Hal Ashby | |
|---|---|
 Ashby directingBound for Glory (1976) | |
| Born | William Hal Ashby (1929-09-02)September 2, 1929 Ogden, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | December 27, 1988(1988-12-27) (aged 59) Malibu, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1956–1988 |
| Spouses | |
William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988)[1] was anAmerican filmdirector andeditor.[2][3] His work exemplified thecountercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide-ranging films featuring iconic performances. He is associated with theNew Hollywood wave of filmmaking with filmmakers such asMartin Scorsese,Woody Allen,Mike Nichols, andSidney Lumet.
Before his career as a director Ashby edited films forNorman Jewison, notablyThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), which earned Ashby anOscar nomination forBest Editing, andIn the Heat of the Night (1967), which earned him his only Oscar for the same category. Ashby received a third Oscar nomination, this time forBest Director forComing Home (1978). Other films directed by Ashby includeThe Landlord (1970),Harold and Maude (1971),The Last Detail (1973),Shampoo (1975),Bound for Glory (1976), andBeing There (1979).
Ashby was born September 2, 1929, inOgden, Utah, the youngest of four siblings born toMormon parents Eileen Ireta (née Hetzler) and James Thomas Ashby, adairy farm owner.[4][5] Ashby's parents divorced in 1936, after which his father remarried.[6]
Following the divorce, Ashby and his siblings lived with their mother, briefly inLogan, Utah, before relocating toPortland, Oregon, where his elder brother took a job in the timber industry.[6] His mother, a cooking enthusiast, opened a restaurant in Portland.[6] After several years in Portland, the family returned to Ogden, where Ashby primarily lived with his father.[7] When Ashby was 12 years old, his father committedsuicide.[8]
As Ashby was entering adult life, he moved from Utah toLos Angeles, California, where he pursued abohemian lifestyle and ultimately became an assistantfilm editor through a long apprenticeship. His career gained momentum when he served as the editor ofThe Loved One (1965), an adaptation of theEvelyn Waugh novel that involved such New Hollywood contemporaries as screenwriterTerry Southern and cinematographerHaskell Wexler. After being nominated for theAcademy Award for Film Editing in 1967 forThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,[9] His big break occurred one year later when he won the award forIn the Heat of the Night.[10][11] Ashby often stated that the practice of editing provided him with the best filmmaking background outside of traditional university study and carried the techniques learned as an editor with him when he began directing.
At the urging of mentorNorman Jewison, Ashby directed his first film,The Landlord—an early rumination on the social dynamics ofgentrification inPark Slope, Brooklyn—in 1970. While his birth date placed him within theSilent Generation, the filmmaker (who had been a habitualmarijuana smoker since 1950), eagerly embraced thehippie lifestyle, adoptingvegetarianism and growing his hair long before it becamede rigueur.
Over the next ten years, Ashby directed several acclaimed and popular films. Many were about outsiders and adventurers traversing the pathways of life. They included the off-beat romanceHarold and Maude (1971),The Last Detail (1973), and the social satireBeing There (1979), withPeter Sellers, giving the star a well-received role after many felt he had lapsed into self-parody. His most significant commercial success wasShampoo (1975), a collaboration withWarren Beatty andRobert Towne that satirized late-1960ssexual andsocial mores through the life of a hairdresser modeled after such contemporaneous figures asJay Sebring andJon Peters.Bound for Glory (1976), a muted biography ofWoody Guthrie starringDavid Carradine, was the first film to use aSteadicam.
In June 1973,Michael Douglas andSaul Zaentz hired Ashby to directOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, after the original directorMiloš Forman became unavailable due to the reimposition ofcensorship in his nativeCzechoslovakia after theWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia and after Forman's initial replacementRichard Rush was unable to secure studio funding.[12][13] Ashby was responsible for castingJack Nicholson as R.P. McMurphy, but this resulted in a nine-month delay during which Forman fled to the United States and was rehired as director.[12]
Aside fromShampoo, Ashby's most commercially successful film was theVietnam War dramaComing Home (1978). StarringJane Fonda andJon Voight, both inAcademy Award-winning performances, it was for this film that Ashby earned his onlyBest Director Oscar nomination.[14] Arriving in the post-Jaws andStar Wars era,Coming Home was one of the last films to encapsulate the modestly budgeted,socially realistic ethos of the New Hollywood era, earning nearly $15 million in returns and rentals on a $3 million budget.
