Hal Ashby

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Hal Ashby was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison notably The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming 1966 which earned Ashby an Oscar nomination for Best Editing and In the Heat of the Night 1967 which earned him his only Oscar for the same category Ashby received a third Oscar nomination this time for Best Director for Coming Home 1978 Other films directed by Ashby include The Landlord 1970 Harold and Maude 1971 The Last Detail 1973 Shampoo 1975 Bound for Glory 1976 and Being There 1979 Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden Utah he grew up in a Mormon household His tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family included the divorce of his parents his fathers suicide and dropping out of high school Ashby was married and divorced by the time he was 19 As Ashby was entering adult life he moved from Utah to California where he soon became an assistant film editor After being nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing in 1967 for The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming his big break occurred in 1968 when he won the award for In the Heat of the Night At the urging of producer Norman Jewison Ashby directed his first film The Landlord in 1970 While his birth date placed him squarely within the realm of the prewar generation the filmmaker quickly embraced the hippie lifestyle adopting vegetarianism and growing his hair long In 1970 he married actress Joan Marshall While they remained married until his death in 1988 the two had separated by the midseventies with Marshall never forgiving Ashby along with Warren Beatty and Robert Towne for dramatizing certain unflattering elements of her life in Shampoo Over the next 16 years Ashby directed several acclaimed and popular films many were about outsiders and adventurers traversing the pathways of life Aside from Shampoo Ashbys most commercially successful film was the Vietnam War drama Coming Home 1978 Starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight both in Academy Awardwinning performances it was for this film that Ashby earned his only Best Director nomination from the Academy for his work After Being There his last film to achieve widespread attention Ashby became notoriously reclusive and eccentric retreating to his home in Malibu Colony Later it was learned that Ashby was using drugs and he slowly became difficult and unemployable Attempting to turn a corner in his declining career Ashby stopped using drugs trimmed his hair and beard and began to frequently attend Hollywood parties wearing a navy blue blazer so as to suggest that he was once again employable Despite these efforts he could only find work as a television director Ashby died on December 27 1988 at his home in Malibu California The Last Detail Bound for Glory Coming Home and Being There were all nominated for the Palme dOr