Robert Wise

Overview

Born
September 10, 1914 · Winchester, Indiana, USA
Died
September 14, 2005 · Los Angeles, California, USA (heart failure)
Birth name
Robert Earl Wise
Nicknames
- Bobby
- Bob
Height
5′ 10″ (1.78 m)

Biography

Family

Spouses

Trivia

After collaborating closely and happily on the editing of Citizen Kane (1941) with Orson Welles, Wise was assigned to edit The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). When Welles left the country after finishing that film, RKO wanted Wise to edit it, making changes that Wise knew Welles wouldn't like. He initially refused because of his respect for Welles' vision of the film, but eventually relented and allowed RKO to put him in charge of a drastic editing of "Ambersons" that would result in a new ending and over 40 minutes of Welles' film being lost forever. A furious Welles held that against Wise for more than 40 years, until they reconciled publicly in 1984 by shaking hands on stage when the Directors Guild of America honored Welles with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
He was convinced to accept the position as director of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) by his wife Millicent Wise, who was a huge fan of Star Trek (1966). His wife was also instrumental in convincing him to campaign Leonard Nimoy for the project.
He was the last surviving crew member of Orson Welles' classic Citizen Kane (1941).
Directed nine different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Nina Foch, Susan Hayward, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Julie Andrews, Peggy Wood, Steve McQueen, Mako and Daniel Massey. Hayward, Moreno and Chakiris won Oscars.
Accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Paul Newman, who was absent from the awards ceremony, for his performance in The Color of Money (1986) (1987).

Quotes

Not true there was a cabal preventing Orson [Orson Welles] from making more films. He simply never fulfilled himself after that magnificent start; his own fault - lack of self-discipline.
[on Julie Andrews] How's she got to the top? It can not be all just talent. A lot of talented don't begin to make it the way she has made it. There is a genuineness about her; an unphoniness. She goes right through the camera, on to the film and out to the audience. Julie seems to have been born with the magic gene that comes through on the screen.
[on sequels generally especially A Game of Death (1945)] I don't like to do remakes. Usually, for one reason or another you have to see the original film, and it always rather bugs you when you find yourself doing a certain scene, and you keep being reminded of what it was like in the first film.