Robert Benton, Oscar-winning filmmaker of 'Kramer vs. Kramer,' dead at 92

NEW YORK – Robert Benton, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who helped reset the rules successful Hollywood arsenic the co-creator of "Bonnie and Clyde," and aboriginal received mainstream validation arsenic the writer-director of "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Places successful the Heart," has died astatine property 92.

Benton's son, John Benton, said that helium died Sunday astatine his location successful Manhattan of “natural causes.”

During a 40-year surface career, the Texas autochthonal received six Oscar nominations and won 3 times: for penning and directing "Kramer vs. Kramer" and for penning "Places successful the Heart." He was wide appreciated by actors arsenic attentive and trusting, and directed Oscar-winning performances by Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Sally Field. Although terrible dyslexia near him incapable to work much than a fewer pages astatine a clip arsenic a child, helium wrote and directed movie adaptations of novels by Philip Roth, E.L. Doctorow and Richard Russo, among others.

Benton was an creation manager for Esquire mag successful the aboriginal 1960s erstwhile a emotion for French New Wave movies and aged gangster stories (and quality that a person got $25,000 for a Doris Day screenplay) inspired him and Esquire exertion David Newman to draught a attraction astir the lives of Depression-era robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, imagining them arsenic prototypes for 1960s rebels.

Their task took years to implicit arsenic Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard were among the directors who turned them down earlier Warren Beatty agreed to nutrient and prima successful the movie. "Bonnie and Clyde," directed by Arthur Penn and starring Beatty and Faye Dunaway, overcame archetypal captious absorption successful 1967 to the film's shocking unit and became 1 of the touchstones of 1960s civilization and the commencement of a much unfastened and originative epoch successful Hollywood.

The archetypal communicative by Benton and Newman was adjacent much daring: they had made Clyde Barrow bisexual and progressive successful a 3-way narration with Bonnie and their antheral getaway driver. Beatty and Penn some resisted, and Barrow alternatively was portrayed arsenic impotent, with an uncredited Robert Towne making galore different changes to the script. “I honestly don’t cognize who the ‘auteur’ of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ was,” Benton aboriginal told Mark Harris, writer of “Pictures astatine a Revolution," a publication astir “Bonnie and Clyde” and 4 different movies from 1967.

Oscar-winning triumphs

Over the pursuing decade, nary of Benton’s films approached the interaction of "Bonnie and Clyde,” though helium continued to person captious and commercialized success. His penning credits included "Superman" and "What's Up, Doc?" He directed and co-wrote specified well-reviewed works arsenic "Bad Company," a revisionist Western featuring Jeff Bridges, and "The Late Show," a melancholy drama for which his screenplay received an Oscar nomination.

His vocation soared successful 1979 with his adaptation of the Avery Corman caller "Kramer vs. Kramer," astir a self-absorbed advertizing enforcement who becomes a loving genitor to his young lad aft his woman walks out, lone to person her instrumentality and inquire for custody. Starring Hoffman and Streep, the movie was praised arsenic a perceptive, affectional representation of changing household roles and expectations and received 5 Academy Awards, including champion picture. Hoffman, disenchanted astatine the clip with the movie business, would mention “Kramer vs. Kramer” and Benson's absorption for reviving his emotion for movie acting.

Five years later, Benton was backmost successful the Oscars contention with a much idiosyncratic film, "Places successful the Heart," successful which helium drew upon household stories and puerility memories for his 1930s-set play starring Fields arsenic a parent of 2 successful Texas who fights to clasp connected to her onshore aft her hubby is killed.

“I deliberation that erstwhile I saw it each strung together, I was amazed astatine what a romanticist presumption I had of the past,” Benton told The Associated Press successful 1984, adding that the movie was successful portion a tribute to his mother, who had died soon earlier the merchandise of “Kramer vs. Kramer.”

A lifelong movie fan

Benton was calved successful Waxahachie, Texas, extracurricular of Dallas. He owed his aboriginal emotion for movies to his father, telephone institution worker Ellery Douglass Benton, who, alternatively of asking astir homework, would instrumentality his household to the representation shows. The elder Benton would besides stock memories of attending the funerals of outlaws Barrow and Parker, Texas natives who grew up successful the Dallas area.

Robert Benton studied astatine the University of Texas and Columbia University, past served successful the U.S. Army from 1954 until 1956. While astatine Esquire, Benton helped commencement the magazine’s long-standing Dubious Achievement Award and dated Gloria Steinem, past connected unit astatine the wit mag Help! He joined creator Sallie Rendigs successful 1964. They had 1 son.

Between hits, Benton often endured agelong adust spells. His second films included specified disappointments arsenic the thrillers "Billy Bathgate," "The Human Stain" and "Twilight." He had overmuch much occurrence with "Nobody's Fool," a wry drama released successful 1994 and starring Paul Newman, successful his past Oscar-nominated performance, arsenic a small-town troublemaker successful upstate New York. Benton, whose movie was based connected Russo's novel, was nominated for champion adapted screenplay.

“Somebody asked maine erstwhile once the Academy Award nominations came retired and I'd been nominated, ‘What's the large happening astir the Academy Awards?’” Benton told Venice mag successful 1998. “I said ‘When you spell to the awards and you spot people, immoderate of whom you've had bitter fights with, immoderate of whom you're adjacent friends with, immoderate radical you haven't seen successful 10 years, immoderate radical you conscionable saw 2 days earlier — it's your family.’ It's home. And location is what I've spent my beingness looking for.”

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