Robert_Benton

Robert Benton

American screenwriter and film director

For the set decorator, see Robert R. Benton.

Robert Douglas Benton (born September 29, 1932) is an American screenwriter and film director. A seven-time Academy Award nominee and three-time winner, he is best known as the writer and director of the film Kramer vs. Kramer, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He later won a third Academy Award in the category of Best Original Screenplay for Places in the Heart (1984). His first script as a writer was written with David Newman for the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.

Quick Facts Born, Occupation(s) ...

Robert Benton
Born	Robert Douglas Benton (1932-09-29) September 29, 1932 (age 91) Waxahachie, Texas, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1967–2007
Spouse	Sallie Rendig (after 1964)

Early life

Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Dorothy (née Spaulding) and Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company employee.^[1] He attended the University of Texas and Columbia University.^[1]

Career

In 1959, he co-wrote the book The IN and OUT Book with Harvey Schmidt, published by The Viking Press. He was the art director at Esquire in the early 1960s.^[2]

Benton won the Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Best Original Screenplay for Places in the Heart (1984).

Benton garnered three additional Oscar nominations: two for Best Original Screenplay for both Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Late Show (1977) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for Nobody's Fool (1994).

He also directed Twilight (1998) and Feast of Love (2007), and co-wrote the screenplays for Superman (1978) and The Ice Harvest (2005).

In 2006, he appeared in the documentary Wanderlust.

Personal life

He married artist Sallie Rendig in 1964.^[3]^[4]

Films

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Executive Producer
1967	Bonnie and Clyde	No	Yes	No
1970	There Was a Crooked Man...	No	Yes	No
1972	What's Up, Doc?	No	Yes	No
1972	Bad Company	Yes	Yes	No
1977	The Late Show	Yes	Yes	No
1978	Superman	No	Yes	No
1979	Kramer vs. Kramer	Yes	Yes	No
1982	Still of the Night	Yes	Yes	No
1984	Places in the Heart	Yes	Yes	No
1987	Nadine	Yes	Yes	No
1988	The House on Carroll Street	No	No	Yes
1991	Billy Bathgate	Yes	No	No
1994	Nobody's Fool	Yes	Yes	No
1998	Twilight	Yes	Yes	No
2003	The Human Stain	Yes	No	No
2005	The Ice Harvest	No	Yes	Yes
2007	Feast of Love	Yes	No	No

Producer

A Texas Romance, 1909^[5] (1964) (Short film)

Theatre

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Notes
1966	It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman	Libretto; adaptation in television film (1975)
1969	Oh! Calcutta!	Contribution in libretto; adaptation in theatrical film (1972)