Hal Ashby
Hal Ashby | |
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Ashby directingBound for Glory(1976) | |
Born | William Hal Ashby September 2, 1929 Ogden, Utah,U.S. |
Died | December 27, 1988 Malibu, California,U.S. | (aged 59)
Occupations |
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Years active | 1956–1988 |
Spouses |
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William Hal Ashby(September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988)[1]was anAmerican filmdirectorandeditor.[2][3]His work exemplified thecounterculturalattitude of the era. He directed wide ranging films featuring iconic performances. He is associated with theNew Hollywoodwave of filmmaking with filmmakers such asMartin Scorsese,Woody Allen,Mike Nichols,andSidney Lumet.
Before his career as a director Ashby edited films forNorman Jewison,notablyThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming(1966), which earned Ashby anOscarnomination forBest Editing,andIn the Heat of the Night(1967), which earned him his only Oscar for the same category. Ashby received a third Oscar nomination, this time forBest DirectorforComing Home(1978). Other films directed by Ashby includeThe Landlord(1970),Harold and Maude(1971),The Last Detail(1973),Shampoo(1975),Bound for Glory(1976), andBeing There(1979).
Early life and education
[edit]Ashby was born September 2, 1929, inOgden, Utah,the youngest of four siblings born toMormonparents Eileen Ireta (née Hetzler) and James Thomas Ashby, adairy farmowner.[4][5]Ashby's parents divorced in 1936, after which his father remarried.[6]
Following the divorce, Ashby and his siblings lived with their mother, briefly inLogan, Utah,before relocating toPortland, Oregon,where his elder brother took a job in the timber industry.[6]His mother, a cooking enthusiast, opened a restaurant in Portland.[6]After several years in Portland, the family returned to Ogden, where Ashby primarily lived with his father.[7]When Ashby was 12 years old, his father committedsuicide.[8]
Ashby subsequently dropped out of high school.[citation needed]Ashby-approved studio biographies concealed this, falsely stating that he graduated fromUtah State University(situated in nearby Logan, Utah) to ensure he fit into thesocial milieuof college-educated peers likeFrancis Ford CoppolaandMartin Scorsese.[citation needed]Ashby was married and divorced by the time he was 19.
Career
[edit]1967–1978: Breakthrough and stardom
[edit]As Ashby was entering adult life, he moved from Utah toLos Angeles,California, where he pursued abohemianlifestyle and ultimately became an assistantfilm editorthrough a long apprenticeship. His career gained momentum when he served as the editor ofThe Loved One(1965), an adaptation of theEvelyn Waughnovel that involved such New Hollywood contemporaries as screenwriterTerry Southernand cinematographerHaskell Wexler.After being nominated for theAcademy Award for Film Editingin 1967 forThe Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming,[9]his big break occurred one year later when he won the award forIn the Heat of the Night.[10][11]Ashby often stated that the practice of editing provided him with the best filmmaking background outside of traditional university study and carried the techniques learned as an editor with him when he began directing.
At the urging of mentorNorman Jewison,Ashby directed his first film,The Landlord—an early rumination on the social dynamics ofgentrificationinPark Slope, Brooklyn—in 1970. While his birth date placed him within theSilent Generation,the filmmaker (who had been a habitualmarijuanasmoker since 1950), eagerly embraced thehippielifestyle, adoptingvegetarianismand growing his hair long before it becamede rigueur.
Over the next ten years, Ashby directed several acclaimed and popular films. Many were about outsiders and adventurers traversing the pathways of life. They included the off-beat romanceHarold and Maude(1971),The Last Detail(1973), and the social satireBeing There(1979), withPeter Sellers,giving the star a well-received role after many felt he had lapsed into self-parody. His most significant commercial success wasShampoo(1975), a collaboration withWarren BeattyandRobert Townethat satirized late-1960ssexualandsocial moresthrough the life of a hairdresser modeled after such contemporaneous figures asJay SebringandJon Peters.Bound for Glory(1976), a muted biography ofWoody GuthriestarringDavid Carradine,was the first film to use aSteadicam.
