Alan J. Pakula
Encyclopedia
Alan Jay Pakula was an America
n film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.
department at Warner Brothers. In 1957, he undertook his first production role for Paramount Pictures
. In 1962, he produced To Kill a Mockingbird
, for which he was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. In 1969, he directed his first feature, The Sterile Cuckoo
, starring Liza Minnelli
.
In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoia
trilogy". Klute
, the story of a relationship between a private eye (played by Donald Sutherland
) and a call girl (played by Jane Fonda
, who won an Oscar
for her performance), was a commercial and critical success. This was followed in 1974 by The Parallax View
starring Warren Beatty
, a labyrinthine post-Watergate
thriller involving political assassinations. The film has been noted for its experimental use of hypnotic imagery in a celebrated film-within-a-film sequence in which the protagonist is inducted into the Parallax Corporation, whose main, albeit non-ostensible, enterprise is domestic terrorism.
Finally, in 1976, Pakula rounded out the "trilogy" with All the President's Men
, based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written by Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein
, who were played in the movie by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. It was another commercial hit, considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best thrillers of the 1970s.
Pakula scored another hit in 1982 with Sophie's Choice
, starring Meryl Streep
. His screenplay, based on the novel by William Styron
, was nominated for an Academy Award. Later commercial successes included Presumed Innocent
, based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow
, and another political thriller, The Pelican Brief
, an adaptation of John Grisham
's bestseller.
Goldstein) and Paul Pakula. He was educated at The Hill School
, Pottstown, PA and Yale University
, where he majored in drama
. From October 19, 1963 until 1971, Pakula was married to actress Hope Lange
. He was married to his second wife, Hannah Cohn Boorstin, from 1973 until his death in 1998.
. He was 70 years old. A driver in front of him struck a metal pipe, which went through Pakula's windshield, struck him in the head, and caused him to swerve off the road and into a fence. He was killed instantly.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n film director, writer and producer noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.
Career
Pakula started his Hollywood career as an assistant in the cartoonCartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
department at Warner Brothers. In 1957, he undertook his first production role for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. In 1962, he produced To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird (film)
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch....
, for which he was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. In 1969, he directed his first feature, The Sterile Cuckoo
The Sterile Cuckoo
The Sterile Cuckoo , released in the UK as Pookie, is a theatrical release feature film released by Paramount Pictures. It tells the story of an eccentric young couple whose relationship deepens despite their differences and inadequacies, and stars Liza Minnelli, Wendell Burton, and Tim...
, starring Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
.
In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
trilogy". Klute
Klute
Klute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula.Klute was the first...
, the story of a relationship between a private eye (played by Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
) and a call girl (played by Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda is an American actress, writer, political activist, former fashion model, and fitness guru. She rose to fame in the 1960s with films such as Barbarella and Cat Ballou. She has won two Academy Awards and received several other movie awards and nominations during more than 50 years as an...
, who won an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for her performance), was a commercial and critical success. This was followed in 1974 by The Parallax View
The Parallax View
The Parallax View is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn and William Daniels. The film was adapted by David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr and an uncredited Robert Towne from the 1970 novel by Loren Singer...
starring Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, a labyrinthine post-Watergate
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
thriller involving political assassinations. The film has been noted for its experimental use of hypnotic imagery in a celebrated film-within-a-film sequence in which the protagonist is inducted into the Parallax Corporation, whose main, albeit non-ostensible, enterprise is domestic terrorism.
Finally, in 1976, Pakula rounded out the "trilogy" with All the President's Men
All the President's Men (film)
All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post...
, based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written by Bob Woodward
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward is an American investigative journalist and non-fiction author. He has worked for The Washington Post since 1971 as a reporter, and is currently an associate editor of the Post....
and Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
, who were played in the movie by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman. It was another commercial hit, considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best thrillers of the 1970s.
Pakula scored another hit in 1982 with Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice (film)
Sophie's Choice is a 1982 American romantic drama film that tells the story of a Polish immigrant, Sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in Brooklyn. The film stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Peter MacNicol. Alan J...
, starring Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
. His screenplay, based on the novel by William Styron
William Styron
William Clark Styron, Jr. was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work.For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, which included...
, was nominated for an Academy Award. Later commercial successes included Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent (film)
Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress....
, based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow
Scott Turow
Scott F. Turow is an American author and a practicing lawyer. Turow has written eight fiction and two nonfiction books, which have been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over 25 million copies...
, and another political thriller, The Pelican Brief
The Pelican Brief (film)
The Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham...
, an adaptation of John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
's bestseller.
Personal life
Pakula was born in The Bronx, New York to parents of Polish Jewish descent, Jeanette (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Goldstein) and Paul Pakula. He was educated at The Hill School
The Hill School
The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia....
, Pottstown, PA and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he majored in drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. From October 19, 1963 until 1971, Pakula was married to actress Hope Lange
Hope Lange
Hope Elise Ross Lange was an American stage, film, and television actress.- Early life :Lange was born into a theatrical family in Redding, Connecticut...
. He was married to his second wife, Hannah Cohn Boorstin, from 1973 until his death in 1998.
Death
Pakula died on November 19, 1998 in a freak car accident on the Long Island Expressway in Melville, New YorkMelville, New York
Melville is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, 14,533 people resided there.-Location:...
