Franklin J. Schaffner (1920-1989) was born in Tokyo to American missionary parents and studied law before serving in the US Navy in the Second World War. He became one of the leading directors of live American television in the 1950s and early 1960s, winning Emmys for The Defenders, and moved to cinema with The Stripper (1963). His big-screen work is built on ambitious, large-scale stories: the epic Planet of the Apes (1968), the biographical war portrait Patton (1970), which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, the prison drama Papillon (1973) and the thriller The Boys from Brazil (1978). He worked with a calm, disciplined hand and a taste for powerful central performances.
Filmography
- The Best Man (1964)
- The War Lord (1965)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- Patton (1970)
- Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
- Papillon (1973)
- Islands in the Stream (1977)
- The Boys from Brazil (1978)