Franklin Schaffner

Infobox Actor
name = Franklin Schaffner
birthname = Franklin James Schaffner
birthdate = birth date|1920|5|30
location = Tokyo, Japan
deathdate = death date and age|1989|7|2|1920|5|30
deathplace = Santa Monica, California, USA
spouse = Helen Jean Gilchrist (1948-1989)
academyawards = Best Director
1970 "Patton"

Franklin James Schaffner (May 30, 1920-July 2, 1989) was an Academy Award-winning American film director.

The son of missionaries, Schaffner was born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in that country. He returned to the United States and graduated from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was active in drama. He studied law at Columbia University in New York City but his education was interrupted by service with the United States Navy in World War II during which he served with American amphibious forces in Europe and North Africa. In the latter stages of the war he was sent to the Pacific Far East to serve with the United States Office for Strategic Services.

Returning home after the war, he found work in the television industry with "March of Time" and then joined the CBS network. He won directing Emmys for his work on the original 1954 CBS teleplay, "12 Angry Men". Schaffner earned two more Emmy awards for his work on the 1955 TV adaptation of the Broadway play, "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial", shown on the anthology series "Ford Star Jubilee". He won his fourth Emmy Award for his work on the series, "The Defenders".

In 1960, he directed Allen Drury's stage play "Advise and Consent". His first Hollywood motion picture was praised and he directed the influential hit "Planet of the Apes". His next film, "Patton" was a major success for which he won the Academy Award for Directing and the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. Jerry Goldsmith composed the scores for a number of his later films, including "Planet of the Apes", "Papillon" and "The Boys from Brazil".

Schaffner married Helen Jane Gilchrist in 1948. The couple had two children.

Schaffner was elected President of the Directors Guild of America in 1987.

Schaffner died on July 2, 1989 at the age of 69. He was released 10 days before his death from a hospital where he was being treated for lung cancer. Obituaries stated he died of cancer.

Critical perception

Screenwriter William Goldman identified Schaffner in 1981 as being one of the three best directors (then living) at handling 'scope' (epicness) in films. The other two were David Lean and Richard Attenborough. [John Bradey, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 168]

Filmography

*"Woman of Summer" (1963)
*"The Best Man" (1964)
*"The War Lord" (1965)
*"The Double Man" (1967)
*"Planet of the Apes" (1968)
*"Patton" (1970)
*"Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971)
*"Papillon" (1973)
*"Islands in the Stream" (1976)
*"The Boys from Brazil" (1978)
*"Sphinx" (1980)
*"Yes, Giorgio" (1982)
*"Lionheart" (1987)
*"Welcome Home" (1989).

References