Because of his critical success and dependable profitability, shortly after the success ofComing Home, Ashby was able to form a production company, Northstar, under the auspices ofLorimar. AfterBeing There, Ashby became morereclusive, often retreating to his home inMalibu Colony, a gated enclave in the city. Later, it was widely rumored in a likelywhisper campaign from Lorimar (whose executives clashed with the director) that Ashby had become dependent uponcocaine, a drug that he only used intermittently after the production ofBound for Glory. As a consequence of these rumors, he slowly became unemployable.[15] Eva Gardos, an editor who worked with Ashby during the period, has asserted that his drug intake remained largely confined tomarijuana andpsilocybin.[15]
FollowingBeing There, Ashby was provisionally set to reunite with Sellers and Terry Southern onGrossing Out, a black comedy inspired by the actor's chance meeting with an international arms dealer on an airplane. Although Southern (who had not had a screenplay go to production in a decade) was rejuvenated by the prospect of working with the duo and produced a script that was said to be on par with his 1960s oeuvre, the project went intodevelopment hell after Sellers sudden death from a heart attack in July 1980. During this period, the productions[16] ofSecond-Hand Hearts andLookin' to Get Out[17] The latter aLas Vegas caper that reunited him with Voight and featured Voight's young daughter,Angelina Jolie was plagued by the increasingly strained relationship between Ashby and Lorimar. Filmed in 1979,Second-Hand Hearts only received a poorly reviewed limited release in 1981 before being pulled from circulation for nearly thirty years. Belatedly released in October 1982,Lookin' to Get Out earned a little under $1 million in returns and rentals on an estimated $17 million budget. During this period, Lorimar executives grew less tolerant of his increasingly perfectionist production (811,000 feet of film were used shootingLookin' to Get Out) and editing techniques, a montage in the latter film set toThe Police's "Message in a Bottle" took six months to perfect but proved to be logistically unusable due to a Lorimar agreement with theAmerican Federation of Musicians.
Initially set to helmTootsie after two years of negotiations and Ashby-directed wig and makeup tests, Lorimar executives blocked him from working on the film because part of the pre-production period overlapped with final work on the long-gestatingLookin' to Get Out, which was eventually recut by the studio when Ashby's work was deemed to be unsatisfactory. (Decades later, Ashby's cut was rediscovered and released on DVD in 2009.) AsDustin Hoffman had not offered a "formal commitment" to the production at the time of Ashby's dismissal, the director forfeited his $1.5 million fee. While post-production ofLookin' to Get Out continued, Lorimar permitted Ashby to filmThe Rolling Stones'1981 American tour documentary,Let's Spend the Night Together, the director was a longtime fan of the group. He collapsed before the final filmed concert atSun Devil Stadium inTempe, Arizona, on December 13, 1981. AlthoughJeff Wexler said Ashby was "partying way beyond his capabilities with the Stones,"Caleb Deschanel has said that Ashby (who directed the concert shoot on a gurney) simply had the flu. The film was well-received but gained little traction during a limited theatrical release. In September 1983, Ashby directedSolo Trans, aNeil Young concert video that was released the following year.
The Slugger's Wife, with a screenplay written byNeil Simon, was a critical and commercial failure. Ashby (whose cocaine use had accelerated throughout the shoot)[15] was fired after delivering a 20-minute rough cut of the beginning of the film that included almost no dialogue. When theOliver Stone-written8 Million Ways to Die fared similarly at the box office, Ashby's post-production process was considered to be such a liability that he was fired by the production company on the final day ofprincipal photography.[15]
Attempting to turn a corner in his declining career, Ashby stopped using drugs, trimmed his hair and beard, and began to frequently attend Hollywood parties wearing a navy-blue blazer so as to suggest that he was once again employable. Despite these efforts, he could only find work as a television director, helming one of threepilots forBeverly Hills Buntz, an unsuccessfulHill Street Blues spinoff starringDennis Franz. He also directedJake's Journey, asword and sorcery fantasy conceived byGraham Chapman.[18]
Longtime friend Warren Beatty advised Ashby to seek medical care after he complained of various ailments, including undiagnosedphlebitis. He was soon diagnosed withpancreatic cancer that rapidly spread to his lungs, colon, and liver. Ashby died on December 27, 1988, at his home inMalibu, California.
The Last Detail,Bound for Glory,Coming Home, andBeing There were all nominated for thePalme d'Or.
American songwriter and guitarist Guthrie Thomas, who coordinated the music inBound for Glory and acted in the film, called Ashby "one of the finest motion picture directors of the 20th century."
