Los Angeles, CA, November 29, 2011 –The International Press Academy today announced that acclaimed director Peter Bogdanovich will receive the 2011 Auteur Award at this year’s 16th Annual Satellite Awards™ on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Best known for classics “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon,” and “Mask,” Bogdanovich began his career as a teenager studying acting with Stella Adler. He transitioned to directing Off-Broadway plays and summer theatre by age 20. His writing for “Esquire” included in-depth looks at some of Hollywood’s most popular icons, including Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart, Jerry Lewis, and John Ford.
Bogdanovich made his move into feature films in the mid-60’s as Roger Corman’s first assistant on “The Wild Angels,” starring Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, and Diane Ladd. Under Corman’s tutelage, the budding director had financing for his next film, “Targets,” with Boris Karloff. During his early career, Bogdanovich began a creative partnership with writer/producer Polly Platt (“Pretty Baby”), who was his first wife. (Platt passed away in July of this year.)
With “The Last Picture Show” in 1971, Bogdanovich began to express visual story elements in a distinctive style that captured a brilliant look at small-town Texan-American life in the early 1950’s. This film launched the careers of then-unknowns Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd, and starred Cloris Leachman, Ellen Burstyn, and other newcomers like Timothy Bottoms and Randy Quaid. It won the New York Film Critics’ Circle Award for Best Screenplay (which Bogdanovich co-wrote with novelist Larry McMurtry), and received a total of eight Academy Award nominations, including three for Bogdanovich; Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman won for Best Supporting Actor and Actress. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® celebrated the 40th Anniversary of this film on November 17 with the “Definitive Director’s Cut,” underscoring its place in cinema history.
Schooled in Hollywood classics, Bogdanovich made madcap comedy “What’s Up Doc?,” starring Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Streisand, the following year (1972) as an homage to the “screwball comedy” genre made famous by legendary directors like Howard Hawks. Shot in black-and-white, 1973’s “Paper Moon” catapulted the director into the record books.
Again starring Ryan O’Neal, and his 9-year-old daughter Tatum as a Depression Era con artists, the film earned four Academy Award nominations. Then 10-year-old Tatum O’Neal picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, which still stands as the youngest actress to ever receive a golden statue in that category.
Notable films “Daisy Miller” and “Saint Jack” were followed by “They All Laughed” with Audrey Hepburn. But it was 1985’s “Mask” that reaffirmed the director’s status as a singular talent. Starring Cher and Eric Stolz, the movie chronicles the true story of Roy L. “Rocky” Dennis, whose intense social isolation from a facial disfigurement is overcome with his mother’s unconditional love and encouragement.
The director’s other credits include the film adaptation of stage comedy “Noises Off,” “Texasville” (which was a sequel to “Last Picture Show”), and “The Cat’s Meow,” about a mysterious death aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht while Marion Davies, Charlie Chaplin, and legendary gossip columnist Louella Parsons were among the passengers.
With numerous books to his credit on the inner workings of filmmaking and filmmakers, Peter Bogdanovich continues to be on the vanguard with his “Blogdanovich” for Indiewire and many new projects in development. He will be present to accept the 2011 Auteur Award on Dec. 18th at The Beverly Hills Hotel.
IPA defines “Auteur” as a filmmaker whose singular vision and unique artistic control over the elements of production give a personal and signature style to their films. This award was first presented to George Clooney for “Good Night, and Good Luck” in 2005.
Past recipients of the International Press Academy’s Auteur Award include: Alex Gibney, Roger Corman, Baz Luhrmann, Robert Altman, Julian Schnabel, and George Clooney.
The International Press Academy (IPA) is among the largest and most diverse associations of professional entertainment journalists representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable, new media outlets. See www.pressacademy.com for more information.
