Stanley Earl Kramer (29 September 1913 – 19 February 2001) was an
American film director and
producer responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous
"message" movies.
[Film-maker Stanley Kramer dies, a February 2001 BBC obituary] His notable films include
The Defiant Ones (1958),
On the Beach (1959),
Inherit the Wind (1960),
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961),
Ship of Fools (1965) and
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). His work was recognized with the
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1961 and during his career has been nominated for Oscars 9 times.
Director
Steven Spielberg once described him as "one of our great filmmakers, not just for the art and passion he put on screen, but for the impact he has made on the conscience of the world."
Film critic
David Thomson described Kramer as a "hero of the 1950s" and an "enterprising producer," but also wrote of his later films that "commercialism, of the most crass and confusing kind, has devitalised all
[1] his projects".
[David Thomson The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002, London: Little, Brown, p477]
