Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick made thirteen features in forty-six years and controlled every element of each. Born in the Bronx in 1928 to a doctor, he was a poor student who was given a camera at thirteen and became a staff photographer for Look magazine at seventeen, which taught him composition and how to work fast. He funded his first shorts and features himself, and broke through with The Killing in 1956 and Paths of Glory in 1957 — an attack on the French high command in the First World War that was banned in France for eighteen years. He was hired to replace the director of Spartacus in 1960, had no final cut, and never worked without it again. He moved to England in 1961 and stayed for the rest of his life, working from his own house. Each film took a different genre and dismantled it. Dr. Strangelove turned nuclear annihilation into farce. 2001: A Space Odyssey, made with Arthur C. Clarke, used front projection, a centrifuge set and slit-scan photography to produce effects nobody had achieved, and told most of its story without dialogue. A Clockwork Orange was withdrawn from British release by Kubrick himself after threats to his family. Barry Lyndon was shot by candlelight using lenses developed for NASA. The Shining used the newly invented Steadicam through hotel corridors. He was notorious for very high shot counts, secrecy and a decade between projects. He delivered Eyes Wide Shut in March 1999 and died in his sleep days later.

• Lived: 1928 CE – 1999 CE
• Nationality: American
• Roles: filmmaker