthur as the rebellious teenage son of a powerful Hollywood movie producer.
Frankenheimer returned to television during the late 1950s, moving to film permanently in 1961 with The Young Savages, in which he worked for the first time with Burt Lancaster in a story of a young boy murdered by a New York gang.
In 1951, he graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he had studied English.
Frankenheimer and producer George Axelrod bought Richard Condon's 1959 novel after it had already been turned down by many Hollywood studios.
Introducing methods of photographing high-speed auto racing that had never been seen before, mounting cameras on the cars, at full speed and putting the stars in the actual cars, instead of against rear-projections, the film was an international success and won three Oscars, for editing, sound, and sound effects. ===Late 1960s=== Frankenheimer's next film, 1967's all-star anti-war comedy The Extraordinary Seaman, starred David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda and Mickey Rooney.
But then came his final film, Path to War for HBO in 2002, which brought him back to his strengths – political machinations, 1960s America and character-based drama, and was nominated for numerous awards.
Frankenheimer returned to television during the late 1950s, moving to film permanently in 1961 with The Young Savages, in which he worked for the first time with Burt Lancaster in a story of a young boy murdered by a New York gang.
The finished film, released in 1962, was a huge success and was nominated for four Oscars, including one for Lancaster's performance. Frankenheimer was next hired by producer John Houseman to direct All Fall Down, a family drama starring Eva Marie Saint and Warren Beatty.
Kennedy during the making of The Manchurian Candidate in 1962.
Seconds was Frankenheimer and Howe's last film in black-and-white. ===Grand Prix=== Frankenheimer followed Seconds with his most spectacular production, 1966's Grand Prix.
Introducing methods of photographing high-speed auto racing that had never been seen before, mounting cameras on the cars, at full speed and putting the stars in the actual cars, instead of against rear-projections, the film was an international success and won three Oscars, for editing, sound, and sound effects. ===Late 1960s=== Frankenheimer's next film, 1967's all-star anti-war comedy The Extraordinary Seaman, starred David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda and Mickey Rooney.
In 1968, Kennedy asked Frankenheimer to make some commercials for use in the presidential campaign, at which he hoped to become the Democratic candidate.
On the night he was assassinated in June 1968, it was Frankenheimer who had driven Kennedy from Los Angeles Airport to the Ambassador Hotel for his acceptance speech. The Gypsy Moths was a romantic drama about a troupe of barnstorming skydivers and their impact on a small midwestern town.
The film failed to find an audience, but Frankenheimer claimed it was one of his favorites. ===1970s=== Frankenheimer followed this with I Walk the Line in 1970.
Next came a four-hour film of O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh, in 1973, starring Lee Marvin, and the decidedly offbeat 99 and 44/100% Dead, a crime black comedy starring Richard Harris. With his fluent French and knowledge of French culture, Frankenheimer was asked to direct French Connection II, set entirely in Marseille.
It was shot on location at the actual Super Bowl X in January 1976 in Miami, with the use of a real Goodyear Blimp.
He earlier had an uncredited cameo as a TV director in his 1977 film Black Sunday. ===Last years and death=== Frankenheimer's last theatrical film, 2000's Reindeer Games, starring Ben Affleck, underperformed.
It was not a commercial success. ===1990s=== Most of his 1980s films were less than successful, both critically and financially, but Frankenheimer was able to make a comeback in the 1990s by returning to his roots in television.
The film was released in 1982, along with his HBO television adaptation of the acclaimed play The Rainmaker. In 1985, Frankenheimer directed an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum bestseller The Holcroft Covenant, starring Michael Caine.
The film was released in 1982, along with his HBO television adaptation of the acclaimed play The Rainmaker. In 1985, Frankenheimer directed an adaptation of the Robert Ludlum bestseller The Holcroft Covenant, starring Michael Caine.
In 1990, he returned to the Cold War political thriller genre with The Fourth War with Roy Scheider (with whom Frankenheimer had worked previously on 52 Pick-Up) as a loose cannon Army colonel drawn into a dangerous personal war with a Soviet officer.
It was not a commercial success. ===1990s=== Most of his 1980s films were less than successful, both critically and financially, but Frankenheimer was able to make a comeback in the 1990s by returning to his roots in television.
As the 1990s drew to a close, he even had a rare acting role, appearing in a cameo as a U.S.
He directed two films for HBO in 1994: Against the Wall and The Burning Season that won him several awards and renewed acclaim.
The director also helmed two films for Turner Network Television, Andersonville (1996) and George Wallace (1997), that were highly praised. Frankenheimer's 1996 film The Island of Doctor Moreau, which he took over after the firing of original director Richard Stanley, was the cause of countless stories of production woes and personality clashes and received scathing reviews.
In an interview, Frankenheimer refused to discuss the film, saying only that he had a miserable time making it. However, his next film, 1998's Ronin, starring Robert De Niro, was a return to form, featuring Frankenheimer's now trademark elaborate car chases woven into a labyrinthine espionage plot.
He earlier had an uncredited cameo as a TV director in his 1977 film Black Sunday. ===Last years and death=== Frankenheimer's last theatrical film, 2000's Reindeer Games, starring Ben Affleck, underperformed.
One of Frankenheimer's last projects was the 2001 BMW action short-film Ambush for the promotional series The Hire, starring Clive Owen. Frankenheimer was scheduled to direct The Beginning, but it was announced before filming started that he was withdrawing, citing health concerns.
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films.
But then came his final film, Path to War for HBO in 2002, which brought him back to his strengths – political machinations, 1960s America and character-based drama, and was nominated for numerous awards.
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