George Stevens Jr. facts for kids

George Cooper Stevens Jr. (born April 3, 1932) is an American writer, director, and producer. He is famous for starting the American Film Institute (AFI). He also created the AFI Life Achievement Award and helped create the Kennedy Center Honors. These awards celebrate important people in movies and performing arts.

About George Stevens Jr.'s Life

George Stevens Jr. was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California. His father, George Stevens, was a famous film director. His mother, Yvonne Howell, was an actress. George's grandparents also worked in the entertainment world. His grandmother, Alice Howell, was a silent comedy film actress. His paternal grandparents, Landers Stevens and Georgia Cooper Stevens, were also film actors.

In 1965, George Stevens Jr. married Elizabeth Guest. They have two sons, David Stevens and Michael Stevens. Michael Stevens became a film producer. George also has a stepdaughter, Caroline Stevens, who produces documentaries.

George Stevens Jr.'s Career

Starting in Hollywood

After finishing college in 1953, George Stevens Jr. joined the United States Air Force. There, he directed training films. He then started working in Hollywood. He was a production assistant on some of his father's movies. These included A Place in the Sun, Shane, and Giant. He also helped produce and direct scenes for The Diary of Anne Frank.

George Stevens Jr. at a press conference in Amsterdam in 1958. He was an associate producer for The Diary of Anne Frank.

In 1957, Stevens directed a TV show pilot called People. He also directed episodes for other TV shows. These included The D.A.'s Man, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Peter Gunn.

Working for the U.S. Government

In 1962, George Stevens Jr. was asked to work for the United States Information Agency (USIA). He became the director of their film and TV division. At 31, he moved to Washington, D.C. He produced about 300 short documentary films each year for the USIA.

One film he helped create was Nine from Little Rock. This film showed the experiences of nine African-American students. They attended a previously all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. This film won an Academy Award in 1965. Stevens also produced a longer film about John F. Kennedy's time as president. It was called Years of Lightning, Day of Drums.

Founding the American Film Institute

In 1965, Stevens helped set up the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1967, he became the first director of the American Film Institute (AFI). The AFI was created with money from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Stevens worked to help film programs at universities. He wanted to help young filmmakers develop their skills. He also wanted to save important old films. In 1969, he helped start the AFI's Center for Advanced Film Studies. This is now known as the AFI Conservatory. Many famous directors, like David Lynch, studied there.

Under Stevens, the AFI saved and fixed about 14,000 films between 1967 and 1977. He also started AFI's magazine, American Film. He opened a movie theater at the Kennedy Center in 1973. Stevens also helped raise money for independent films.

In 1973, Stevens created the AFI Life Achievement Award. This award honors great people in American movies. Famous winners include Orson Welles and Bette Davis. Stevens produced and wrote the TV show for this award until 1998. He left the AFI in 1980.

Kennedy Center Honors and Other Projects

In 1978, Stevens helped create the Kennedy Center Honors. This event celebrates people who have made big contributions to American culture through performing arts. People like Meryl Streep and Stephen Sondheim have been honored. Stevens wrote and produced the TV special for this event until 2014. He won many Emmy Awards for producing this show.

In 1982, Stevens created Christmas in Washington. This was a musical TV special that helped the Children's National Hospital. He wrote and produced this show for many years.

Stevens also wrote and directed a documentary about his father's life. It was called George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey. This film showed interviews with actors and directors who worked with his father. It also included rare color footage from World War II. His father's military film unit had taken this footage. The documentary won several awards.

In 1991, Stevens wrote and directed the TV movie Separate but Equal. It starred Sidney Poitier as Thurgood Marshall. The movie showed Marshall and his team winning the important Brown v. Board of Education case. This case helped end segregation in schools. The movie won an Emmy Award.

Stevens also wrote a play called Thurgood. This play tells the story of Thurgood Marshall's life. It was performed on Broadway with Laurence Fishburne playing Marshall.

In 2009, Barack Obama chose Stevens to be Co-Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Awards and Recognition

George Stevens Jr. has been nominated for an Emmy Award 38 times. He has won 14 Emmys. He also received two Peabody Awards for his work.

He has won eight awards from the Writers Guild of America. In 1992, he won an award for his screenplay for Separate but Equal. He also won a Humanitas Prize in 2012 for his play Thurgood.

In December 2012, Stevens received an honorary Oscar. This award recognized his many contributions to the film industry. His friend, Sidney Poitier, presented him with the award.

In January 2025, President Joe Biden gave Stevens the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This is a very high honor. Stevens received it for his work in preserving and celebrating American film and performing arts.

George Stevens Jr.'s Notable Works

Television and Film Projects

• The Diary of Anne Frank (1959, associate producer)
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961–62, director)
• Kennedy Center Honors (1978–2015, producer and writer)
• AFI Life Achievement Award (1981–98, producer and writer)
• The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988, producer and writer)
• Separate but Equal (1991, executive producer, writer, and director)
• The Thin Red Line (1998, executive producer)
• We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial (2009, executive producer)

Stage Play

• Thurgood (2006, writer)

Books Written or Edited

• Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age at the American Film Institute (2006, editor)
• Conversations at the American Film Institute with the Great Moviemakers: The Next Generation (2012, editor)
• My Place in the Sun: Life in the Golden Age of Hollywood and Washington (2022, author)