Robert Wise R.I.P.

[Material_Defender_1032]

Robert Wise, Oscar-winning director of The Sound of Music

and West Side Story, has died in Los Angeles.

 

The film-maker died on Wednesday of heart failure at the

UCLA Medical Center, just five days after celebrating his

91st birthday.

 

Wise was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, in a career

that spanned more than 50 years.

 

He directed 39 films in all, including the first Star Trek movie and

sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still.

 

More recently he served as president of the Academy of

Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the Directors Guild of America.

 

Wise started in the film business at the age of 19, after

one of his brothers got him a job at the RKO studios.

 

He began in the sound department before moving into editing.

 

Robert Wise and Rita Moreno

Wise celebrated his Oscar for West Side Story with actress Rita Moreno

 

He was drafted in to edit Citizen Kane in 1941,

impressing director Orson Welles with his work, and

gaining his first Oscar nomination.

 

Wise's first director job came when he was asked to take over

The Curse of the Cat People.

 

This led to him working on a number of B-movie horror films

before landing bigger budget projects.

 

His first Academy Award nomination for directing came

for crime drama I Want to Live in 1958.

 

However, he did not win an Academy Award until 1962,

when he shared the Oscar for best director

with Jerome Robbins for West Side Story,

a gritty musical based on the family warfare of Romeo and Juliet.

 

The film also went on to win 10 Oscars, including best film.

 

In 1965, Wise made a successful return to the

musical genre with The Sound of Music, which

once again won best director and best film at the Oscars.

 

He credited much of the movie's success to its lead actors,

Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.

 

Wise received a further Oscar nomination for The Sand Pebbles in 1967.

 

In later years he took on fewer projects, including directing Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.

 

He made his final big screen movie 11 years later with Rooftops.

 

His longtime agent and family friend Lawrence Mirisch,

said Wise had appeared in good health as he celebrated his birthday on Saturday.

 

A retrospective of Wise's work had already been

planned at the San Sebastian film festival, which is being held this week.

 

His wife, Millicent, who was at the festival for the opening,

left early on Thursday for Los Angeles after hearing

of his death, said festival spokeswoman Gemma Beltran.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4247784.stm

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/13754.html

 

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Material Defender 1032

[qspock]

91... Τα εζησε τα χρονακια του. Οι trekers τον θυμουνται για το Startrek 1: The Motion Picture