Burt Lancaster

Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in film and, later, television. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor (winning once), and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema.

Lancaster performed as a circus acrobat in the 1930s. After serving in World War II, the 33-year-old Lancaster landed a role in a Broadway play and drew the attention of a Hollywood agent. His breakthrough role was in the film noir ''The Killers'' in 1946 alongside Ava Gardner. A critical success, it launched both of their careers. Not long after in 1948, Lancaster starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck in the commercially and critically acclaimed film '' Sorry, Wrong Number'' where he portrayed the husband to her bedridden, invalid character. In 1953, Lancaster played the illicit lover of Deborah Kerr in the military drama ''From Here to Eternity''. A box office smash, it won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and landed a Best Actor nomination for Lancaster.

Later in the 1950s, he starred in '' The Rainmaker'' (1956), with Katharine Hepburn, earning a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination, and in 1957 he starred in '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957) with frequent co-star Kirk Douglas. During the 1950s, his production company, Hecht-Hill-Lancaster, was highly successful, with Lancaster acting in films such as: ''Trapeze'' (1956), a box office smash in which he used his acrobatic skills and for which he won the Silver Bear for Best Actor; ''Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957), a dark drama today considered a classic; '' Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958), a WWII submarine drama with Clark Gable; and ''Separate Tables'' (1958), a hotel-set drama which received seven Oscar nominations.

In the early 1960s, Lancaster starred in a string of critically successful films, each in very disparate roles. Playing a charismatic biblical con-man in '' Elmer Gantry'' in 1960 won him the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor. He played a Nazi war criminal in 1961 in the all-star, war-crime-trial film, ''Judgment at Nuremberg''. Playing a bird expert prisoner in '' Birdman of Alcatraz'' in 1962, he earned the BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor and his third Oscar nomination. In 1963, Lancaster traveled to Italy to star as an Italian prince in the epic period drama ''The Leopard''. In 1964, he played a US Air Force General who, opposed by a Colonel played by Douglas, tries to overthrow the President in ''Seven Days in May''. Then, in 1966, he played an explosives expert in the western '' The Professionals''. Although the reception to his 1968 film '' The Swimmer'' was initially lackluster upon release, in the years after it has grown in stature critically and attained a cult following.

In 1970, Lancaster starred in the box-office hit, air-disaster drama ''Airport''. He experienced a career resurgence in 1980 with the crime-romance '' Atlantic City'', winning the BAFTA for Best Actor and landing his fourth Oscar nomination. Starting in the late 1970s, he also appeared in television mini-series, including the award-winning ''Separate but Equal'' with Sidney Poitier. He continued acting into his late 70s, until a stroke in 1990 forced him to retire; four years later he died from a heart attack. His final film role was in the Oscar-nominated ''Field of Dreams''.

Early life

Lancaster was born on November 2, 1913, in Manhattan, New York, at his parents' home at 209 East 106th Street, the son of Elizabeth ('' née'' Roberts) and mailman James Lancaster.Buford 2008, p. 12. Both of his parents were Protestants of working-class origin. All four of his grandparents were emigrants from Ireland to the United States, from the province of Ulster; his maternal grandparents were from Belfast and were descendants of English dissenters who had emigrated to Ireland as part of the Plantation of Ulster.

Lancaster grew up in East Harlem and spent much of his time on the streets. He developed a great interest and skill in gymnastics while attending DeWitt Clinton High School, where he was a basketball star. Before he graduated from DeWitt Clinton, his mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Lancaster was accepted by New York University with an athletic scholarship, but subsequently dropped out.

Circus career

At the age of 9, Lancaster met Nick Cravat with whom he developed a lifelong partnership.Andreychuk 2005, p. 3. Together, they learned to act in local theatre productions and circus arts at Union Settlement, one of the city's oldest settlement houses. In the 1930s, they formed the acrobat duo ''Lang and Cravat'' and soon joined the Kay Brothers circus. However, in 1939, an injury forced Lancaster to give up the profession, with great regret. He then found temporary work, first as a salesman for Marshall Fields and then as a singing waiter in various restaurants.

World War II service

After the United States entered World War II, Lancaster joined the United States Army in January 1943 and performed with the Army's 21st Special Services Division, one of the military groups organized to follow the troops on the ground and provide USO entertainment to keep up morale. He served with General Mark Clark's Fifth Army in Italy from 1943 to 1945. He was discharged October 1945 and was an entertainment specialist with the rank of technician fifth grade.

Acting career

Broadway

Lancaster returned to New York after his Army service. Although initially unenthusiastic about acting, Lancaster was encouraged to audition for a Broadway play by a producer who saw him in an elevator while he was visiting his then-girlfriend at work. The audition was successful and Lancaster was cast in Harry Brown's '' A Sound of Hunting'' (1945). The show only ran three weeks, but his performance attracted the interest of a Hollywood agent, Harold Hecht. Lancaster had other offers but Hecht promised him the opportunity to produce their own movies within five years of hitting Hollywood.

Through Hecht, Lancaster was brought to the attention of producer Hal B. Wallis, who signed him to a non-exclusive eight-movie contract.

Hal Wallis

Lancaster's first filmed movie was ''Desert Fury'' for Wallis in 1947, where Lancaster was billed after John Hodiak and Lizabeth Scott. It was directed by Lewis Allen.

Then producer Mark Hellinger approached him to star in 1946's ''The Killers'', which was completed and released prior to ''Desert Fury''. Directed by Robert Siodmak, it was a great commercial and critical success and launched Lancaster and his co-star Ava Gardner to stardom. It has since come to be regarded as a classic.

Hellinger used Lancaster again on '' Brute Force'' in 1947, a prison drama written by Richard Brooks and directed by Jules Dassin. It was also well received. Wallis released his films through Paramount, and so Lancaster and other Wallis contractees made cameos in '' Variety Girl'' in 1947.

Lancaster's next film was a thriller for Wallis in 1947, '' I Walk Alone'', co-starring Lizabeth Scott and a young Kirk Douglas, who was also under contract to Wallis. ''Variety'' listed it as one of the top grossers of the year, taking in more than 2 million dollars.

In 1948, Lancaster had a change of pace with the film adaptation of Arthur Miller's '' All My Sons'', made at Universal Pictures with Edward G. Robinson. His third film for Wallis was an adaptation of '' Sorry, Wrong Number'' in 1948, with Barbara Stanwyck.

Norma Productions

Hecht kept to his promise to Lancaster to turn producer. The two of them formed a company, Norma Productions, and did a deal with Universal to make a thriller about a disturbed G.I. in London, ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' in 1948, with Joan Fontaine and directed by Norman Foster. It made a profit of only $50,000, but was critically acclaimed.

Back in Hollywood, Lancaster made another film noir with Siodmak, '' Criss Cross'', in 1949. It was originally going to be produced by Hellinger and when Hellinger died, another took over. Tony Curtis made an early appearance.

Lancaster appeared in a fourth picture for Wallis, '' Rope of Sand'', in 1949.

Norma Productions signed a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. The first was 1950's ''The Flame and the Arrow'', a swashbuckler movie, in which Lancaster drew on his circus skills. Nick Cravat had a supporting role and the film was a huge commercial success, making $6 million. It was Warners' most popular film of the year and established an entirely new image for Lancaster.Warner Bros financial information in The William Shaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1–31 p. 30

Lancaster was borrowed by 20th Century Fox for ''Mister 880'' in 1950, a comedy with Edmund Gwenn. MGM put him in a popular Western, ''Vengeance Valley'' in 1951, then he went to Warners to play the title role in the biopic '' Jim Thorpe – All-American'', also in 1951.

Halburt

Norma signed a deal with Columbia Pictures to make two films through a Norma subsidiary, Halburt. The first film was 1951's ''Ten Tall Men'', where Lancaster was a member of the French Foreign Legion. Robert Aldrich worked on the movie as a production manager.

The second was 1952's '' The First Time'', a comedy which was the directorial debut of Frank Tashlin. It was meant to star Lancaster but he wound up not appearing in the filmthe first of their productions in which he did not act.

Hecht-Lancaster Productions

In 1951, the actor/producer duo changed the company's name to Hecht-Lancaster Productions. The first film under the new name was another swashbuckler: 1952's '' The Crimson Pirate'', directed by Siodmak. Co-starring Cravat, it was extremely popular.

Lancaster changed pace once more by doing a straight dramatic part in 1952's '' Come Back, Little Sheba'', based on a Broadway hit, with Shirley Booth, produced by Wallis and directed by Daniel Mann.

Alternating with adventure films, he went into ''South Sea Woman'' in 1952 at Warners. Part of the Norma-Warners contract was that Lancaster had to appear in some non-Norma films, of which this was one.

In 1954, for his own company, Lancaster produced and starred in '' His Majesty O'Keefe'', a South Sea island tale shot in Fiji. It was co-written by James Hill, who would soon become a part of the Hecht-Lancaster partnership.

United Artists

Hecht and Lancaster left Warners for United Artists, for what began as a two-picture deal, the first of which was to be 1954's '' Apache'', starring Lancaster as a Native American.

They followed it with another Western in 1954, '' Vera Cruz'', co-starring Gary Cooper and produced by Hill. Both films were directed by Robert Aldrich and were hugely popular.

United Artists signed Hecht-Lancaster to a multi-picture contract, to make seven films over two years. These included films in which Lancaster did not act. Their first was '' Marty'' in 1955, based on Paddy Chayefsky's TV play starring Ernest Borgnine and directed by Delbert Mann. It won both the Best Picture Oscar and the Palme d'Or award at Cannes and Borgnine an Best Actor Oscar. It also earned $2 million on a budget of $350,000.Hollywood Dossier: 'Marty' Hits Jackpot – Team – On the Set By Oscar Godabout Hollywood. ''The New York Times'' September 11, 1955: X7. ''Vera Cruz'' had been a huge success, but ''Marty'' secured Hecht-Lancaster as one of the most successful independent production companies in Hollywood at the time.Tino Balio, ''United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry'', University of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p. 82 ''Marty'' star Ernest Borgnine was under contract to Hecht-Lancaster and was unhappy about his lack of upcoming roles, especially after only receiving some seven lines in 1957's ''Sweet Smell of Success'' and half of his pay for ''Marty''. He eventually sued for breach of contract to gain back some of this money in 1957.

Without Hill, Hecht and Lancaster produced '' The Kentuckian'' in 1955; it was directed by Lancaster in his directorial debut, and he also played a lead role. Lancaster disliked directing and only did it once more, in the 1970s ('' The Midnight Man'', 1974).

Lancaster still had commitments with Wallis, and made ''The Rose Tattoo'' for him in 1955, starring with Anna Magnani and Daniel Mann directing. It was very popular at the box office and critically acclaimed, winning Magnani an Oscar.

Hecht-Hill-Lancaster

In 1955, Hill was made an equal partner in Hecht-Lancaster, with his name added to the production company. Hecht-Hill-Lancaster (HHL) released their first film ''Trapeze'' in 1956, with Lancaster performing many of his own stunts. The film, co-starring Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida, went on to become the production company's top box office success, and United Artists expanded its deal with HHL.

In 1956, Lancaster and Hecht partnered with Loring Buzzell and entered the music industry with the music publishing companies Leigh Music, Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Calyork Music and Colby Music and the record labels Calyork Records and Maine Records.

The HHL team impressed Hollywood with its success; as ''Life'' wrote in 1957, " ter the independent production of a baker's dozen of pictures, it has yet to have its first flop ... (They were also good pictures.)."Hodgins, Eric
"Amid Ruins of an Empire a New Hollywood Arises."
''Life,'' June 10, 1957, p. 146. Retrieved: April 22, 2012. In late 1957, they announced they would make ten films worth $14 million in 1958.

Lancaster made two films for Wallis to complete his eight film commitment for that contract: '' The Rainmaker'' (1956) with Katharine Hepburn, which earned Lancaster a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor; and '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957) with Kirk Douglas, which was a huge commercial hit directed by John Sturges.

Lancaster re-teamed with Tony Curtis in 1957 for ''Sweet Smell of Success'', a co-production between Hecht-Hill-Lancaster and Curtis' own company with wife Janet Leigh, Curtleigh Productions. The movie, directed by Alexander Mackendrick, was a critical success but a commercial disappointment. Over the years it has come to be regarded as one of Lancaster's greatest films.

HHL produced seven additional films in the late 1950s. Four starred Lancaster: '' Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958), a Robert Wise directed war film with Clark Gable, which was mildly popular; ''Separate Tables'' (1958) a hotel-set drama with Kerr and Rita Hayworth (who married James Hill), which received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and Oscar awards for lead actor David Niven and supporting actress Wendy Hiller, and was both a critical and commercial success; '' The Devil's Disciple'' (1959), with Douglas and Laurence Olivier, which lost money (and saw Lancaster fire Mackendrick during shooting); and the Western '' The Unforgiven'' (1960), with Audrey Hepburn, which was a critical and commercial disappointment.

Three were made without Lancaster, all of which lost money: ''The Bachelor Party'' (1957), from another TV play by Chayefsky, and directed by Delbert Mann; ''Take a Giant Step'' (1959), about a black student; and ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' (1960), from an Australian play, shot on location in Australia and Britain.

Additionally, HHL served as the production company for the 1960–61 TV series ''Whiplash''.

The Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions company dissolved in 1960 after Hill ruptured his relationship with both Hecht and Lancaster.

Hecht and Lancaster

Lancaster played the title role in '' Elmer Gantry'' (1960), written and directed by Richard Brooks for United Artists. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Lancaster won the 1960 Academy Award for Best Actor, a Golden Globe Award, and the New York Film Critics Award for his performance.

