Robert Wise facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Robert Wise
Wise in 1990
Born	Robert Earl Wise (1914-09-10)September 10, 1914 Winchester, Indiana, U.S.
Died	September 14, 2005(2005-09-14) (aged 91) Westwood, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, film producer, film editor
Years active	1934–2000
Spouse(s)	Patricia Doyle ​ ​ (m. 1942; her death 1975)​ Millicent Franklin ​ (m. 1977)​
Children	1

Robert Earl Wise (born September 10, 1914 – died September 14, 2005) was a famous American film director, film producer, and film editor. He was known for making many different kinds of movies.

Robert Wise won several Academy Awards, which are like the Oscars for movies. He won for Best Director and Best Picture for two very popular musical films: West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965). He was also nominated for Best Film Editing for the classic movie Citizen Kane (1941). Later, he directed and produced The Sand Pebbles (1966), which was also nominated for Best Picture.

Some of his other well-known films include The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Haunting (1963), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). He was also the president of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Robert Wise: A Movie Master

Robert Wise was a very successful director who worked on many different types of movies. He made horror films, noir (dark crime movies), westerns, war movies, science fiction, musicals, and dramas. He often had great success in each type of movie he made. Wise was known for planning his movies very carefully. This helped him make great films, even when he had a small budget. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1998 for his amazing career.

Early Life and Dreams

Robert Wise was born in Winchester, Indiana, on September 10, 1914. He was the youngest son of Olive and Earl Wise. His family later moved to Connersville, where he went to school. When he was young, Robert loved going to the movies.

At Connersville High School, he wrote for the school newspaper and was part of the poetry club. He first wanted to be a journalist. He even went to Franklin College on a scholarship. But in 1933, during the Great Depression, his family faced money problems. He could not go back to college. So, he moved to Hollywood to start working in the film industry. His older brother, David, already worked at RKO Pictures. David helped Robert get a job in the shipping department at RKO. Robert did many different jobs at the studio before he started working in film editing.

Becoming a Film Editor

Robert Wise began his movie career at RKO Pictures as an editor for sound and music. In the 1930s, RKO was a studio that worked hard and was willing to try new things. This was a great place for a new person like Wise to learn. He became an assistant to T.K. Wood, who was in charge of sound effects. His first movie credit was for a short film called A Trip through Fijiland (1935).

As he learned more, Wise became interested in editing the actual film, not just the sound. He started working with film editor William "Billy" Hamilton. Wise's first movie as Hamilton's assistant was Winterset (1936). He continued to work with Hamilton on other films like Stage Door (1937) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). The Hunchback of Notre Dame was his first credit on a full-length movie. Wise's first time editing a movie by himself was for Bachelor Mother (1939) and My Favorite Wife (1939).

At RKO, Wise worked with the famous director Orson Welles on Citizen Kane (1941). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Film Editing for this movie. Robert Wise was the last person still alive who worked on the crew of Citizen Kane.

Working on Citizen Kane taught Wise a lot about filmmaking. He learned about special effects and how to make both the front and back of a scene look sharp. He also learned about using sound in new ways. For example, in his movie The Set-Up (1949), he only used music that came from things within the movie itself. In Executive Suite (1954), he used no music at all. Wise also worked as an editor on Welles' next film, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). He even shot some extra scenes for this movie. After Welles left the studio, Wise continued editing films until he got his first chance to direct.

Directing Amazing Movies

For Robert Wise, the most important part of making a film was connecting with the audience. He was known for working very hard and being careful with money. He also paid close attention to details and did a lot of research for his films. For example, before directing Until They Sail (1957), which was set in New Zealand during World War II, Wise traveled there. He interviewed women whose lives were similar to the characters in the movie. He even found good places for background shots.

Wise's films often taught lessons about being kind to all people. For example, his movies showed characters from different backgrounds, like Native Americans, Muslims, and African Americans. The Sand Pebbles (1966) told the story of a couple from different races.

Wise got his first directing job at RKO in 1944. He took over directing the horror film The Curse of the Cat People (1944). This movie was different from other horror films. It was a "dark fantasy about a lonely child and her imaginary friend." Wise often showed a child or childlike character facing a difficult adult world in his movies. His boss, Val Lewton, helped him get more directing jobs. This led to the famous horror film The Body Snatcher (1945), starring Boris Karloff. Wise said this was one of his favorite films, and it helped him become a well-known director.

