KUBRICK, STANLEY

KUBRICK, STANLEY (1928–1999), U.S. film producer and director. Born in the Bronx, New York, Kubrick worked as an apprentice photographer at Look Magazine at the age of 17. He made his first feature film, Fear and Desire, in 1953, and his first moneymaking film, The Killing, in 1956. He aroused much controversy with films such as Paths of Glory (1958), on the stupidity of war, and Spartacus (1960). In the early 1960s he moved to England, where he led a reclusive life, co-founded the Directors Guild of Great Britain, and made all his subsequent films. These included the provocative film Lolita (1962); Dr. Strangelove (Oscar nomination for Best Picture, 1963), an anti-military establishment movie; the sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), which was widely considered to be a major work; the disturbing and very violent A Clockwork Orange (Oscar nomination for Best Picture, 1971); the period piece Barry Lyndon (Oscar nomination for Best Picture, 1975); The Shining (1980); the Vietnam war film Full Metal Jacket (1987); and the erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut (1999). In 1993 Kubrick began work on the futuristic film Artificial Intelligence: AI but died before he could complete it. Steven Spielberg finished the film, which was released, ironically, in 2001. Voted the 23rd Greatest Director of All Time by Entertainment Weekly, Kubrick was the least prolific of the lot. However, although he made only 16 films during his 48-year career, his impact on the film industry and on his audiences was profound. Kubrick's films are characterized by a common theme of dehumanization and a demonstration of the dark side of human nature. All his films except his first two (Fear and Desire and Killer's Kiss, 1955) were adapted from novels. He produced, directed, and wrote the screenplay for the majority of them. Among his countless awards, Kubrick won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey and was nominated for 12 other Academy Awards for writing, producing, and/or directing. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2002); M. Herr, Kubrick (2000); P. Duncan, Stanley Kubrick (1999); F. Raphael, Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of Stanley Kubrick (1999); V. Lobrutto, Stanley Kubrick: A Biography (1997); T. Nelson, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze (1992). (Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)