In June 1973,Michael DouglasandSaul Zaentzhired Ashby to directOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,after the original directorMiloš Formanbecame unavailable due to the reimposition ofcensorshipin his nativeCzechoslovakiaafter theWarsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakiaand after Forman's initial replacementRichard Rushwas unable to secure studio funding.[12][13]Ashby was responsible for castingJack Nicholsonas R.P. McMurphy, but this resulted in a nine-month delay during which Forman fled to the United States and was rehired as director.[12]
Aside fromShampoo,Ashby's most commercially successful film was theVietnam WardramaComing Home(1978). StarringJane FondaandJon Voight,both inAcademy Award-winning performances, it was for this film that Ashby earned his only Best Director nomination.[14]Arriving in the post-JawsandStar Warsera,Coming Homewas one of the last films to encapsulate the modestly budgeted,socially realisticethos of the New Hollywood era, earning nearly $15 million in returns and rentals on a $3 million budget.
1979–1988: Later films
[edit]Because of his critical success and dependable profitability, shortly after the success ofComing Home,Ashby was able to form a production company, Northstar, under the auspices ofLorimar.AfterBeing There,Ashby became morereclusive,often retreating to his home inMalibu Colony,a gated enclave in the city. Later, it was widely rumored in a likelywhisper campaignfrom Lorimar (whose executives clashed with the director) that Ashby had become dependent uponcocaine,a drug that he only used intermittently after the production ofBound for Glory.As a consequence of these rumors, he slowly became unemployable.[15]Eva Gardos, an editor who worked with Ashby during the period, has asserted that his drug intake remained largely confined tomarijuanaandpsilocybin.[15]
FollowingBeing There,Ashby was provisionally set to reunite with Sellers and Terry Southern onGrossing Out,a black comedy inspired by the actor's chance meeting with an international arms dealer on an airplane. Although Southern (who had not had a screenplay go to production in a decade) was rejuvenated by the prospect of working with the duo and produced a script that was said to be on par with his 1960s oeuvre, the project went intodevelopment hellafter Sellers sudden death from a heart attack in July 1980. During this period, the productions[16]ofSecond-Hand HeartsandLookin' to Get Out[17]the latter aLas Vegascaper that reunited him with Voight and featured Voight's young daughter,Angelina Joliewas plagued by the increasingly strained relationship between Ashby and Lorimar. Filmed in 1979,Second-Hand Heartsonly received a poorly reviewed limited release in 1981 before being pulled from circulation for nearly thirty years. Belatedly released in October 1982,Lookin' to Get Outearned a little under $1 million in returns and rentals on an estimated $17 million budget. During this period, Lorimar executives grew less tolerant of his increasingly perfectionist production (811,000 feet of film were used shootingLookin' to Get Out) and editing techniques, a montage in the latter film set toThe Police's "Message in a Bottle"took six months to perfect but proved to be logistically unusable due to a Lorimar agreement with theAmerican Federation of Musicians.
Initially set to helmTootsieafter two years of negotiations and Ashby-directed wig and makeup tests, Lorimar executives blocked him from working on the film because part of the preproduction period overlapped with final work on the long-gestatingLookin' to Get Out,which was eventually recut by the studio when Ashby's work was deemed to be unsatisfactory. (Decades later, Ashby's cut was rediscovered and released on DVD in 2009.) AsDustin Hoffmanhad not offered a "formal commitment" to the production at the time of Ashby's dismissal, the director forfeited his $1.5 million fee. While post-production ofLookin' to Get Outcontinued, Lorimar permitted Ashby to filmThe Rolling Stones'1981 American tourdocumentary,Let's Spend the Night Together,the director was a longtime fan of the group. He collapsed before the final filmed concert atSun Devil StadiuminTempe, Arizona,on December 13, 1981. AlthoughJeff Wexlersaid Ashby was "partying way beyond his capabilities with the Stones,"Caleb Deschanelhas said that Ashby (who directed the concert shoot on a gurney) simply had the flu. The film was well-received but gained little traction during a limited theatrical release. In September 1983, Ashby directedSolo Trans,aNeil Youngconcert video that was released the following year.
