Happy Birthday, Hal Ashby! Born today in 1929 as William Hal Ashby, this American editor and film director was associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking.
It was this offbeat, countercultural cool director who was one of the prominent filmmakers of that decade as well.
It was this offbeat, countercultural cool director who was one of the prominent filmmakers of that decade as well.
Born in Ogden, Utah, Ashby grew up in a Mormon household. His tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide, and dropping out of high school. Ashby was married and divorced by the time he was nineteen.
Studio biographies concealed the latter fact, fallaciously asserting that Ashby graduated from Utah State University to ensure that he fit into the same social milieu as college-educated peers. These included Frances Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
As Ashby was entering adult life, he later moved from Utah to California, where he pursued a bohemian lifestyle and ultimately became an assistant film editor through a long apprenticeship.
His career gained momentum when he served as the editor of the 1965 American black and white comedy film 'The Loved One'.
The film, adapted from a novel, involved such New Hollywood contemporaries as American novelist, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer Terry Southern and American cinematographer, film producer and director Haskell Wexler.
The following year, Ashby was nominated for Best Film Editing for Norman Jewison's ('In The Heat of the Night', 'Moonstruck') 1966 American De Luxe Color comedy film 'The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming'.
Unfortunately, he didn't win. Nonetheless, the film was Ashby's big break. This occurred at the 39th Academy Awards in mid-April 1967.
Later that same year, Ashby was hired to edit another on of Jewison's films' This was the 1967 American DeLuxe Color mystery/crime drama film 'In the Heat of the Night'.
The film was based on American writer John Ball's 1965 mystery fiction novel of the same name.
One year later, 'In the Heat of the Night' won five Oscars. This included one for Ashby for Best Film Editing. This occurred at the 40th Academy Awards in mid-April 1968.
Ashby often stated that the practice of editing provided him with the best filmmaking background outside of traditional university study.
He carried the techniques learned as an editor with him when he began directing. At the urging of his mentor Jewison, Ashby directed his first film in 1970.
While Ashby's birth date placed him within the Silent Generation, the filmmaker—who had been a habitual marijuana smoker since 1950—eagerly embraced the hippie lifestyle.
He adopted vegetarianism and growing his hair long before it became de rigueur (socially obligatory, proper, or required by custom).
Over the next sixteen years, Ashby directed several acclaimed and popular films, many of which were about outsiders and adventurers traversing the pathways of life. Of his features, he directed two of which he is best known.
The following year, after directing his first feature, Ashby directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1971 American coming-of-age dark comedy/romance film 'Harold and Maude'.
The film had been based on a screenplay written by Australian-American screenwriter, actor, director, and producer Colin Higgins, with the soundtrack provided by Cat Stevens.
In 'Harold and Maude', Ashby appears in an uncredited cameo, seen at a penny arcade watching a model train between the titular leads at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Eight years later, Ashby directed the second and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1979 American comedy-drama satire film 'Being There'.
The film was based on Polish-American novelist Jerzy Kosiński's titular 1970 satirical fiction novel of the same name. He had also written the screenplay.
One year later, 'Being There' won an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Melvyn Douglas). This occurred at the 52nd Academy Awards in mid-April 1980.
Ashby was originally set the helm American film director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack's ('Out of Africa') 1982 American drama/comedy-drama film 'Tootsie'.
However, executives at the American production company Lorimar Television blocked him from working on the film because part of the pre-production period overlapped with final work.
This was the long-gestating American comedy film 'Lookin' to Get Out', which was eventually recut by the studio when Ashby's work was deemed to be unsatisfactory.
The film was co-written and had starred Jon Voight. It was also the debut of his daughter Angelina Jolie. At only seven years old, she played Tosh, the daughter of Voight's character Alex Kovac.
As Dustin Hoffman had not offered a "formal commitment" to the production of 'Tootsie' at the time of Ashby's dismissal, the director forfeited his $1.5 million fee.
Attempting to turn a corner in his declining career, Ashby stopped using drugs, trimmed his hair and beard.
He also began to frequently attend Hollywood parties wearing a navy-blue blazer so as to suggest that he was once again employable. Despite these efforts, he could only find work as a television director, helming one of three pilots.
In the late 1980s, Ashby directed a made-for-television movie. This was the twenty-five-minute 1988 American comedy/fantasy/sci-fi short film 'Jake's Journey'.
For the short, its story had been conceived by English comedian, writer, actor and author Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame.
Warren Beatty ('Reds'), a longtime friend, later advised Ashby to seek medical care after he complained of various ailments. This included undiagnosed phlebitis (the inflammation of a vein).
Because of this, Ashby was soon diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that rapidly spread to his lungs, colon, and liver. He later passed at his home in Malibu, California on December 27, 1988. Ashby was 59.
Unfortunately, the cause of Ashby's decline may never be known, though some attributed the cause to drugs and alcohol.
In 1997, 'Harold and Maude' was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
In 2005, the line "They call me Mister Tibbs!" appeared on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Quotes list. It ranked in at #16.
'In the Heat of the Night' also appears on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies, a list of the 100 greatest movies in American cinema.
Four years later, American author Nick Dawson wrote the 2009 biographical book Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel.
Within his groundbreaking and exhaustively researched biography, Dawson draws on firsthand interviews and personal papers from Ashby's estate to offer an intimate look at the tumultuous life of an artist unwilling to conform or compromise.
'Harold and Maude' is ranked #45 on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Funniest Movies of all Time.
On June 12, 2012, The Criterion Collection special-edition Blu-ray and DVD were released.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected 'Being There' for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Three years later, American director, producer and film editor Amy Scott's 2018 American biography/documentary film 'Hal' was screened at the 40th Sundance Film Festival in January.
The film tells about the titular director's obsessive genius, of which lead to an unprecedented string of Oscar-winning classics.
But as contemporaries such as Coppola, Scorsese and Steven Spielberg rise to blockbuster stardom in the 1980s, Ashby's uncompromising nature plays out as a cautionary tale of art versus commerce.
Among his other credits, Ashby is also known for directing 'The Landlord' (1970), 'The Last Detail' (1973), 'Shampoo' (1975), and 'Bound for Glory' (1976).
Ashby had been active from 1956–1988.
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