Alan J. Pakula

Alan J. Pakula
Pakula in 1990
Born	Alan Jay Pakula (1928-04-07)April 7, 1928 The Bronx,New York City, U.S.
Died	November 19, 1998(1998-11-19)(aged 70) Melville, New York,U.S.
Alma mater	Yale University
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1957–1998
Notable work	Klute The Parallax View All the President's Men Comes a Horseman Starting Over Sophie's Choice Presumed Innocent The Pelican Brief
Spouses	Hope Lange ​ ​ (m.1963;div.1971)​ Hannah Cohn Boorstin ​ ​ (m.1973)​

Alan Jay Pakula(/pəˈkuːlə/;April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Associated with theNew Hollywoodmovement,his best-known works include his critically-acclaimed "paranoia trilogy": the neo-noir mysteryKlute(1971), the conspiracy thrillerThe Parallax View(1974), and theWatergate scandaldramaAll the President's Men(1976).His other notable films includedComes a Horseman(1978),Starting Over(1979),Sophie's Choice(1982),Presumed Innocent(1990), andThe Pelican Brief(1993).

Pakula receivedAcademy Awardnominations forBest DirectorforAll the President's MenandBest Adapted ScreenplayforSophie's Choice.He was also nominated forBest Picturefor producingTo Kill a Mockingbird(1962). Additionally, he was aBAFTA Award,Golden Globe Award,andDirectors Guild of America Awardnominee.

Pakula's films often dealt with psychological and political themes. HisNew York Timesobituary stated Pakula made "different kinds of movies, all of them intended to entertain, but the thread connecting many of them was a style that emphasized and explored the psychology and motivations of his characters."He was the subject of the 2023 documentary,Alan Pakula: Going for Truth.

Early life and education

Pakula was born inThe Bronx,New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Jeanette (née Goldstein) and Paul Pakula. He was educated atThe Hill SchoolinPottstown, Pennsylvania,andYale University,where he majored in drama.

Career

Pakula started his Hollywood career as an assistant in thecartoondepartment atWarner Bros.In 1957, he undertook his first production role forParamount Pictures.In 1962, he producedTo Kill a Mockingbird,for which he was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture.Pakula had a successful professional relationship as the producer of movies directed byMockingbirddirectorRobert Mulliganfrom 1957 to 1968. In 1969, he directed his first feature,The Sterile Cuckoo,starringLiza Minnelli.

Paranoia trilogy

In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoiatrilogy. "Klute,the story of a relationship between a private eye (played byDonald Sutherland) and a call girl (played byJane Fonda,who won anOscarfor her performance), was a commercial and critical success. This was followed in 1974 byThe Parallax ViewstarringWarren Beatty,a labyrinthine post-Watergatethriller involving political assassinations. The film has been noted for its experimental use of hypnotic imagery in a celebrated film-within-a-film sequence in which the protagonist is inducted into the Parallax Corporation, whose main, although secret, enterprise is domestic terrorism.

Finally, in 1976, Pakula rounded out the "trilogy" withAll the President's Men,based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written byBob WoodwardandCarl Bernstein,played byRobert RedfordandDustin Hoffman,respectively. It was another commercial hit, considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best thrillers of the 1970s.

Subsequent films

Pakula scored another hit in 1982 withSophie's Choice,starringMeryl Streep.His screenplay, based on the novel byWilliam Styron,was nominated for an Academy Award. Later commercial successes includedPresumed Innocent,based on the bestselling novel byScott Turow,andThe Pelican Brief,an adaptation ofJohn Grisham's bestseller. His final film was the thrillerThe Devil's Own,where he reunited withHarrison Ford.

Personal life

From October 19, 1963, until 1971, Pakula was married to actressHope Lange.He was married to his second wife, author Hannah Pakula (formerly Hannah Cohn Boorstin) from 1973 until his death in 1998.

He had two stepchildren from his marriage with Hope Lange, Christopher and Patricia Murray, and three stepchildren from his second marriage. They are Louis, Robert, and Anna Boorstin. He also spoke very openly about his stepson's battle with depression before his death.

Death

On November 19, 1998, Pakula was driving on theLong Island ExpresswayinMelville, New York,when a driver in front of him hit a metal pipe, causing it to crash through Pakula’s windshield and strike him in the head. His car swerved off the road and into a fence. He was taken toNorth Shore University Hospital,where he was pronounced dead.

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer
1969	The Sterile Cuckoo	Yes	Yes	No
1971	Klute	Yes	Yes	No
1973	Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing	Yes	Yes	No
1974	The Parallax View	Yes	Yes	No
1976	All the President's Men	Yes	No	No
1978	Comes a Horseman	Yes	No	No
1979	Starting Over	Yes	Yes	No
1981	Rollover	Yes	No	No
1982	Sophie's Choice	Yes	Yes	Yes
1986	Dream Lover	Yes	Yes	No
1987	Orphans	Yes	Yes	No
1989	See You in the Morning	Yes	Yes	Yes
1990	Presumed Innocent	Yes	No	Yes
1992	Consenting Adults	Yes	Yes	No
1993	The Pelican Brief	Yes	Yes	Yes
1997	The Devil's Own	Yes	No	No

Producer only

Year	Title	Director
1957	Fear Strikes Out	Robert Mulligan
1962	To Kill a Mockingbird
1963	Love with the Proper Stranger
1965	Baby the Rain Must Fall
	Inside Daisy Clover
1967	Up the Down Staircase
1968	The Stalking Moon

Further reading

• Brown, Jared (2005).Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life.New York: Back Stage Books.ISBN0-8230-8799-9.

External links

• Alan J. PakulaatIMDb
• Alan J. PakulaatFind a Grave
• Alan J. Pakula papers.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.