Albert and David Maysles
Encyclopedia
Albert and David Maysles (rhymes with "hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...

s", born 10 January 1932, Boston, Massachusetts) were a documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

 filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...

 works include Salesman
Salesman (film)
Salesman is a 1969 direct cinema documentary film directed by brothers Albert and David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin.-Synopsis:The documentary follows four salesmen as they travel across New England and Southeast Florida trying to sell expensive Bibles door-to-door in low-income neighborhoods and...

(1968), Gimme Shelter (1970) and Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens
Grey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, with Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in...

(1976). Their 1964 film on The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit
The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit is an archive footage documentary of the Beatles' first visit to America in February of 1964. It was filmed by renowned documentary filmmaking team Albert and David Maysles, using footage from their 1964 16mm documentary What's Happening! The Beatles In The USA,...

. Several Maysles films document art projects by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...

 over a three-decade period, from 1974 when Christo's Valley Curtain
Christo's Valley Curtain
Christo's Valley Curtain is a 1974 short documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles, about Christo and Jeanne-Claudes Valley Curtain project. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short....

was nominated for an Academy Award to 2005 when The Gates headlined New York's Tribeca Film Festival.

David Maysles, the younger brother, died of a stroke on January 3, 1987, in New York. Albert Maysles graduated in 1949 with a BA from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

 and later earned a masters degree at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

. Albert has continued to make films on his own since his brother's death. Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....

 once called Albert Maysles "the best American cameraman". In 2005 Maysles was given a lifetime achievement award at the Czech film festival AFO (Academia Film Olomouc
Academia Film Olomouc
Academia Film Olomouc is the international festival of science documentary films held annually in April under the patronage of the Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic...

). He is working on his own autobiographical documentary.

In 2005 he founded the Maysles Institute, a nonprofit organization that provides training and apprenticeships to underprivileged individuals. Albert is a patron of Shooting People
Shooting People
Shooting People is an international social network for independent filmmakers that was founded in 1998 by Cath Le Couteur and Jess Search. With over 35,000 subscribers in the UK and NY, members share resources and knowledge to get their films made and seen....

, a filmmakers' community.

Filmography of Albert and David Maysles

  • Anastasia (1962)
  • Showman (1963)
  • Orson Welles
    Orson Welles
    George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...

     In Spain
    (1963)
  • What's Happening! The Beatles In The USA (1964)
  • IBM: A Self-Portrait (1964)
  • Meet Marlon Brando
    Marlon Brando
    Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

    (1965)
  • Cut Piece (1965)
  • Six in Paris (1965) (with Godard, as cinematographer)
  • With Love from Truman (1966, with Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Salesman
    Salesman (film)
    Salesman is a 1969 direct cinema documentary film directed by brothers Albert and David Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin.-Synopsis:The documentary follows four salesmen as they travel across New England and Southeast Florida trying to sell expensive Bibles door-to-door in low-income neighborhoods and...

    (1968) (with Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Journey to Jerusalem (1968)
  • Gimme Shelter (1970, with Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Christo's Valley Curtain
    Christo's Valley Curtain
    Christo's Valley Curtain is a 1974 short documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles, about Christo and Jeanne-Claudes Valley Curtain project. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short....

    (1974, with Ellen Hovde)
  • Grey Gardens
    Grey Gardens
    Grey Gardens is a 1975 documentary film by Albert and David Maysles, with Susan Froemke, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer. The film depicts the everyday lives of two reclusive socialites, a mother and daughter both named Edith Beale, who lived at Grey Gardens, a decrepit mansion at 3 West End Road in...

    (1976, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer, Susan Froemke)
  • The Burks of Georgia (1976, with Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer)
  • Running Fence (1978, with Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Muhammad
    Muhammad Ali
    Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

     and Larry
    Larry Holmes
    Larry Holmes is a former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, The Easton Assassin....

    (1980)
  • Vladimir Horowitz
    Vladimir Horowitz
    Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz    was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...

    : The Last Romantic
    (1985, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson, Pat Jaffe)
  • Ozawa (1985, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
  • Islands (1986, with Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Christo in Paris (1990, with Deborah Dickson and Susan Froemke)

Selected filmography by Albert Maysles

  • Psychiatry in Russia (1955)
  • Horowitz Plays Mozart (1987, with Susan Froemke, Charlotte Zwerin)
  • Jessye Norman
    Jessye Norman
    Jessye Norman is an American opera singer. Norman is a well-known contemporary opera singer and recitalist, and is one of the highest paid performers in classical music...

     Sings Carmen
    (1989, with Susan Froemke)
  • They Met in Japan (1989, with Susan Froemke)
  • Soldiers of Music: Rostropovich Returns to Russia (1991, with Susan Froemke, Peter Gelb
    Peter Gelb
    Peter Gelb is an American arts administrator. He is currently General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.-Early life:...

     and Bob Eisenhardt)
  • Abortion: Desperate Choices (1992, with Susan Froemke and Deborah Dickson)
  • Baroque Duet (1992, with Susan Froemke, Peter Gelb
    Peter Gelb
    Peter Gelb is an American arts administrator. He is currently General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.-Early life:...

    , Pat Jaffe)
  • Accent on the Offbeat (1994, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
  • Letting Go: A Hospice Journey (1996, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
  • Concert of Wills: Making the Getty Center (1997, with Susan Froemke, Bob Eisenhardt)
  • LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton
    LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton
    LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Deborah Dickson, Susan Frömke and Albert Maysles. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards.-Content:...

    (2000, with Susan Froemke, Deborah Dickson)
  • The Gates (2005, with Antonio Ferrera)
  • Sally Gross: The Pleasure of Stillness (2007)
  • Close Up: Portraits (2008)
  • Rufus Wainwright - Milwaukee At Last (2009)
    Milwaukee at Last!!!
    Milwaukee at Last!!! is the seventh album by the Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in the United States on September 22, 2009. The album consists of live recordings from his August 27, 2007 performance at Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in support of his previous...

  • Hollywood Renegade: The Life of Budd Schulberg (2009) (Cinematographer)
  • The Love We Make
    The Love We Make
    The Love We Make is a cinéma vérité documentary film by Albert Maysles. The film chronicles Paul McCartney's experiences in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attacks, following him as he prepared The Concert for New York City October 2001 benefit event...

    (2011, with Bradley Kaplan, Ian Markiewicz)

Further reading

  • Joe McElhaney, Albert Maysles, University of Illinois Press, 2009.
  • Dave Saunders, Direct Cinema: Observational Documentary and the Politics of the Sixties, London, Wallflower Press 2007

External links

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