Arthur Hiller Penn (born September 27, 1922) is a film director and producer with a hefty background as a theatre director as well. Although best known as the director of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work though the 1960s and 1970s, keenly focusing on themes relevant to the times.
After making a name for himself as a director of quality television dramas, Penn made his feature debut with a Western, The Left...
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Arthur Hiller Penn (born September 27, 1922) is a film director and producer with a hefty background as a theatre director as well. Although best known as the director of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work though the 1960s and 1970s, keenly focusing on themes relevant to the times.
After making a name for himself as a director of quality television dramas, Penn made his feature debut with a Western, The Left Handed Gun (1958). A re-telling of the Billy the Kid legend, it was notable for its sharp portrayal of the outlaw (played by Paul Newman) as a psychologically troubled youth (the role was originally intended for the archetypal troubled teen James Dean).
Penn’s next film was The Miracle Worker (1962), the story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate. It garnered two Academy Awards for its leads Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke . Penn had directed the stage production, written by William Gibson, also...
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