{{Short description|American film director, writer and producer (1928–1998)}} {{Infobox person | name = Alan J. Pakula | image = Alan J. Pakula.jpg | caption = Pakula in 1990 | birth_name = Alan Jay Pakula | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|4|7}} | birth_place = The Bronx, New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1998|11|19|1928|4|7}} | death_place = Melville, New York, U.S. | years_active = 1957–1998 | notable_works = {{plainlist| * ''Klute'' * ''The Parallax View'' * ''All the President's Men'' * ''Comes a Horseman'' * ''Starting Over'' * ''Sophie's Choice'' * ''Presumed Innocent'' * ''The Pelican Brief'' }} | alma_mater = Yale University | occupation = {{hlist|Film director|screenwriter|producer}} | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Hope Lange|1963|1971|end=divorced}} * {{marriage|Hannah Cohn Boorstin|1973}} }} }} '''Alan Jay Pakula''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|k|uː|l|ə}}; April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Associated with the New Hollywood movement,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Alan J. Pakula: An American Cinematheque Retrospective |url=https://www.americancinematheque.com/series/alan-j-pakula-an-american-cinematheque-retrospective/ |access-date=2024-06-22 |website=American Cinematheque |language=en-US}}</ref> his best-known works include his critically acclaimed "paranoia trilogy": the neo-noir mystery ''Klute'' (1971), the conspiracy thriller ''The Parallax View'' (1974), and the Watergate scandal drama ''All the President's Men'' (1976).<ref name=":0" /> His other notable films included ''Comes a Horseman'' (1978), ''Starting Over'' (1979), ''Sophie's Choice'' (1982), ''Presumed Innocent'' (1990), and ''The Pelican Brief'' (1993).
Pakula received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for ''All the President's Men'' and Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Sophie's Choice''. He was also nominated for Best Picture for producing ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' (1962). Additionally, he was a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Directors Guild of America Award nominee.
Pakula's films often dealt with psychological and political themes. His obituary in ''The New York Times'' 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."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sterngold |first=James |date=1998-11-20 |title=Alan J. Pakula, Film Director, Dies at 70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/20/movies/alan-j-pakula-film-director-dies-at-70.html |access-date=2024-06-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was the subject of the 2023 documentary ''Alan Pakula: Going for Truth''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Lisa |date=2023-04-06 |title='Alan Pakula: Going for Truth' Review: A Hollywood Memorial for a Friend |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/movies/alan-pakula-going-for-truth-review.html |access-date=2023-09-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Pakula was born in The Bronx, New York, to Polish Jewish parents, Jeanette (née Goldstein) and Paul Pakula. He was educated at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and Yale University, where he majored in drama.
==Career== Pakula started his Hollywood career as an assistant in the cartoon department at Warner Bros. In 1957, he undertook his first production role for Paramount Pictures. In 1962, he produced ''To Kill a Mockingbird'',<ref>{{cite book |title=501 Movie Directors |editor-first=Steven Jay |editor-last=Schneider |publisher=Cassell Illustrated |location=London |year=2007 |page=311 |isbn=9781844035731 |oclc=1347156402}}</ref> for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. Pakula had a successful professional relationship as the producer of movies directed by ''Mockingbird'' director Robert Mulligan from 1957 to 1968. In 1969, he directed his first feature, ''The Sterile Cuckoo'', starring Liza Minnelli.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web |work=The New York Times |title=The Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Screen: 'The Sterile Cuckoo,' Old-Style TV Drama |author-link=Vincent Canby |first=Vincent |last=Canby |date=October 23, 1969 |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9505E1D9163AE433A25750C2A9669D946891D6CF}}</ref>
=== Paranoia trilogy === In 1971, Pakula released the first installment of what would informally come to be known as his "paranoia trilogy."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pratt |first1=Ray |title=Projecting Paranoia: Conspiratorial Visions in American Film |date=2001 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence |isbn=9780700611485 |page=131 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWdZAAAAMAAJ&dq=pakula+%22paranoia+trilogy%22&pg=PA131 |access-date=2025-01-11}}</ref><ref>Karen Gai Dean, "Pakula, Alan J.", in {{cite book |editor1-last=Knight |editor1-first=Peter |title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia |date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=9781576078136 |page=571 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=okTPEAAAQBAJ&dq=pakula+%22paranoia+trilogy%22&pg=PA571 |access-date=2025-01-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Aquilina |first1=Tyler |title=All the Way to the Top: Why a trilogy of 1970s paranoid thrillers still resonates 50 years later |url=https://ew.com/movies/why-1970s-paranoia-trilogy-still-resonates-50-years-later/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=27 June 2021}}</ref> ''Klute'', the story of a relationship between a private eye (played by Donald Sutherland) and a call girl (played by Jane Fonda, who won an Oscar for her performance), was a commercial and critical success. This was followed in 1974 by ''The Parallax View'' starring Warren Beatty, a labyrinthine post-Watergate thriller 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" with ''All the President's Men'', based on the bestselling account of the Watergate scandal written by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively. It was another commercial hit, considered by many critics and fans to be one of the best political thrillers of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/all_the_presidents_men/ |title=All the President's Men Movie Reviews, Pictures |website=Rotten Tomatoes |date=January 1976 |access-date=November 8, 2013}}</ref>
=== Subsequent films === Pakula scored another hit in 1982 with ''Sophie's Choice'', starring Meryl Streep. His screenplay, based on the novel by William Styron, was nominated for an Academy Award. Later commercial successes included ''Presumed Innocent'', based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow, and ''The Pelican Brief'', an adaptation of John Grisham's bestseller. His final film was the thriller ''The Devil's Own'', where he reunited with Harrison Ford.
