Alan J. Pakula | |
|---|---|
 Pakula in 1990 | |
| Born | Alan Jay Pakula (1928-04-07)April 7, 1928 The Bronx, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 19, 1998(1998-11-19) (aged 70) Melville, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1957–1998 |
| Notable work | |
| Spouses | |
Alan Jay Pakula (/pəˈkuːlə/; April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Associated with theNew Hollywood movement,[1] his best-known works include his critically-acclaimed "paranoia trilogy": the neo-noir mysteryKlute (1971), the conspiracy thrillerThe Parallax View (1974), and theWatergate scandal dramaAll the President's Men (1976).[1] His other notable films includedComes a Horseman (1978),Starting Over (1979),Sophie's Choice (1982),Presumed Innocent (1990), andThe Pelican Brief (1993).
Pakula receivedAcademy Award nominations forBest Director forAll the President's Men andBest Adapted Screenplay forSophie's Choice. He was also nominated forBest Picture for producingTo Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Additionally, he was aBAFTA Award,Golden Globe Award, andDirectors Guild of America Award nominee.
Pakula's films often dealt with psychological and political themes. HisNew York Times obituary stated Pakula made "different kinds of movies, all of them intended to entertain, but the thread connecting many of them was a style that emphasized and explored the psychology and motivations of his characters."[2] He was the subject of the 2023 documentary,Alan Pakula: Going for Truth.[3]
Pakula was born inThe Bronx, New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Jeanette (née Goldstein) and Paul Pakula. He was educated atThe Hill School inPottstown, Pennsylvania, andYale University, where he majored in drama.
Pakula started his Hollywood career as an assistant in thecartoon department atWarner Bros. In 1957, he undertook his first production role forParamount Pictures. In 1962, he producedTo Kill a Mockingbird,[4] for which he was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture. Pakula had a successful professional relationship as the producer of movies directed byMockingbird directorRobert Mulligan from 1957 to 1968. In 1969, he directed his first feature,The Sterile Cuckoo, starringLiza Minnelli.[5]
In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoia trilogy".[6][7][8]Klute, the story of a relationship between a private eye (played byDonald Sutherland) and a call girl (played byJane Fonda, who won anOscar for her performance), was a commercial and critical success. This was followed in 1974 byThe Parallax View starringWarren Beatty, a labyrinthine post-Watergate thriller involving political assassinations. The film has been noted for its experimental use of hypnotic imagery in a celebrated film-within-a-film sequence in which the protagonist is inducted into the Parallax Corporation, whose main, although secret, enterprise is domestic terrorism.
Finally, in 1976, Pakula rounded out the "trilogy" withAll the President's Men, based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written byBob Woodward andCarl Bernstein, played byRobert Redford andDustin Hoffman, respectively. It was another commercial hit, considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best thrillers of the 1970s.[9]
Pakula scored another hit in 1982 withSophie's Choice, starringMeryl Streep. His screenplay, based on the novel byWilliam Styron, was nominated for an Academy Award. Later commercial successes includedPresumed Innocent, based on the bestselling novel byScott Turow, andThe Pelican Brief, an adaptation ofJohn Grisham's bestseller. His final film was the thrillerThe Devil's Own, where he reunited withHarrison Ford.
From October 19, 1963, until 1971, Pakula was married to actressHope Lange. He was married to his second wife, author Hannah Pakula (formerly Hannah Cohn Boorstin) from 1973 until his death in 1998.[10]
He had two stepchildren from his marriage with Hope Lange, Christopher and Patricia Murray, and three stepchildren from his second marriage. They are Louis, Robert, and Anna Boorstin. He also spoke very openly about his stepson's battle with depression.[11]
On November 19, 1998, Pakula was driving on theLong Island Expressway inMelville, New York, when a driver in front of him hit a metal pipe, causing it to crash through Pakula’s windshield and strike him in the head. His car swerved off the road and into a fence. He was taken toNorth Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.[12]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | The Sterile Cuckoo | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1971 | Klute | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1973 | Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1974 | The Parallax View | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Yes | No | No |
| 1978 | Comes a Horseman | Yes | No | No |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1981 | Rollover | Yes | No | No |
| 1982 | Sophie's Choice | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1986 | Dream Lover | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1987 | Orphans | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1989 | See You in the Morning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent | Yes | No | Yes |
| 1992 | Consenting Adults | Yes | Yes | No |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1997 | The Devil's Own | Yes | No | No |
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Fear Strikes Out | Robert Mulligan |
| 1962 | To Kill a Mockingbird | |
| 1963 | Love with the Proper Stranger | |
| 1965 | Baby the Rain Must Fall | |
| Inside Daisy Clover | ||
| 1967 | Up the Down Staircase | |
| 1968 | The Stalking Moon |
