Sidney Lumet

by Hal Erickson film biography

American director Sidney Lumet originally planned to follow in the footsteps of his father, Yiddish Art Theatre actor Baruch Lumet. On-stage from the age of five, the younger Lumet studied at New York's Professional Children's School and acted in numerous Broadway productions, most notably Dead End. With several other New York-based actors, Lumet was featured in the agitprop film drama One Third of a Nation (1939); he played Sylvia Sidney's crippled kid brother, sparking the film's climax by setting fire to a disease-ridden tenement house and perishing in the conflagration.

After wartime service, Lumet decided he'd had enough of acting and started to focus on the production end of the business. Working his way up the summer stock ladder, Lumet began directing for live television in 1950, working on such distinguished series as Omnibus and Studio One, and filmed anthologies like Alcoa-Goodyear Theatre. He directed his first film, Twelve Angry Men (1957), at the request of producer/star Henry Fonda; the director later confessed that it was a grueling learning experience for both himself and novice producer Fonda, though he took pride in finishing the film in 19 days and under budget. For his efforts, he garnered a Best Director Oscar nomination. Lumet directed a few more films, but drew more satisfaction out of stage and TV work. In 1960, he gained notoriety for directing The Sacco-Vanzetti Story on NBC; the drama drew flack from the state of Massachusetts (where Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were tried and executed) because it was thought to postulate that the condemned murderers were, in fact, wholly innocent. But the brouhaha actually did Lumet more good than harm, sending several prestigious film assignments his way, including his 1962 artistic triumph Long Day's Journey into Night.

Proponents of the "auteur" theory, who insist that a director should leave his personal signature on each film, have long been confounded by Lumet, who has refused to do anything twice in his movie work. After directing the Cold War suspense dramaFail-Safe (1964) and the tense war-guilt character study The Pawnbroker (1965), he went on to explore Jewish middle-aged angst in Bye Bye Braverman (1969); tried his hand at a roller coaster police-thriller with Serpico (1973); made the shaggy-dog bank robbery account Dog Day Afternoon (1974); ventured into mystery with the slick, stylish Murder on the Orient Express (1974); won awards for his media satire Network (1976); explored the battle between the sexes in the hilarious Just Tell Me What You Want (1980); and looked at the grim arena of underworld crime in The Family Business (1989).

Lumet handled these diverse projects with considerable skill, managing to turn out a body of remarkably diverse work. In 1993, the director, as full of surprises as ever, delivered a nail-biting whodunit, Guilty as Sin. Plagued with numerous plot holes and illogical character behavior, it was not his best, but after a couple of years of inactivity, Lumet was back at work, producing and directing 1997's Critical Care, and writing and directing Night Falls on Manhattan the same year. The former, a hospital satire starring Albert Brooks, James Spader, and Helen Mirren, failed to make much of a critical or commercial impression, but the latter, a crime thriller featuring Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, and Ian Holm, enjoyed some measure of critical acclaim. Lumet's next effort was a 1999 remake of John Cassavetes' 1980 film Gloria. Starring Sharon Stone in the title role that was originally played by Gena Rowlands, the film met an unfortunate critical and commercial fate, netting bad reviews and audience indifference. However, Lumet -- who had, by this point, been nominated for five Oscars (four for Best Director and one for Best Adapted Screenplay) over the course of his career -- managed to survive this relative failure with his reputation pretty much intact; in fact, many acknowledged that even a second-rate Lumet was better than the first-rate work of many other directors.

filmography snapshot

1940

1945

1950

1955

1960

1965

1970

1975

Year	Title	Rating
1939	One Third of a Nation Actor
1939	The 400 Million Actor
1952	Danger Director
1957	12 Angry Men Director
1957	Stage Struck Director
1958	Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates Director
1959	That Kind of Woman Director
1960	The Dybbuk Director
1960	The Fugitive Kind Director
1960	The Iceman Cometh Director
1962	A View from the Bridge Director
1962	Long Day's Journey into Night Director
1964	Fail-Safe Director, Producer
1964	The Pawnbroker Director
1965	The Hill Director
1966	The Group Director
1967	The Deadly Affair Director, Producer
1968	Bye Bye Braverman Director, Producer
1968	The Sea Gull Director, Producer
1969	The Appointment Director
1969	The Last of the Mobile Hotshots Director, Producer
1970	King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis Director
1971	The Anderson Tapes Director
1972	Child's Play Director
1973	Serpico Director
1973	The Offence Director
1974	Lovin' Molly Director
1974	Murder on the Orient Express Director
1975	Dog Day Afternoon Director
1976	Network Director
1977	Equus Director
1978	The Wiz Director
1980	Just Tell Me What You Want Director, Producer
1981	Prince of the City Director, Screenwriter
1982	Deathtrap Director
1982	The Verdict Director
1983	Daniel Producer, Executive Producer, Director
1984	Garbo Talks Director
1986	50 Years of Action! Participant
1986	Power Director
1986	The Morning After Director
1988	Running on Empty Director, Actor
1989	Family Business Director
1990	Q & A Director, Screenwriter
1991	Listen Up!: The Lives of Quincy Jones Participant
1991	The Hollywood Collection: William Holden - The Golden Boy Interviewee
1992	A Stranger Among Us Director
1992	Hollywood Remembers: Fonda on Fonda Actor
1993	Guilty as Sin Director
1997	Critical Care Director, Producer
1997	Night Falls on Manhattan Director, Screenwriter
1999	Gloria Director
2001	100 Centre Street [TV Series] Executive Producer, Screenwriter, Director
2002	The Tramp and the Dictator Participant
2003	A Decade Under the Influence Participant
2004	Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust Participant
2006	Find Me Guilty Director, Screenwriter, Producer
2007	Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Director
2009	I Knew It Was You Participant

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Sean Gallup/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
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Movie Genres

Active

1939 - 2009

Born

06/25/1924 in Philadelphia, PA

Died

04/09/2011 in Manhattan, New York, NY

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