George Stevens

George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''A Place in the Sun'' (1951) and ''Giant'' (1956).

Born in Oakland, California, George Stevens worked in his parents' West Coast touring stock theater company as a child actor and stage manager. When cinema was replacing live theater, Stevens's parents relocated to Los Angeles. At the age of 17, Stevens was hired as an assistant cameraman, working on several Western films produced by Hal Roach. Within three years, Stevens became a cameraman on the ''Our Gang'' series. Impressed with Stevens's visual knowledge, Roach then appointed him to direct installments of ''The Boy Friends'' series.

Stevens next moved to Universal Pictures and then to RKO Pictures. There, he directed several genre films, including ''Alice Adams'' starring Katharine Hepburn; ''Swing Time'' starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers; and ''Gunga Din'' starring Cary Grant. Stevens was loaned to MGM to direct ''Woman of the Year'' (1942) based on Hepburn's suggestion, whereby she was paired with Spencer Tracy for the first time. He also directed ''The Talk of the Town'' (1942) and ''The More the Merrier'' (1943).

In 1941, the United States entered World War II, in which Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit. Using his personal 16 mm film camera, Stevens shot color footage of the Liberation of Paris and the entry of American soldiers into the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens returned to Hollywood and directed more serious films, starting with ''I Remember Mama'' (1948).

Between 1951 to 1956, Stevens directed his ''American Trilogy'', which includes ''A Place in the Sun'' (1951), ''Shane'' (1953), and ''Giant'' (1956). He next directed widescreen biographical films, ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965). His final film was ''The Only Game in Town'' (1970) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty. Stevens died on March 8, 1975, at the age of 70. Provided by Wikipedia