Ulu Grosbard

Ulu Grosbard ( Antwerp , January 9 1929 - Manhattan , March 19 2012 ) was an American film and theater director. ==[Biography  edit ] == Ulu Grosbard was on January 9, 1929, born in the Belgian Antwerp and Israel Grosbard, but he was called Ulu by his brother Jack. Antwerp is the center of the diamond industry and the young Grossbard also reportedly began as a diamond cutter. During the Second World War, his family emigrated toHavana before in 1948 to the United States to move.

Grosbard earned a Master of Arts at the University of Chicago . Later he studied one year at Yale University before join the American army . In 1954 the Belgian dropped naturalized American.

For 60 years he was primarily active in the theater. In New York City, he directed his first productions, which were often very successful. In no time Grossbard grew into a big name Broadway theater . In 1964 he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Director. He owed ​​this nomination to the playThe Subject Was Roses. Previously won in that category names such as Elia Kazan , Mike Nichols and Joshua Logan . The author of The Subject Was Roses later won the Pulitzer Prize for his play. It could end up in 1977 before last Grossbard again nominated for a Tony Award. A year after his first nomination he married actress Rose Gregorio .

In 1968 he directed the film The Subject Was Roses, based on the play. For that film he could just as it was for its theater release rely on the acting skills of among others the young Martin Sheen andJack Albertson . The film received good comments and Albertson yielded an Academy Award on. It was not Grosbards first experience with film. Previously, he was also active as a second unit director on such films as The Hustler (1961). Several years after Grosbards directorial debut following his second film project: Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971). That movie with Dustin Hoffman in the lead, gave actress Barbara Harris an Oscar nomination in. Method actor Hoffman and Grosbard got on well with each other on the set and would later collaborate.

After mainly directing plays Grossbard returned in 1978 back to Hollywood. Dustin Hoffman was in his personal project Straight Time, which he directed himself. However, after a few days he gave the direction on. Hoffman gave the torch to Grosbard, which further based finished directing. A year earlier Grossbard received a Tony Award nomination for the play American Buffalo, written by the well-known screenwriter David Mamet . After two film projects with Dustin Hoffman followed two films with Robert De Niro . In 1980 directed Grossbard True Confessions (1981), in addition to De Niro also could count on Robert Duvall, which was widely praised for his performance. True Confessions was based on the novel by John Gregory Dunne and somewhat based on the murder of Elizabeth Short .

The romantic Falling in Love (1984) was Grosbards second collaboration with De Niro. Furthermore, the cast consisted of familiar names like Harvey Keitel and Meryl Streep . The film had the same problems as True Confessions: a weak film that was largely right held by the performances. Grossbard threw in Hollywood no high eyes, which he did even more on Broadway.

In the nineties it released two films: Georgia (1995) and The Deep End of the Ocean (1999). Remarkably, both films were worn by women. Georgia was a music drama with Mare Winningham andJennifer Jason Leigh in the lead, while The Deep End of the Ocean mainly relied on the acting performance of Michelle Pfeiffer . The latter film also launched the career of the young Jonathan Jackson .

In 1996 he sat on the jury at the Sundance Film Festival . ==[Filmography  edit ] ==
 * The Subject Was Roses (1968)
 * Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971)
 * Straight Time (1978)
 * True Confessions (1981)
 * Falling in Love (1984)
 * Georgia (1995)
 * The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)