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Preston Sturges (August 29, 1898-August 6, 1959), originally Edmund Preston Biden, was a screenwriter and director born in Chicago. Known for his comedic contribution to American film, he was one of Hollywood's great filmmakers. His mother was Mary Desti, a socialite renowned for her friendly relationship sustaining Isadora Duncan. Sturges took a screwball comedy format of the 1930s to another level, writing dialogue that, heard in todays world, is typically amazingly realistic, mature, & ahead of its instance, despite a ridiculous situations. These are non rare for one of Sturges' actors to deliver an fine sour sentence & choose an elaborate pratfall in a equivalent scene. The love scene between Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck in "The Lady Eve" was enlivened by a horse, world health organization repeatedly poked his nose into Fonda's head. He is typically credited when a foremost writer to direct his have script, however this is untrue. Several major directors like Frank Capra and Howard Hawks preceded Sturges in making a leap from either writing to directing. Notwithstanding, Sturges might use been a 1st to exist as promoted in and of itself per studios for publicity. Famously, he purportedly sold his screenplay for "The Great McGinty" to Paramount Pictures for $1, in exchange for the director's job. He won a number one Academy Award ever given for Writing Original Screenplay for the "McGinty" script. Perchance further imposingly, Sturges received deuce screenwriting Oscar nominations in the equivalent month, for 1944's "Hail the Conquering Hero" and "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek." Though he enjoyed a Thirty-season Hollywood career, the greatest of Sturges' comedies were filmed around the furious Phoebe-month burst of activity. Half a century late, little joe one were chosen among the American Film Institute's 100 funniest picture show: "Morgan's Creek, "A Lady Eve," "Sullivan's Travels" and "The Palm Beach Story." Their combination of sentiment and cynicism has kept them fresh for today's audiences. Sturges liked to reuse many of the same character actors, such as William Demarest, Byron Foulger, Victor Potel, Robert Grieg, Charles R. Moore, Robert Warwick, or Franklin Pangborn, giving him what amounted to a regular troupe even within the studio system. Among his wives was Eleanor Close, a daughter of Post Cereals' heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and a great-aunt of film star Glenn Close. He died in New York.
Feature-films filmography
Awards
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American Masters - Preston Sturges PBS biography where Sturges is "considered the father of the screwball comedy." Preston Sturges - Filmmaker Biography, filmography and bibliography from Erik Weems. Preston Sturges - A Screwball Centennial Extensive career overview from Devra Maza for the Writer's Guild of America. The Official Preston Sturges Website Biography, filmography, photo gallery and script excerpts. Maintained by Sturges' family. Sturges Emerges Career overview of director whose "films inhabit a unique place in film history." Ants in his Pants British Film Institue look at Sturges irreverant, but serious comedies. Preston Sturges Filmography, biography, trivia and quaotes from the Internet Movie Database. Hail the Conquering Hero Paula Hunt celebrates the genuis of the writer-director. |
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