Stanley Kubrick facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stanley Kubrick
Born	(1928-07-26)July 26, 1928 Bronx, New York City, United States
Died	March 7, 1999(1999-03-07) (aged 70) Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England
Cause of death	Heart attack
Nationality	American
Occupation	Film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor
Years active	1951–1999
Notable work	2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket
Spouse(s)	Toba Etta Metz (1948–51; divorced) Ruth Sobotka (1954–57; divorced) Christiane Harlan (1958–99; his death)

Stanley Kubrick (born July 26, 1928 – died March 7, 1999) was an American movie director. Many people think Kubrick was one of the greatest directors of the 20th century.

He was born in New York City. But he lived most of his life in England. His movies are known for their amazing detail and deep symbolism. Some of his movies caused a lot of discussion when they first came out. Other famous movies by Kubrick include Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and The Shining. Stanley Kubrick died from a heart attack on March 7, 1999.

Early Life and First Films

Kubrick was born in the Bronx, New York City. He lived there when he was young. Stanley was not a great student in school. But his father, who was a doctor, taught Stanley how to play chess. He also gave Stanley a camera.

Kubrick finished high school in 1946. He could not get into college. This was because his grades were not good. Also, many American soldiers came back from World War II that year. Colleges were very full.

During this time, Kubrick played chess games for money. He was a very good chess player and won often. He used his winnings to buy food and photography equipment. Kubrick got a job at a magazine in New York City called Look Magazine.

Kubrick also loved watching movies. He felt he could make better movies than those being made then. He first made two short films called documentaries. One was about a boxer and was named Day of the Fight. The other was about a religious man and was called Flying Padre.

He then made two full-length movies, called feature films. These films made other people notice his work. The first was Fear and Desire. The second was Killer's Kiss. His third feature film, The Killing, was a success.

The success of The Killing helped Stanley work on a bigger movie. This movie was called Paths of Glory. It was about World War I and starred the famous actor Kirk Douglas. At this time, Kubrick became well known in the movie industry. He had started to create his own unique style.

Making Big Movies

Spartacus and Creative Control

After Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubrick worked on a big Hollywood movie. It was called Spartacus and came out in 1960. The movie was about a gladiator who fought against Rome. It earned a lot of money and was a success.

However, Kubrick did not enjoy making it. He had problems with other people working on the movie who had control. Kubrick wanted to have a lot of control over his films. After Spartacus, he only worked on movies where he had full control. This is why he is called an "auteur" – a director with a very strong personal vision.

Lolita and New Beginnings

Kubrick moved to the United Kingdom in 1962. He went there to make his next movie, Lolita. He liked the United Kingdom so much that he decided to live there for the rest of his life.

The movie Lolita was the first film Kubrick made that caused a lot of discussion. The movie was based on a book by the Russian author Vladimir Nabokov. The book was also very talked about at the time. The movie showed a relationship between a young woman and an older man. This was a very sensitive subject for many people.

Dr. Strangelove: A Dark Comedy

For Lolita, Kubrick hired the talented actor Peter Sellers. Kubrick admired Peter's acting skills. He asked Peter to play three different characters in his next movie. This film was Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, released in 1963.

Dr. Strangelove was a comedy, but it was about very serious topics. These types of films are called black comedies. The movie was about the Cold War. It was very talked about but also very successful. The movie had a big cultural impact. It created some images that became very famous. The most famous image was of an American pilot riding a nuclear bomb as it fell from an airplane.

Kubrick's success with Dr. Strangelove showed movie studios how talented he was. They trusted him to make good, popular movies. Kubrick started a good relationship with the movie studio, Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers gave him almost full artistic control over all his future movies. A director getting so much control is rare.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Kubrick spent five years planning his next movie. It was a science fiction film called 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was released in 1968. Kubrick based the movie on a short story called "The Sentinel". This story was written by the science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. Kubrick worked with Arthur C. Clarke to make the movie.

The movie used many new ideas and techniques. It had special effects that no other movie at the time had. The amazing special effects won Kubrick his first and only Oscar award. 2001 came out at the end of the 1960s. It was very popular with people in the Hippie Counterculture. This was because of the movie's strange and dream-like visuals.

When the movie was released, some movie critics loved it, and some hated it. Many critics who did not like the movie in 1968 later changed their minds. Some even wrote new, positive reviews many years later.

A Clockwork Orange: A Challenging Story

His next movie was one of his most famous and also caused the most discussion. The movie was called A Clockwork Orange and came out in 1971. The movie was darker than 2001. It was first released with an "X" movie rating in the US. This meant it was for adults only.

The movie was based on a book by Anthony Burgess. The book and movie are about a young man who commits crimes. He is given a new, experimental "cure" for his violent behavior. The story makes people think about how society decides what is right and wrong.

Barry Lyndon: A Historical Epic

Kubrick's next movie was going to be about Napoleon. But he canceled it after another similar movie came out first. Kubrick had worked very hard researching Napoleon and that time period. So, he chose to make another movie set in that time. It was called Barry Lyndon.

