Director Robert Wise died of heart failure on 9/14/05. The Indiana native had just turned 91 this past Saturday.
The retired director was a four time Oscar winner. He won Best Picture and Best Director in 1962 for West Side Story, and the same two awards again in 1966 for The Sound of Music. While he may have gotten his biggest acclaim directing musicals, he also directed one of the greatest science fiction films of all time in The Day the Earth Stood Still back in 1951. He also left his mark on the enduring Star Trek franchise, when he helmed their first big screen outing in 1979. His mark was left on the horror genre as well, he was behind the creepy The Haunting. Then there is his war entries, like the Clark Gable/Burt Lancaster WWII submarine film Run Silent Run Deep.
His career spanned a half century, from his early days working as an editor. He most notably worked on Orson Welle's classic Citizen Kane. His last film was Rooftops, a modern musical which he directed in 1989.
There are a lot of Robert Wise films I haven't seen, but should. The ones I have left a mark, especially The Day the Earth Stood Still, which still holds up as a great work of sci-fi. He had a long career filled with some great triumphs. I wish his friends and family my best wishes, and my prayers are with them.
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