Robert Aldrich (1918-1983) was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, and worked as an assistant to Jean Renoir, Charlie Chaplin and others before directing. He made violent, cynical and often bitterly funny films that sat at the edge of the studio system: the apocalyptic noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955), the war film Attack! (1956), the gothic melodrama What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, The Dirty Dozen (1967) and the prison comedy The Longest Yard (1974). He later ran his own studio for a time.
Filmography
- Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
- Autumn Leaves (1956)
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
- The Dirty Dozen (1967)
- The Longest Yard (1974)