Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz ˈmæŋkəwɪts MANGkəwits February 11 1909 February 5 1993 was an American filmmaker A fourtime Academy Award winner he is best known for his witty and literate dialogue and his preference for voiceover narration and narrative flashbacks Also known as an actors director Mankiewicz directed several prominent actors including Bette Davis Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor to several of their memorable onscreen performances Born in WilkesBarre Pennsylvania Mankiewicz studied at Columbia University and graduated in 1928 He moved overseas to Europe where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and translated German intertitles into English for UFA On the advice of his screenwriter brother Herman Mankiewicz moved back to the United States and was hired by Paramount Pictures as a dialogue writer He then became a screenwriter writing for numerous films starring Jack Oakie He next moved to MetroGoldwynMayer MGM where he served as a producer for several films including The Philadelphia Story 1940 and Woman of the Year 1942 Mankiewicz left MGM after a dispute with Louis B Mayer In 1944 Mankiewicz began working for Twentieth CenturyFox where he produced The Keys of the Kingdom 1944 He made his directorial debut with Dragonwyck 1946 after Ernst Lubitsch had dropped out due to illness Mankiewicz remained at Fox directing a broad range of genre films Consecutively in 1950 and 1951 he won two Academy Awards each for writing and directing A Letter to Three Wives 1949 and All About Eve 1950 In 1953 Mankiewicz formed his own production company Figaro where he independently produced as well as wrote and directed The Barefoot Contessa 1954 and The Quiet American 1958 In 1961 Mankiewicz took over direction from Rouben Mamoulian for Cleopatra 1963 Production was beset with numerous difficulties including a heavily publicized extramarital affair between stars Taylor and Richard Burton Relatively late into production Darryl F Zanuck reassumed control of Fox as studio president and briefly fired Mankiewicz for excessive overruns Released in 1963 Cleopatra became the years highestgrossing film and earned mixed reviews from critics Mankiewiczs reputation suffered and he did not return to direct another film until The Honey Pot 1967 Mankiewicz then directed There Was a Crooked Man 1970 and the documentary King A Filmed Record Montgomery to Memphis 1972 sharing credit with Sidney Lumet on the latter His final film Sleuth 1972 starring Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier earned Mankiewicz his fourth and final Oscar nomination as Best Director In 1993 Mankiewicz died in Bedford New York at the age of 83