Franklin J. Schaffner

• Name — Franklin J. Schaffner • Birth Name — Franklin James Schaffner • Born — 30 May 1920 • Birthplace — Tokyo, