Joseph Ezekiel Strick (July 6, 1923 – June 1, 2010) was an American director, producer and screenwriter.
Born in the Pittsburgh area town of Braddock, Pennsylvania,[1] Strick briefly attended UCLA, then enrolled in theU.S. Army duringWorld War II. In the Army, he served as a cameraman in theArmy Air Forces.[2]
In 1948, he andIrving Lerner producedMuscle Beach. For several years in the 1950s, Lerner, Strick,Ben Maddow, andSidney Meyers worked part-time on the experimental documentaryThe Savage Eye (1959).[3]
Strick was also a successful businessman, founding Electrosolids Corp (1956), Computron Corp. (1958), Physical Sciences Corp (1958), and Holosonics Corp. (1960). In 1977 he invented the usage of six-axis motion simulators as entertainment systems and applied it to new machines used now in Disney theme parks as "Star Tours."[4]
In the 1960s, during his first marriage, Strick commissioned what was the only house designed byOscar Niemeyer in North America. The marriage ended in divorce before construction was completed, and Strick never occupied the house, located on the edge ofSanta Monica Canyon.[2]
The Savage Eye won theBAFTA Flaherty Documentary Award and was hailed as part of an "American New Wave" alongside the work ofShirley Clarke andJohn Cassavetes.[5] In 1970, he won anAcademy Award for Best Documentary for his movieInterviews with My Lai Veterans. His better known ventures include afilm adaptation ofJames Joyce'sUlysses andA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man as well asNever Cry Wolf (1983). He also directedTropic of Cancer, based on the novel by Henry Miller.
In Britain, he directed at theRoyal Shakespeare Company (1964) and theNational Theatre (2003).
Joseph Strick's career led him to share his time in Los Angeles, New York, London and Paris. He died in a Paris hospital of congestive heart failure.[2]
The moving image collection of Joseph Strick is held at theAcademy Film Archive. The collection consists of over one hundred items, including negative and print materials.[6] The Academy Film Archive has preserved several of Strick's films, includingThe Savage Eye andMuscle Beach.[7]
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