The great director Sidney Lumet died today because of a lymphoma.
Sidney Lumet (photo ©gdcgraphics) was born on June 25, 1924 in Philadelphia, USA. Son of an actor and a dancer, he attended the theater since his childhood. In his youth he participated in several Broadway shows, but World War II interrupted his career as an actor.
At the end of the war Sidney Lumet became a director, originally for television. In 1957 he made his debut as a film director with the film “12 Angry Men” and from the start and began he was lucky working with big stars such as Herny Fonda, Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Katharine Hepburn and many others.
During his long career Sidney Lumet has directed many successful films, especially in the ’70s when he got the highest number of Oscar nominations and some awards. For “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974) Ingrid Bergman won an Oscar for supporting actress, “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975) won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, “Network” (1976) won 4 Oscars: the Best Actor Peter Finch, the Best Actress Faye Dunaway, the Best Supporting Actress Beatrice Straight and the Best Original Screenplay.
In the ’80s his films kept on being successful even if they weren’t awarded any more Oscars but gradually came the decline. In 2005 however Sidney Lumet was awarded an Oscar for his career.
A very meticulous director, Sidney Lumet payed attention to rehearsal, which he considered vital to the success of his films. Lumet had great organizational skills that allowed him to work very quickly.
Sidney Lumet’s films are often characterized by a moral sense. He often raised issues about social injustice and was critical of the obsessive pursuit of success of a typical American way of seeing. The protagonists of his films are often ordinary and isolated people who are opposed to much larger opponents.
During his life Sidney Lumet has been married four times and had two daughters from his second wife Gail Jones.
Undoubtedly with the Sidney Lumet’s death we lose another piece of the history of cinema.