Hecht and Lancaster worked together on ''The Young Savages'' (1961), directed by John Frankenheimer and produced by Hecht. Sydney Pollack worked as a dialogue coach.

Lancaster starred in ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' (1961) for Stanley Kramer, alongside Spencer Tracy, Richard Widmark and a number of other iconic stars. The film was both a commercial and critical success, receiving 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

He then did another film with Hecht and Frankenheimer (replacing Charles Crichton), '' Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), a largely fictionalized biography. In it he plays Robert Stroud, a federal prisoner incarcerated for life for two murders, who begins to collect birds and over time becomes an expert in bird diseases, even publishing a book. The film shows Stroud transferred to the maximum security Alcatraz prison where he is not allowed to keep birds and as he ages he gets married, markets bird remedies, helps stop a prison rebellion, and writes a book on the history of the U.S. penal system, but never gets paroled. The sympathetic performance earned Lancaster a Best Actor Oscar nomination, a BAFTA Award for Best Actor, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Role. Hecht went on to produce five films without Lancaster's assistance, through his company Harold Hecht Films Productions between 1961 and 1967, including another Academy Award winner, ''Cat Ballou'', starring Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda.

Collaborations with younger filmmakers

Lancaster made '' A Child Is Waiting'' (1963) with Judy Garland. It was produced by Kramer and directed by John Cassavetes.

He went to Italy to star in ''The Leopard'' (1963) for Luchino Visconti, co-starring Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale. It was one of Lancaster's favourite films and was a big hit in France but failed in the US (though the version released was much truncated).

He had a small role in ''The List of Adrian Messenger'' (1963) for producer/star Kirk Douglas, and then did two for Frankenheimer: ''Seven Days in May'' (1964), a political thriller with Douglas, and '' The Train'' (1964), a World War Two action film (Lancaster had Frankenheimer replace Arthur Penn several days into filming).

Lancaster starred in ''The Hallelujah Trail'' (1965), a comic Western produced and directed by John Sturges which failed to recoup its large cost.Glenn Lovell, ''Escape Artist: The Life and Films of John Sturges'', University of Wisconsin Press, 2008 p. 250

He had a big hit with '' The Professionals'' (1966), a Western directed by Brooks and also starring Lee Marvin.

In 1966, at the age of 53, Lancaster appeared nude in director Frank Perry's film '' The Swimmer'' (1968), in what the critic Roger Ebert called "his finest performance". Prior to working on ''The Swimmer'', Lancaster was terrified of the water because he did not know how to swim. In preparation for the film, he took swimming lessons from UCLA swim coach Bob Horn. Filming was difficult and clashes between Lancaster and Perry led to Sydney Pollack coming in to do some filming.Stafford, Jef
"The Swimmer" (article)
on TCM.com The film was not released until 1968, when it proved to be a commercial failure, though Lancaster remained proud of the movie and his performance.

Norlan Productions

In 1967, Lancaster formed a new partnership with Roland Kibbee, who had already worked as a writer on five Lancaster projects:
* ''Ten Tall Men''
* ''The Crimson Pirate''
* ''Three Sailors and a Girl'' (in which Lancaster made a cameo appearance)
* ''Vera Cruz''
* ''The Devil's Disciple''

Through Norlan Productions, Lancaster and Kibbee produced '' The Scalphunters'' in 1968, directed by Sydney Pollack.

Lancaster followed it with another film from Pollack, '' Castle Keep'' in 1969, which was a big flop. So was '' The Gypsy Moths'', for Frankenheimer, also in 1969.

1970s

Lancaster had one of the biggest successes of his career with ''Airport'' in 1970, starring alongside Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Van Heflin, Helen Hayes, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Hale, Jean Seberg and Jacqueline Bisset. The Ross Hunter film received nine Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture. It became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1970 and, at that time, reportedly the highest-grossing film in the history of Universal Pictures.

He then went into a series of Westerns: '' Lawman'' in 1971, directed by Michael Winner; '' Valdez Is Coming'' in 1971, for Norlan; and ''Ulzana's Raid'' in 1972, directed by Aldrich and produced by himself and Hecht. None were particularly popular but ''Ulzana's Raid'' has become a cult film."I Can't Get Jimmy Carter to See My Movie!"
Aldrich, Robert. Film Comment; New York Vol. 13, Iss. 2, (Mar/Apr 1977): 46–52.

Lancaster did two thrillers, both 1973: '' Scorpio'' with Winner and '' Executive Action''.

Lancaster returned to directing in 1974 with '' The Midnight Man'', which he also wrote and produced with Kibee.

He made a second film with Visconti, ''Conversation Piece