Alan J. Pakula

Alan Jay Pakula (April 7, 1928 - November 19, 1998) was an American film producer, writer and director noted for his contributions to the conspiracy thriller genre.

Related Topics:
April 7 - 1928 - November 19 - 1998 - America - Conspiracy thriller

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Pakula was born in New York to Polish Jewish parents and was educated at Yale University, where he majored in drama.

Related Topics:
New York - Yale University - Drama

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He started his Hollywood career as an assistant in the cartoon department at Warner Brothers. In 1957, he undertook his first production role for Paramount Pictures. In 1962, he produced To Kill A Mockingbird, for which he received a Best Picture nomination in the 1963 Academy Awards. In 1969, he directed his first feature, The Sterile Cuckoo, starring Liza Minnelli.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Cartoon - Warner Brothers - 1957 - Paramount Pictures - 1962 - To Kill A Mockingbird - 1963 - Academy Awards - 1969 - The Sterile Cuckoo - Liza Minnelli

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In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoia trilogy". Klute, the story of a private eye's relationship with a call girl (played by Jane Fonda, who won an Oscar for her performance), was a commercial and critical success.

Related Topics:
1971 - Paranoia - Klute - Jane Fonda - Oscar

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This was followed in 1974 by The Parallax View starring Warren Beatty, a similarly labyrinthine post-Watergate thriller notable for its experimental use of hypnotic imagery in a celebrated film-within-a-film sequence in which the protagonist is inducted into the mysterious Parallax Corporation.

Related Topics:
1974 - The Parallax View - Warren Beatty - Watergate

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Finally, in 1976, Pakula rounded out the "trilogy" with All The President's Men, another commercial hit considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best thrillers of the 1970s. The film was based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.

Related Topics:
1976 - All The President's Men - 1970s - Bob Woodward - Carl Bernstein

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Pakula scored another hit in 1982 with Sophie's Choice, starring Meryl Streep. His screenplay, based on the novel by William Styron, was nominated for an Academy Award. In later years, he largely focused on courtroom dramas, achieving commercial success with Presumed Innocent, based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow, and The Pelican Brief, an adaptation of the John Grisham bestseller.

Related Topics:
1982 - Sophie's Choice - Meryl Streep - William Styron - Courtroom drama - Presumed Innocent - Scott Turow - The Pelican Brief - John Grisham

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Pakula died in 1998 in a bizarre car accident at the age of 70. A driver in front of him struck a metal pipe and it went through his windshield and caused his death instantly.

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