Robert Aldrich

Birthday: 9 August 1918, Cranston, Rhode Island, USA

Birth Name: Robert Burgess Aldrich

Robert Aldrich entered the film industry in 1941 when he got a job as a production clerk at RKO Pictures. He soon worked his way up to script clerk, then became an assistant director, a production manager and an associate producer. He began writing and directing for TV series in the early 1950s, and directed his first feature in 1953 (Big Leaguer (1953)). Soon thereafter he established his own production company and produced most of his own films, collaborating in the writing of many of them. Among his best-known pictures are Kiss Me Deadly (1955), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and the muscular WW II mega-hit The Dirty Dozen (1967). Show less «

[on Burt Lancaster] He has matured gracefully, plays men his own age and understands the need not to...Show more »

[on Burt Lancaster] He has matured gracefully, plays men his own age and understands the need not to win the girl. He is much more tolerant of other people's point of view. Show less «

The power is for the director to do what he wants to do. To achieve that he needs his own cutter, he...Show more »

The power is for the director to do what he wants to do. To achieve that he needs his own cutter, he needs his cameraman, he needs his own assistant and a strong voice in his choice of writer; a very, very strong voice on who's the actor. He needs the power not to be interfered with and the power to make the movie as he sees it. Show less «

The struggle for self-determination, the struggle for what a character wants his life to be . . . I ...Show more »

The struggle for self-determination, the struggle for what a character wants his life to be . . . I look for characters who feel strongly enough about something not to be concerned with the prevailing odds, but to struggle against those odds. Show less «

I think I am a much more humorous and funny fellow, and I would like to do a comedy or a musical, an...Show more »

I think I am a much more humorous and funny fellow, and I would like to do a comedy or a musical, and I think I could easily adapt to that because of my knowledge of music. But it has nothing to do with what you think of yourself, but only what others think of you. Show less «

[1974 comment on Kim Novak] Is Kim Novak a joke in her own time?

A director is a ringmaster, a psychiatrist and a referee.

[on Joan Crawford's withdrawal from Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] There's no doubt in the wor...Show more »

[on Joan Crawford's withdrawal from Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)] There's no doubt in the world that Crawford was sick, seriously sick. If she'd been faking either the insurance company would never have paid the claim or she would never have been insurable again. Insurance companies are terribly tough, there's no such thing as a made-up ailment that they pay you off on. Show less «

[on Lewis Milestone] From Lewis Milestone I learned diplomacy in dealing with actors.

[on Lee Marvin] Look, this feller is a pretty good boozer, he's got a short fuse, but he can be hand...Show more »

[on Lee Marvin] Look, this feller is a pretty good boozer, he's got a short fuse, but he can be handled okay. Show less «

[on Charles Chaplin, for whom he worked as assistant director on Limelight (1952)] He's the greatest...Show more »

[on Charles Chaplin, for whom he worked as assistant director on Limelight (1952)] He's the greatest actor in the world but he doesn't know how to direct. Show less «

[on Frank Sinatra] Unpleasant man. No one has yet worked out what really makes him tick. But he sing...Show more »

[on Frank Sinatra] Unpleasant man. No one has yet worked out what really makes him tick. But he sings well. Show less «

[on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)] Judging by the initial press reaction. I wasn't sure wh...Show more »

[on What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)] Judging by the initial press reaction. I wasn't sure whether I was going to produce and direct a motion picture or referee a fight. Show less «

[on Bette Davis] Now Davis is a tough old broad and you fight. But when you see what she puts on the...Show more »

[on Bette Davis] Now Davis is a tough old broad and you fight. But when you see what she puts on the screen you know it was worth taking all the bull. Show less «

Robert Aldrich

Robert Aldrich's FILMOGRAPHY

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