The Slugger's Wife,with a screenplay written byNeil Simon,was a critical and commercial failure. Ashby (whose cocaine use had accelerated throughout the shoot)[15]was fired after delivering a 20-minute rough cut of the beginning of the film that included almost no dialogue. When theOliver Stone-written8 Million Ways to Diefared similarly at the box office, Ashby's post-production process was considered to be such a liability that he was fired by the production company on the final day ofprincipal photography.[15]
Attempting to turn a corner in his declining career, Ashby stopped using drugs, trimmed his hair and beard, and began to frequently attend Hollywood parties wearing a navy-blue blazer so as to suggest that he was once again employable. Despite these efforts, he could only find work as a television director, helming one of threepilotsforBeverly Hills Buntz,an unsuccessfulHill Street Bluesspinoff starringDennis Franz.He also directedJake's Journey,asword and sorceryfantasy conceived byGraham Chapman.[18]
Personal life and death
[edit]Longtime friend Warren Beatty advised Ashby to seek medical care after he complained of various ailments, including undiagnosedphlebitis.He was soon diagnosed withpancreatic cancerthat rapidly spread to his lungs, colon, and liver. Ashby died on December 27, 1988, at his home inMalibu, California.
Influence and legacy
[edit]The Last Detail,Bound for Glory,Coming Home,andBeing Therewere all nominated for thePalme d'Or.
American songwriter and guitarist Guthrie Thomas, who coordinated the music inBound for Gloryand acted in the film, called Ashby "one of the finest motion picture directors of the 20th century."
In the end credits of 1996'sThe Sunchaser,a film about a teenager with pancreatic cancer who refuses medical treatment, directorMichael Ciminodedicated it to Ashby.[19]
For the 2012Sight & SoundDirectors Top Ten pollNiki Caro,Cyrus Frisch,andWanuri Kahiuvoted forHarold and Maude,[20]with Frisch describing the film as "an encouragement to think beyond the obvious!"[21]
A2018 documentaryabout the director was screened at theSundance Film Festival.[22]The moving image collection of Hal Ashby is held at the Academy Film Archive. The material at the Academy Film Archive is also complemented by material in the Hal Ashby papers at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library.[23]
Filmography
[edit]Films
[edit]As director
[edit]Title | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|
The Landlord | 1970 | Cameo: Groom in opening shot |
Harold and Maude | 1971 | Cameo: Man watching model train |
The Last Detail | 1973 | Cameo: Man at a bar |
Shampoo | 1975 | |
Bound for Glory | 1976 | |
Coming Home | 1978 | Cameo: Man doing a peace sign |
Being There | 1979 | Cameo:Washington Postworker |
Second-Hand Hearts | 1981 | |
Lookin' to Get Out | 1982 | Cameo: Man on television |
Let's Spend the Night Together | 1983 | Concert film |
Solo Trans | 1984 | |
The Slugger's Wife | 1985 | |
8 Million Ways to Die | 1986 |
Other film work
[edit]Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Editor | Other | |||
Friendly Persuasion | 1956 | Yes | Uncredited assistant editor | |
The Big Country | 1958 | Yes | ||
Tokyo After Dark | 1959 | Yes | ||
The Diary of Anne Frank | Yes | |||
The Young Doctors | 1961 | Yes | Editorial consultant | |
The Children's Hour | Yes | Assistant editor | ||
Captain Sindbad | 1963 | Yes | ||
The Best Man | 1964 | Yes | Editorial consultant | |
The Greatest Story Ever Told | 1965 | Yes | Uncredited assistant editor | |
The Loved One | Yes | |||
The Cincinnati Kid | Yes | With Brian Smedley-Aston | ||
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming |
1966 | Yes | WithJ. Terry Williams | |
In the Heat of the Night | 1967 | Yes | ||
The Thomas Crown Affair | 1968 | Yes | Yes | WithRalph E. Winters& Byron Brandt Also associate producer |
