Happy 88th Birthday, Robert Benton! Born today in 1932 as Robert Douglas Benton, this retired American author, screenwriter, producer and film director has won numerous awards for both writing and directing in film.
Benton never considered himself much of a writer at all. Nonetheless, he would later go on to write and direct other Oscar-winning films, despite suffering from severe dyslexia throughout his life.
Academics were never his strong suit, and Benton was regularly a C average student.
Nobody knew about dyslexia during Benton’s childhood, so many teachers and peers just thought he was a slow learner who struggled with reading and writing.
Despite these struggles/setbacks, Benton was determined to succeed and ended up continuing his education all the way through college, being the first in his family to do so.
He later attended the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University in New York City, New York.
Benton knew that reading and writing were not his strong suit, but he didn’t focus on this, and instead focused himself on drawing and film narration-- things that interested him greatly.
His father, aware of his son’s struggles in school, would regularly take a young Robert to the movies, and it was there that the future Oscar winner would learn the skills of narratives and storytelling -- not from books or novels.
In 1959, Benton co-wrote the book The IN and OUT Book with American composer for musical theatre and illustrator Harvey Schmidt, published by The Viking Press. Benton was later the art director at Esquire in the early 1960s.
In the late 1860s, Benton co-wrote American director and producer of film, television and theater Arthur Penn's ('Little Big Man') 1967 American biographical drama/true crime film 'Bonnie and Clyde'. This was Benton's first screenwriting credit.
Benton actually got the idea for the 'Bonnie and Clyde' script from his father, Ellery Douglass Benton. Years earlier, he had actually attended the separate funerals of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.
In the late 1970s, Benton wrote and directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1979 American drama/legal drama film 'Kramer vs. Kramer'. It had been based on American novelist Avery Corman's titular 1977 domestic fiction novel.
The following year, 'Kramer vs. Kramer' won five Oscars for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Dustin Hoffman), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Meryl Streep) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay). This occurred at the 52nd Academy Awards in mid-April 1980.
Among his credits, Benton is also known for directing 'Bad Company' (1972'), 'The Late Show' (1977), 'Places in the Heart' (1984), 'Nobody's Fool' (1994), 'Twilight' (1998' and 'Feast of Love' (2007).
Among his screenwriting credits, Benton is known for co-writing 'What's Up, Doc?' (1972), 'Superman' (1978) and 'The Ice Harvest' (2005).
Although Benton may not have achieved the legendary mainstream status associated with his peers Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, this idiosyncratic filmmaker has had more than his share of major successes on the silver screen.
Benton had been active from 1967–2007.
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