Michael Cimino's 1996 filmThe Sunchaser, about a teenager with pancreatic cancer who refuses medical treatment, was dedicated to Ashby.[19]
For the 2012Sight & Sound Directors Top Ten pollNiki Caro,Cyrus Frisch, andWanuri Kahiu voted forHarold and Maude,[20] with Frisch describing the film as "an encouragement to think beyond the obvious!"[21]
A2018 documentary about the director was screened at theSundance Film Festival.[22] The moving image collection of Hal Ashby is held at the Academy Film Archive. The material at the Academy Film Archive is also complemented by material in the Hal Ashby papers at the academy's Margaret Herrick Library.[23]
Hal Ashby has been an influence to the melodic post-hardcore bandTouche Amore. He is referenced in the 3rd song "Hal Ashby", of their album "Spiral in a Straight Line" in the lyrics (“a misguided Hal Ashby catastrophe”).[24][25]
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Landlord | 1970 | Cameo: Groom in opening shot |
| Harold and Maude | 1971 | Cameo: Man watching model train |
| The Last Detail | 1973 | Cameo: Man at a bar |
| Shampoo | 1975 | |
| Bound for Glory | 1976 | |
| Coming Home | 1978 | Cameo: Man doing a peace sign |
| Being There | 1979 | Cameo:Washington Post worker |
| Second-Hand Hearts | 1981 | |
| Lookin' to Get Out | 1982 | Cameo: Man on television |
| Let's Spend the Night Together | 1983 | Concert film |
| Solo Trans | 1984 | |
| The Slugger's Wife | 1985 | |
| 8 Million Ways to Die | 1986 |
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editor | Other | |||
| Friendly Persuasion | 1956 | Yes | Uncredited assistant editor | |
| The Big Country | 1958 | Yes | ||
| Tokyo After Dark | 1959 | Yes | ||
| The Diary of Anne Frank | Yes | |||
| The Young Doctors | 1961 | Yes | Editorial consultant | |
| The Children's Hour | Yes | Assistant editor | ||
| Captain Sindbad | 1963 | Yes | ||
| The Best Man | 1964 | Yes | Editorial consultant | |
| The Greatest Story Ever Told | 1965 | Yes | Uncredited assistant editor | |
| The Loved One | Yes | |||
| The Cincinnati Kid | Yes | With Brian Smedley-Aston | ||
| The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | 1966 | Yes | WithJ. Terry Williams | |
| In the Heat of the Night | 1967 | Yes | ||
| The Thomas Crown Affair | 1968 | Yes | Yes | WithRalph E. Winters & Byron Brandt Also associate producer |
| Gaily, Gaily | 1969 | Yes | Yes | |
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director | |||
| Beverly Hills Buntz | 1987 | Yes | Episode: "Pilot" |
| Jake's Journey | 1988 | Yes | Television pilot |
| Year | Association | Category | Project | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Academy Awards | Best Film Editing | The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | Nominated | |
| 1967 | In the Heat of the Night | Won | |||
| 1978 | Best Director | Coming Home | Nominated | ||
| 1976 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Director | Bound for Glory | Nominated | |
| 1978 | Coming Home | Nominated | |||
| 1979 | Being There | Nominated | |||
| 1973 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | The Last Detail | Nominated | |
| 1976 | Bound for Glory | Nominated | |||
| 1978 | Coming Home | Nominated | |||
| 1979 | Being There | Nominated |
Accolades received by films directed by Ashby
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1970 | The Landlord | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 1971 | Harold and Maude | 1 | 2 | ||||
| 1973 | The Last Detail | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1975 | Shampoo | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 1976 | Bound for Glory | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 1978 | Coming Home | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 1979 | Being There | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Total | 24 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 26 | 4 | |
Directed Academy Award Performances
| Year | Performer | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Award for Best Actor | |||
| 1974 | Jack Nicholson | The Last Detail | Nominated |
| 1979 | Jon Voight | Coming Home | Won |
| 1980 | Peter Sellers | Being There | Nominated |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | |||
| 1974 | Randy Quaid | The Last Detail | Nominated |
| 1976 | Jack Warden | Shampoo | Nominated |
| 1979 | Bruce Dern | Coming Home | Nominated |
| 1980 | Melvyn Douglas | Being There | Won |
| Academy Award for Best Actress | |||
| 1979 | Jane Fonda | Coming Home | Won |
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | |||
| 1971 | Lee Grant | The Landlord | Nominated |
| 1976 | Shampoo | Won | |
| 1979 | Penelope Milford | Coming Home | Nominated |
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