Gaily, Gaily | 1969 | Yes | Yes |
Television
[edit]Title | Year | Credited as | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Director | |||
Beverly Hills Buntz | 1987 | Yes | Episode: "Pilot" |
Jake's Journey | 1988 | Yes | Television pilot |
Awards and nominations
[edit]Year | Association | Category | Project | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | Academy Awards | Best Film Editing | The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | Nominated | |
1967 | In the Heat of the Night | Won | |||
1978 | Best Director | Coming Home | Nominated | ||
1976 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Director | Bound for Glory | Nominated | |
1978 | Coming Home | Nominated | |||
1979 | Being There | Nominated | |||
1973 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | The Last Detail | Nominated | |
1976 | Bound for Glory | Nominated | |||
1978 | Coming Home | Nominated | |||
1979 | Being There | Nominated |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Ashby, Hal".Who was who in America: with world notables, v. XI (1993–1996).New Providence, N.J.: Marquis Who's Who. 1996. p.9.ISBN0837902258.
- ^Glenn Collins (December 28, 1988)."Hal Ashby, 59, an Oscar Winner Whose Films Included 'Shampoo'".The New York Times.
- ^Rodger Jacobs(September 25, 2009)."Hal Ashby: Hollywood Rebel".PopMatters.
- ^"Being Hal Ashby–Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences–Kentucky".Scribd.RetrievedJanuary 29,2018.
- ^"Hal Ashby".Mormon Literature & Creative Arts.Brigham Young University.Archived fromthe originalon May 2, 2021.
- ^abcDawson 2009,p. 10.
- ^Dawson 2009,pp. 10–13.
- ^Dawson 2009,pp. 12–13.
- ^"Grand Prix Wins Film Editing: 1967 Oscars".March 18, 2015 – via youtube.
- ^"Hal Ashby winning a Film Editing Oscar®".March 5, 2014 – via youtube.
- ^"40th Oscars Highlights".Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.September 9, 2014.
- ^ab"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".AFI Catalog.RetrievedJanuary 18,2024.
- ^Yumpu."Boxoffice-June.18.1973".yumpu.RetrievedJune 12,2021.
- ^"The 51st Academy Awards | 1979".Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.October 5, 2014.
- ^abcd"Being Hal Ashby"– via Internet Archive.
- ^"Hal Ashby".tcm.
- ^Hughes, Darren (December 30, 2009)."Ashby, Hal–Senses of Cinema".
- ^"Jake's Journey"– via mubi.
- ^Dawson 2009,p. 334, 342.
- ^"Harold and Maude (1971)".Explore.bfi.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon August 20, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 29,2018.
- ^"Cyrus Frisch - BFI".Explore.bfi.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon August 27, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 29,2018.
- ^January 25, Chris Nashawaty; EST, 2018 at 10:38 AM."Sundance 2018: The best films of this year's festival".EW.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^"Hal Ashby Collection".Academy Film Archive.
Bibliography
[edit]- Dawson, Nick (2009).Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel.Le xing ton, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky.ISBN9780813173344.
External links
[edit]- Hal AshbyatIMDb
- Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
- The Director's Director– discussion by directors Ashby influenced
- Literature on Hal Ashby
- Hal Ashby in Images Film Journal– Article summarizing Ashby's career in Images Film Journal
- Hal Ashby papers,Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- American film editors
- Artists from Ogden, Utah
- 1929 births
- 1988 deaths
- American film producers
- Best Film Editing Academy Award winners
- Businesspeople from Ogden, Utah
- Counterculture of the 1970s
- Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California
- Film directors from Utah
- Filmmakers from Portland, Oregon
- Former Latter Day Saints
- 20th-century American businesspeople