John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes was a Greek-American filmmaker and actor. He began as an actor in film and television before helping to pioneer modern American independent cinema as a writer and director, often self-financing, producing, and distributing his own films. He received nominations for three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and an Emmy Award. After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Cassavetes started his career in television acting in numerous network dramas. From 1959 to 1960 he played the title role in the NBC detective series Johnny Staccato. He acted in notable films, such as Martin Ritt's film noir Edge of the City (1957), Robert Aldrich's war film The Dirty Dozen (1967), Roman Polanski's horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968) and Elaine May's crime drama Mikey and Nicky (1976).
Biography adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
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Photo: NBC Television, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Films
Critical context
To talk about John Cassavetes the great director, one must first recognise Cassavetes the actor. Not because acting was his first artistic passion; not because many of his closest friends, including his wife, were actors; not because Cassavetes himself acted in dozens of films, television shows, and plays. Acting as a profession and artistic endeavour is essential to Cassavetes the director because so much of what he did as a filmmaker was at the service of his actors. Story and technique were…