Wise also directed "film noir" movies, which are dark and moody crime films. These include Born to Kill (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948), a western with dark night scenes.

His last film for RKO was The Set-Up (1949). This was a realistic boxing movie that showed how tough and unfair the sport could be. The fight scenes were very well done. This film won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.

In the 1950s, Wise directed many different types of movies. He made the science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). This movie warned about the dangers of atomic war. It focused on the story rather than just special effects. It became one of the most important science fiction films ever made. He also directed the drama So Big (1953), the western Tribute to a Bad Man (1956), and the epic Helen of Troy (1955).

The movie I Want to Live! (1958) told the story of a real person, Barbara Graham. Susan Hayward won an Oscar for her acting in this film. Wise was nominated for Best Director for the first time for I Want to Live!. Another film, Executive Suite (1954), also earned him a Best Director nomination. Other films from the 1950s include Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), about boxer Rocky Graziano, and the war film The Desert Rats (1953).

In the 1960s, Wise directed three movies based on Broadway plays. These were West Side Story (1961), Two for the Seesaw (1962), and The Sound of Music (1965). In 1961, Wise won the Academy Award for Best Director for West Side Story. He also produced the film, winning a second Oscar for Best Picture. West Side Story won ten Academy Awards in total and is considered a "cinema masterpiece."

Before The Sound of Music, Wise directed the scary psychological horror film The Haunting (1963). Then came The Sound of Music (1965), starring Julie Andrews. This movie became one of the highest-grossing films in history. Wise won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for The Sound of Music as well. He worked hard to make sure the movie wasn't too sweet or overly sentimental.

Wise then directed The Sand Pebbles (1966), starring Steve McQueen. This was an important film that many saw as a message about the Vietnam War. McQueen received his only Oscar nomination for his role. Critics loved The Sand Pebbles, marking a high point in Wise's career.

In the 1970s, Wise directed films like the science-fiction thriller The Andromeda Strain (1971), which was about preventing biological warfare. He also directed The Hindenburg (1975), about the famous airship crash, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the first feature film based on the popular TV show. It was a big hit at the box office.

Wise directed his last movie for theaters, Rooftops, in 1989. At age 86, he directed A Storm in Summer (2000) for TV, which won an Emmy award.

Later Years and Legacy

As Robert Wise directed fewer films, he became more involved in supporting the movie industry. He became a leader in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the group that gives out the Oscars) and served as its president from 1985 to 1988. He was also president of the Directors Guild of America from 1971 to 1975. He helped young filmmakers and even supervised Emilio Estevez's first movie as a director, Wisdom (1986). Wise also had a small acting role in the movie The Stupids (1996).

In his later years, Wise helped create DVD versions of his films. He would make public appearances and provide comments for the DVDs, sharing stories about how the movies were made. His last project was overseeing the Director's Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture DVD, which included new scenes and effects.

Robert Wise married Patricia Doyle in 1942. They had one son, Robert. Patricia passed away in 1975. In 1977, Wise married Millicent Franklin.

Robert Wise passed away from heart failure on September 14, 2005, just four days after his 91st birthday.

Filmography

Editor

Executive producer

• Star! (1968) (Uncredited)
• The Baby Maker (1970)
• Wisdom (1986)

Other roles

Awards and Recognition

Robert Wise won many awards for his work in movies. He won four Oscars (Academy Awards) for Best Director and Best Picture in 1961 and 1965. He also received the Academy's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1966. The Directors Guild of America gave him the D.W. Griffith Award in 1988 for his lifetime achievements. He also received the National Medal of Arts in 1992 and the AFI's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998. Robert Wise has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2012, a group of movie editors listed the 75 best-edited films of all time. Citizen Kane, which Wise edited early in his career, was ranked second.

His home state of Indiana also honored him. Governor Roger D. Branigin declared March 1, 1967, "Robert Wise Day." Wise was also named a "Sagamore of the Wabash," a high honor in Indiana. He received an honorary degree from Franklin College in 1968. In 1990, the Robert E. Wise Center for Performing Arts was named after him at the new Connersville High School. In 2002, the Indiana Historical Society named him a "Living Legend." There is even a mural of famous people from his home county in Indiana that includes him.

Academy Awards

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Editing

Golden Globe Awards

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Best Director

See also

In Spanish: Robert Wise para niños