. He was 70 years old. A driver in front of him struck a metal pipe, which went through Pakula's windshield, struck him in the head, and caused him to swerve off the road and into a fence. He was killed instantly.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Fear Strikes Out Fear Strikes Out Fear Strikes Out is a dramatic film depicting the life and career of American baseball player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's autobiography Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story. The film stars Anthony Perkins as Piersall and Karl Malden as his father, and it was directed by Robert... |
Producer |
| 1962 | To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird (film) To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel of the same name directed by Robert Mulligan. It stars Mary Badham in the role of Scout and Gregory Peck in the role of Atticus Finch.... |
Producer |
| 1963 | Love with the Proper Stranger Love with the Proper Stranger Love with the Proper Stranger is a 1963 romantic comedy drama film made by Pakula-Mulligan Productions and Boardwalk Productions and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula from a screenplay by Arnold Schulman.The film stars Natalie Wood,... |
Producer |
| 1965 | Baby the Rain Must Fall Baby the Rain Must Fall Baby the Rain Must Fall is a 1965 American drama film starring Steve McQueen, directed by Robert Mulligan. Dramatist Horton Foote, who wrote the screenplay, based it on his play The Travelling Lady.-Plot:... |
Producer |
| Inside Daisy Clover Inside Daisy Clover Inside Daisy Clover is a 1965 American drama film based on the 1963 novel by Gavin Lambert. It stars Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowall and Ruth Gordon in her Academy Award nominated role.- Plot :... |
Producer | |
| 1967 | Up the Down Staircase Up the Down Staircase (film) Up the Down Staircase is a 1967 drama film about the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher played by Sandy Dennis. Tad Mosel wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bel Kaufman.-Cast:... |
Producer |
| 1968 | The Stalking Moon The Stalking Moon The Stalking Moon is a 1968 western film in Technicolor starring Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. It is directed by Robert Mulligan and based on the novel of the same name by T.V. Olsen.-Plot:... |
Producer |
| 1969 | The Sterile Cuckoo The Sterile Cuckoo The Sterile Cuckoo , released in the UK as Pookie, is a theatrical release feature film released by Paramount Pictures. It tells the story of an eccentric young couple whose relationship deepens despite their differences and inadequacies, and stars Liza Minnelli, Wendell Burton, and Tim... |
Director, producer |
| 1971 | Klute Klute Klute is a 1971 film which tells the story of a prostitute who assists a detective in solving a missing persons case. It stars Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi and Roy Scheider. The movie was written by Andy Lewis and Dave Lewis and directed by Alan J. Pakula.Klute was the first... |
Director, producer |
| 1973 | Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing Love and Pain And The Whole Damn Thing is a 1973 American film directed by Alan J. Pakula. It is often categorized as a drama, but contains many comic elements.-Plot:... |
Director, producer |
| 1974 | The Parallax View The Parallax View The Parallax View is a 1974 American thriller film directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn and William Daniels. The film was adapted by David Giler, Lorenzo Semple Jr and an uncredited Robert Towne from the 1970 novel by Loren Singer... |
Director, producer |
| 1976 | All the President's Men All the President's Men (film) All the President's Men is a 1976 Academy Award-winning political thriller film based on the 1974 non-fiction book of the same name by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post... |
Director |
| 1978 | Comes a Horseman Comes a Horseman Comes a Horseman is a 1978 film starring James Caan, Jane Fonda, Jason Robards, and Richard Farnsworth.The movie, set in the American West of the 1940s, tells the story of two ranchers whose small operation is threatened both by economic hardship and the expansionist dreams of a local land baron... |
Director |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Director, producer |
| 1981 | Rollover Rollover (film) Rollover is a 1981 political and financial thriller directed by Alan J. Pakula and starring Jane Fonda and Kris Kristofferson.-Plot summary:... |
Director |
| 1982 | Sophie's Choice Sophie's Choice (film) Sophie's Choice is a 1982 American romantic drama film that tells the story of a Polish immigrant, Sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in Brooklyn. The film stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Peter MacNicol. Alan J... |
Director, producer, writer |
| 1986 | Dream Lover Dream Lover (1986 film) Dream Lover is a 1986 thriller film about a woman who undergoes sleep deprivation therapy after being attacked in her apartment - with unexpected results. The film was directed by Alan J. Pakula, and stars Kristy McNichol, Ben Masters, and Joseph Culp... |
Director, producer |
| 1987 | Orphans | Director, producer |
| 1989 | See You in the Morning See You in the Morning (film) See You in the Morning is a 1989 romantic comedy film written and directed by Alan J. Pakula, and starring Jeff Bridges, Alice Krige and Farrah Fawcett. It features music by Nat "King" Cole and Cherri Red. The original music score was composed by Michael Small.-Plot:Larry Livingstone falls in love... |
Director, producer, writer |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent Presumed Innocent (film) Presumed Innocent is a 1990 film adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow, which tells the story of a prosecutor charged with the murder of his female colleague and mistress.... |
Writer, director |
| 1992 | Consenting Adults | Director, producer |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief The Pelican Brief (film) The Pelican Brief is a 1993 legal crime thriller based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Directed by Alan J. Pakula, the film stars Julia Roberts in the role of young law student Darby Shaw and Denzel Washington as Washington Herald reporter Gray Grantham... |
Director, producer, writer |
| 1997 | The Devil's Own The Devil's Own The Devil's Own is a 1997 action thriller movie starring Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Rubén Blades, Natascha McElhone, Julia Stiles and Treat Williams. It was the final film directed by Alan J... |
Director |
External links
- Alan J Pakula - Daily Telegraph obituary
- American Film Institute interview
- "The Pakula Parallax" essay