A stroke due to complications from spinal surgery took a great movie and TV director away from us today. Frankenheimer began his career directing longform dramas in the Golden Age of live TV, back in the late ’50s, mainly for Playhouse 90. In the early ’60s he moved ito film, hitting it out of the park with an amazing trio: Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), and especially Seven Days in May (1964).
After his close friend Robert Kennedy was assassinated–Frankheimer had driven him to the hotel that night–he turned to alcohol and his career slid down a bit. There was the occasional strong outing, like Black Sunday (1977) and 52 Pick-Up (1986), but it really took until the early 1990s and four straight best director Emmies for HBO films that he restored his good name. 1998’s Ronin, with Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno, was excellent. His last completed film was the recent HBO hit Path to War, an examination of Lyndon Johnson’s decision to escalate the war in Vietnam.
The Onion A.V. Club has an excellent interview with Frankenheimer, though while it’s clearly recent, there is no date. He was slated to direct the coming Exorcist prequel but had pulled out due to poor health in the last couple of months. Frankheimer will be part of the class when the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences inducts the 2002 honorees into its Hall of Fame.
BillSaysThis 