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Nicholas Ray
Director

Nicholas Ray

7 Aug 1911Born
16 Jun 1979Died
67Age at death
34Credits

Biography

Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers.

His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean.

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He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home Again, which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death.

During his lifetime, Ray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause, twice for the Golden Lion, for Bigger Than Life (1956) and Bitter Victory (1957), and a Palme d'Or for The Savage Innocents (1960). Three of his films were ranked by Cahiers du Cinéma in their Annual Top 10 Lists.

Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and use of color are particularly well regarded and he was an important influence on the French New Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard famously writing in a review of Bitter Victory, "... there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."

Known for

Filmography

  1. 2024Wilder Demons #2Film: Writer
  2. 1990Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the YearFilm
  3. 1980Lightning Over WaterFilm: Director, Writer
  4. 1979Nicholas Ray: Especially for PierreFilm
  5. 1979HairFilm: The General
  6. 1978MarcoFilm: Director
  7. 1977The American FriendFilm: Andrew Pogash Derwatt
  8. 1974Wet DreamsFilm: Director
  9. 1974The JanitorFilm: Director
  10. 1973HorizonsFilm
  11. 1973We Can't Go Home AgainFilm: Nick Ray, Writer, Director
  12. 196355 Days at PekingFilm: US Minister (uncredited), Director
  13. 1961King of KingsFilm: Director
  14. 1960The Savage InnocentsFilm: Director, Screenplay
  15. 1958Party GirlFilm: Director
  16. 1958Wind Across the EvergladesFilm: Director
  17. 1957Bitter VictoryFilm: Director, Screenplay
  18. 1957The True Story of Jesse JamesFilm: Director
  19. 1956Bigger Than LifeFilm: Director
  20. 1956Hot BloodFilm: Director
  21. 1955Rebel Without a CauseFilm: Man in Last Shot (uncredited), Director
  22. 1955Run for CoverFilm: Director
  23. 1954Johnny GuitarFilm: Writer, Director
  24. 1953General Electric TheaterSeries: Director (1 episode)
  25. 1952The Lusty MenFilm: Director
  26. 1951On Dangerous GroundFilm: Director
  27. 1951Flying LeathernecksFilm: Director
  28. 1950Born to Be BadFilm: Director
  29. 1950In a Lonely PlaceFilm: Director
  30. 1949They Live by NightFilm: Director
  31. 1949Knock on Any DoorFilm: Director
  32. 1949A Woman's SecretFilm: Director
  33. 1946Swing Parade of 1946Film: Writer
  34. 1945A Tree Grows in BrooklynFilm: Bakery Clerk (uncredited)

Biography and credits from TMDB. This website uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.