{{short description|American film director (1929–1987)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Denis Sanders | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|1|21}} | birth_place = New York City | death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|12|10|1929|1|21}} | death_place = San Diego, California | occupation = Film director<br />Screenwriter<br />Film producer | years_active = 1954–1987 | relatives = Terry Sanders (brother)<br>Freida Lee Mock (sister-in-law)<br>Peter Sanders (son) }}

'''Denis Sanders''' (January 21, 1929 &ndash; December 10, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was the brother of Terry Sanders.

==Biography== He was born in New York City, the son of sculptor and designer Altina Schinasi. He died from a heart attack in San Diego, California, where he was professor and film maker in residence at San Diego State University. His daughter, Victoria Sanders,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-15-me-29072-story.html|title=Denis Sanders, Winner of 2 Oscars, Dies|agency=Associated Press|date=December 15, 1987|publisher=|via=LA Times}}</ref> is a literary agent and film producer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.victoriasanders.com/|title=Victoria Sanders|website=www.victoriasanders.com}}</ref>

==Career== He acted as a dialogue director of ''Night of the Hunter'', where his brother filmed the night scenes.

In 1959, he was going to direct ''The Subterraneans''.<ref name="variety">{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|url=https://archive.org/details/variety214-1959-05/page/n3/mode/1up?|title=Producers of 'Crime and Funishment, U.S.A.' Plan Art Houses as Trailer |page=4|date=6 May 1959}}</ref>

He directed the debut performances of Robert Redford and Tom Skerritt in the 1962 film ''War Hunt''. He won two Academy Awards, the first for Best Short Subject in 1955 for ''A Time Out of War'' that had served as his master's degree thesis at UCLA and which he co-scripted with his brother Terry Sanders;<ref>[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1955/T?qt-honorees=1#block-quicktabs-honorees 1955-Oscars.org-Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]</ref> and the second for Best Documentary in 1970 for ''Czechoslovakia 1968''.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnrbdNjf-aw Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars]</ref> In 1958, he teamed up again with Terry Sanders to adapt Norman Mailer's World War II novel ''The Naked and the Dead''.

==Selected filmography== * ''A Time Out of War'' (1954) (with Terry Sanders) * ''The Naked and the Dead'' (1958, screen adaptation, with Terry Sanders) * ''Crime and Punishment U.S.A.'' (1959) * ''War Hunt'' (1962) * ''One Man's Way'' (1963) * ''Shock Treatment'' (1964) * ''Czechoslovakia 1968'' (1969) (with Robert M. Fresco)<ref>{{Cite web| title=Czechoslovakia 1968 | author=Robert M. Fresco | website=Library of Congress | url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415225225/https://www.loc.gov/programs/static/national-film-preservation-board/documents/czech.pdf | archive-date=2016-04-15}}</ref> * ''Elvis: That's the Way It Is'' (1970) * ''The American West of John Ford'' (1971) TV documentary * ''Trial – The City and County of Denver vs. Lauren S. Watson'' (1971) * ''Soul to Soul'' (1971)<ref>{{Cite news|last=Thompson|first=Howard|date=August 19, 1971|title=Rousing 'Soul to Soul'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/19/archives/rousing-soul-to-soul.html|access-date=February 12, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> * ''Invasion of the Bee Girls'' (1973)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0761522|Denis Sanders}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Denis}} Category:1929 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American male screenwriters Category:Film producers from California Category:Film directors from New York City Category:Film producers from New York (state) Category:San Diego State University faculty Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:Screenwriters from California Category:Screenwriters from New York (state) Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television alumni