John Marcellus Huston ( HEW-stən; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. In a career spanning more than five decades, he wrote the screenplays for many of the 37 feature films… John Marcellus Huston ( HEW-stən; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor. In a career spanning more than five decades, he wrote the screenplays for many of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the BAFTA Fellowship in 1980, a Special Lion for the Overall Work in 1985, and a Silver Lion in 1953.
The son and only child of actor Walter Huston, Huston studied and worked as a fine art painter in Paris. He then moved to Mexico and began writing, first plays and short stories, and later working in Los Angeles as a Hollywood screenwriter, and was nominated for several Academy Awards writing for films directed by William Dieterle and Howard Hawks, among others. His directorial debut came with The Maltese Falcon (1941), which despite its small budget became a commercial and critical hit; he continued to be a successful, if iconoclastic, Hollywood director for the next 45 years.
Huston directed acclaimed films such as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), The Misfits (1961), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Annie (1982), Prizzi's Honor (1985) and The Dead (1987). During his 46-year career, Huston received 14 Academy Award nominations, winning twice. He was also an actor, acting in numerous films and receiving nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for The Cardinal (1963) and Chinatown (1974) respectively. He also acted in Casino Royale (1967), Myra Breckinridge (1970) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). He voiced the wizard Gandalf in The Hobbit (1977) and The Return of the King (1980).
Huston has been referred to as "a titan", "a rebel", and a "renaissance man" in the Hollywood film industry. He traveled widely, settling at various times in France, Mexico, and Ireland. Huston was a citizen of the United States by birth but renounced this to become an Irish citizen and resident in 1964. He eventually returned to the United States, where he lived the rest of his life. He was the father of actress Anjelica Huston, whom he directed to an Oscar win in Prizzi's Honor.
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Universal PicturesEmployeruntil 1987