The movie was based on a book by William Makepeace Thackeray. It was about an 18th century gambler named Barry Lyndon. The movie was not as popular as his earlier films at first. But, like 2001: A Space Odyssey, people grew to appreciate it over time.

After Barry Lyndon, Kubrick made movies much slower. He only made three more movies in the next twenty-five years. He was still very popular and respected. Each new movie he released was a big event that many people looked forward to.

The Shining: A Horror Classic

The Shining was Kubrick's next movie. It was based on the book by the American author, Stephen King. It was released in 1980. It was a horror movie and starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.

The movie was one of Kubrick's most popular films. It was different from other horror movies at the time. The famous line, "Here's Johnny!" (also used on the TV show The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson) became very popular after Jack Nicholson's character said it. The author of the book, Stephen King, did not like the movie. He did not like that Kubrick changed many things from the book. King later made his own TV mini-series version in 1997, which was much more like his book.

Full Metal Jacket: A War Story

Full Metal Jacket was Kubrick's next movie. It was released in 1987. It was one of several movies made in the 1980s about the Vietnam War. The movie was most famous for its drill instructor character. This character, played by R. Lee Ermey, was very strict with his soldiers. After the movie came out, the United States Armed Forces changed some of its rules about how their drill instructors should act.

Eyes Wide Shut: His Final Film

Eyes Wide Shut was Kubrick's last movie. It was released in 1999. He finished editing the movie just before he died in March. The movie starred Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. They were married in real life at the time. It was based on the novel Traumnovelle by the Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler.

The movie took over 16 months to film without stopping. This was a world record. It was released in July of 1999. According to R. Lee Ermey, Kubrick was not entirely happy with the movie. He felt that Cruise and Kidman, as big Hollywood stars, had too much influence on the film compared to his usual way of working.

Kubrick's Death and Influence

Just a few days after finishing the editing of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick died from a heart attack. This happened in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

In the year 2001, the American movie director Steven Spielberg filmed A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. A.I. was a movie that Stanley Kubrick had worked on before Eyes Wide Shut. But he never got to make it. Steven Spielberg based his movie on Kubrick's plans. The movie did not get a great response from audiences. It also did not make as much money as expected. Many people felt it was more Spielberg's movie than Kubrick's.

Movies He Made (Filmography)

• Day of the Fight (1951)
• Flying Padre (1951)
• The Seafarers (1952)
• Fear and Desire (1953)
• Killer's Kiss (1955)
• The Killing (1956)
• Paths of Glory (1957)
• Spartacus (1960)
• Lolita (1962)
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1963)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• A Clockwork Orange (1971)
• Barry Lyndon (1975)
• The Shining (1980)
• Full Metal Jacket (1987)
• Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Awards and Recognitions

Many of Stanley Kubrick's later movies were nominated for important awards like Oscars or Golden Globes. 2001: A Space Odyssey won many technical awards. This included a BAFTA award for its camera work and an Academy Award for best visual effects. Kubrick himself won this Oscar for special effects. This was his only personal Oscar win, even though he was nominated 13 times.

His movies were often nominated for their camera work, art design, screenplays, and music. Only four of his movies were nominated for acting awards: Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, and A Clockwork Orange.

Kubrick received special awards from film festivals. He won "Best Director" at the Locarno International Film Festival in 1959 for Killer's Kiss. He also received the "Career Golden Lion" from the Venice Film Festival in 1997 for his lifetime of work. After he passed away, he was given an "Honorary Grand Prize" for life achievement at the Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival in 2008. He also won the Hugo Award three times for his science fiction films.

Images for kids

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  High school senior portrait of Kubrick, age 16, c. 1944–1945

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  Portrait of Kubrick with a camera at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London, 1949, while a staff photographer for Look

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  Photo of a Chicago streetscape taken by Kubrick for Look magazine, 1949

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  Kubrick during the filming of Paths of Glory in 1957

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  Kubrick and Tony Curtis on the set of Spartacus in 1960

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  Kubrick during the production of Dr. Strangelove in 1963

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  William Hogarth's The Country Dance (c. 1745) illustrates the type of interior scene that Kubrick sought to emulate with Barry Lyndon.

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  Several of the interiors of Ahwahnee Hotel were used as templates for the sets of the Overlook Hotel.

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  Steven Spielberg (pictured in 1994), whom Kubrick approached in 1995 to direct the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence

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  The script from Kubrick's unrealized project Napoleon

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  Director Max Ophüls was a major influence on Kubrick; pictured is his film The Earrings of Madame de... (1953).

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  HAL 9000, the computer from 2001: A Space Odyssey

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  The tunnel used in the making of A Clockwork Orange

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  Kubrick's camera, possibly used in Barry Lyndon

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  György Ligeti, whose music Kubrick used in 2001, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut

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  Stanley Kubrick Guest House at Abbots Mead, Borehamwood, where he edited his most important films

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  Kubrick's Childwickbury Manor in Hertfordshire, England

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  Kubrick in the trailer of Dr. Strangelove (1964)

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  Entrance to Kubrick museum exhibit at LACMA

See also

In Spanish: Stanley Kubrick para niños