Movies

Oscar-Winning Director Robert Benton, Who Made Meryl Streep a Star, Dies at 92

BBG News

92-year-old film director Robert Benton, who won the Oscar three times and is renowned for directing the 1979 film “Kramer vs. Kramer,” passed away in New York City on Sunday.

According to Marissa Forzano, Benton’s manager or assistant, it has been confirmed that the filmmaker we are discussing passed away. Notably, this individual had contributions in films like “Places in the Heart,” “Nobody’s Fool,” and “The Late Show,” as reported by The New York Times.

Apart from his acting roles, Benson is recognized as a talented screenwriter, having authored the script for the iconic movie “Bonnie and Clyde,” starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

At the start of his professional journey, Benton served as an art director for the magazine Esquire. During this time, he formed a powerful, creative alliance with a fellow team member named David Newman.

In the realm of cinema, I had the privilege of writing the 1967 classic “Bonnie and Clyde,” which served as my stepping stone in Tinseltown. Subsequently, my subsequent significant venture was a film titled “Bad Company,” graced by the illustrious Jeff Bridges in the lead role, who went on to claim an Oscar for his performance.

Benton’s son, John Benton, said that he died Sunday at his home in Manhattan of ‘natural causes.’

Over a 40-year span on the silver screen, this native Texan earned six Oscar nominations and took home the prize three times: once for both writing and directing “Kramer vs. Kramer”, and another for writing “Places in the Heart”.

He was highly valued by actors for his attentiveness and trustworthiness, and he guided award-winning acts from Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Sally Field to win Oscars.

Despite the fact that dyslexia severely limited his reading capacity as a youngster, only allowing him to read a handful of pages at a time, he went on to pen and direct movie adaptations of works by authors like Philip Roth, E.L. Doctorow, and Richard Russo, among others.

As a connoisseur of lifestyle trends, I found myself serving as an art director at Esquire magazine in the vibrant 1960s. A passion for French New Wave films and classic gangster tales, coupled with news that a friend had pocketed a tidy $25,000 from a Doris Day screenplay, ignited a spark of inspiration within me and our editor, David Newman. We seized this moment to draft a captivating treatment, focusing on the lives of Depression-era outlaws Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. In our vision, they transformed into the embodiments of 1960s revolutionaries.

The completion of their project required several years because various directors like Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard initially declined it. However, it was eventually brought to life when Warren Beatty decided to take on its production and acting role in the film.

1967 saw the groundbreaking movie “Bonnie and Clyde,” helmed by Arthur Penn, make its debut despite initial skepticism over its graphic violence. This film eventually left an indelible mark on 1960s culture, symbolizing a period of increased artistic freedom and creativity in Hollywood.

In an even bolder twist of the initial narrative, Benton and Newman reimagined Clyde Barrow as bisexual, engaging him in a three-person relationship with Bonnie and a male escape driver.

In a different version, Beatty and Penn stood firm, while Barrow’s character was depicted as powerless. Additionally, Robert Towne, unaccredited, made multiple adjustments to the screenplay.

As Benton revealed to Mark Harris, the author of ‘Pictures at a Revolution’, the film ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ wasn’t actually created by a single, identified director (the ‘auteur’).

During the next ten years, no film by Benton managed to match the influence of ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’ However, he maintained both critical acclaim and box office success.

This individual is known for contributing to the scripts of ‘Superman’ and ‘What’s Up, Doc?’. He directed and collaborated on the script for critically acclaimed productions like ‘Bad Company’, a Western film with a fresh perspective starring Jeff Bridges. Additionally, he wrote the screenplay for ‘The Late Show’, a comedy tinged with melancholy that earned an Oscar nomination for its script.

1979 saw a significant rise in his professional success, marked by his film adaptation of the Avery Corman novel ‘Kramer vs. Kramer.’ This story revolves around an ad executive who, following his self-centered wife’s departure, transforms into a devoted parent to their young son. However, complications arise when she reappears seeking custody.

Featuring Hoffman and Streep, this film was acclaimed for its insightful and emotional depiction of evolving familial roles and obligations, ultimately earning five Academy Awards, with the top honor being Best Picture.

As a lifestyle enthusiast, I found myself disillusioned within the realm of filmmaking, but my passion was rekindled when I experienced the directorial prowess of Bobby Ferry during ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’. His unique vision and storytelling techniques breathed new life into my love for acting on the silver screen.

Five years on, Benton found himself once more vying for an Oscar with a deeply personal production titled ‘Places in the Heart.’ This film was set in the 1930s and featured Fields as a resilient Texas mother of two who battles to preserve her land following her husband’s untimely demise, using tales from his family history and recollections of his childhood to craft this heartfelt drama.

In 1984, Benton expressed to The Associated Press that when he looked at everything assembled together, he was taken aback by the romantic perspective I held towards the past. He further mentioned that the movie held a significant part as a tribute to his mother, who had passed away just before the premiere of ‘Kramer vs. Kramer.’

Born in the town of Waxahachie, which lies beyond Dallas, Texas, Benton spent his formative years. His early fascination with movies can be traced back to his father, Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company worker. Rather than focusing on schoolwork, he would often take the family out for movie outings instead.

Older Benton often recounted stories about attending the funerals of local outlaws Barrow and Parker, two individuals born and raised near Dallas, Texas.

After completing his education at the University of Texas and Columbia University, Robert Benton spent two years serving in the United States Army, from 1954 to 1956.

At Esquire, Benton was instrumental in launching the enduring Dubious Achievement Award and romantically linked with Gloria Steinem, who was a part of the humor magazine Help! at that time. He tied the knot with artist Sallie Rendigs in 1964, and they shared one son together.

During pauses in his success, Benton frequently experienced prolonged periods of little to no work. Some of his later productions, like the thrillers ‘Billy Bathgate,’ ‘The Human Stain,’ and ‘Twilight,’ didn’t meet expectations.

In the year 1994, ‘Nobody’s Fool,’ a humorous and subtle film, proved to be more successful for him. Starring Paul Newman in his last Oscar-nominated role, this movie depicted the story of a mischievous character from a small town in upstate New York. The director, Benton, who adapted the screenplay from Russo’s novel, was nominated for best adapted screenplay.

Back in 1998, someone asked me when the Academy Award nominations were announced and I was nominated, ‘What makes the Academy Awards so special?’ Benton explained to Venice magazine. I replied, ‘When you attend the awards ceremony, you see people – some whom you’ve had disagreements with, some you’re good friends with, some you haven’t seen in a decade, some you met just two days prior – it’s like a family gathering.’ It feels like home. And for me, finding a sense of belonging has always been my life’s quest.’

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2025-05-14 07:04

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