==Personal life== From October 19, 1963, until 1971, Pakula was married to actress Hope Lange. He was married to his second wife, author Hannah Pakula (formerly Hannah Cohn Boorstin) from 1973 until his death in 1998.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sterngold |first=James |date=1998-11-20 |title=Alan J. Pakula, Film Director, Dies at 70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/20/movies/alan-j-pakula-film-director-dies-at-70.html |access-date=2024-01-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
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 spoke very openly about his stepson Robert's battle with depression.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bumiller |first=Elisabeth |date=1998-05-13 |title=PUBLIC LIVES; A Filmmaker's Family Faces Mental Illness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/13/nyregion/public-lives-a-filmmaker-s-family-faces-mental-illness.html |access-date=2024-01-28 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Death== On November 19, 1998, Pakula was driving on the Long Island Expressway in Melville, 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 to North Shore University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/20/movies/alan-j-pakula-film-director-dies-at-70.html |title=Alan J. Pakula, Film Director, Dies at 70 |last=Sterngold |first=James |date=November 20, 1998 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=March 17, 2009}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;" !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}} |} {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Producer only !Year !Title !Director |- |1957 |''Fear Strikes Out'' | rowspan="7" |Robert Mulligan |- |1962 |''To Kill a Mockingbird'' |- |1963 |''Love with the Proper Stranger'' |- | rowspan="2" |1965 |''Baby the Rain Must Fall'' |- |''Inside Daisy Clover'' |- |1967 |''Up the Down Staircase'' |- |1968 |''The Stalking Moon'' |}
== Awards and nominations received by Pakula's directed films == {| class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Film !colspan="2" style="background-color:#AAAADE;"|Academy Awards !colspan="2" style="background-color:#AA0;"|BAFTA Film Awards !colspan="2" style="background-color:#FE1;"|Golden Globe Awards |- !Nominations !Wins !Nominations !Wins !Nominations !Wins |- |1969 |''The Sterile Cuckoo'' |align=center|2 | |align=center|1 | |align=center|1 | |- |1971 |''Klute'' |align=center|2 |align=center|1 |align=center|1 | |align=center|2 |align=center|1 |- |1976 |''All the President's Men'' |align=center|8 |align=center|4 |align=center|10 | |align=center|4 | |- |1978 |''Comes a Horseman'' |align=center|1 | | | | | |- |1979 |''Starting Over'' |align=center|2 | | | |align=center|4 | |- |1982 |''Sophie's Choice'' |align=center|5 |align=center|1 |align=center|2 | |align=center|3 |align=center|1 |- !colspan="2" style="background-color:#BCC5CC;"|Total !20 !6 !14 ! !14 !2 |- |}
'''Directed Academy Award performances''' <br />Under Pakula's direction, these actors have received Academy Award nominations and wins for their performances in their respective roles. {| class="wikitable" |- !style="background-color:#B0C7DE;"|Year !style="background-color:#B0C7DE;"|Performer !style="background-color:#B0C7DE;"|Film !style="background-color:#B0C7DE;"|Result |- !colspan="4" style="background-color:#DEDAFE;"|Academy Award for Best Actress |- |1970 |Liza Minnelli |''The Sterile Cuckoo'' |{{nom}} |- |1972 |Jane Fonda |''Klute'' |{{won}} |- |1980 |Jill Clayburgh |''Starting Over'' |{{nom}} |- |1983 |Meryl Streep |''Sophie's Choice'' |{{won}} |- !colspan="4" style="background-color:#DEDAFE;"|Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |- |1977 |Jason Robards |''All the President's Men'' |{{won}} |- |1979 |Richard Farnsworth |''Comes a Horseman'' |{{nom}} |- !colspan="4" style="background-color:#DEDAFE;"|Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |- |1977 |Jane Alexander |''All the President's Men'' |{{nom}} |- |1980 |Candice Bergen |''Starting Over'' |{{nom}} |- |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book |author=Brown, Jared |title=Alan J. Pakula: His Films and His Life |location=New York |publisher=Back Stage Books |year=2005 |isbn=0-8230-8799-9}}
==External links== {{commons}} {{Portal|Biography}} * {{IMDb name|1587}} * {{Find a Grave|4058}} * [http://catalog.oscars.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=68160 Alan J. Pakula papers.] Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
{{Alan J. Pakula}} {{Navboxes |title = Awards for Alan J. Pakula |list = {{Mary Pickford Award}} {{National Board of Review Award for Best Director}} {{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director}} }} {{Cannes Film Festival jury presidents}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakula, Alan J.}} Category:1928 births Category:1998 deaths Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:American male screenwriters Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Burials at Green River Cemetery Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Film producers from New York (state) Category:Jewish American screenwriters Category:Mass media people from the Bronx Category:Road incident deaths in New York (state) Category:Screenwriters from New York (state) Category:The Hill School alumni Category:Yale University alumni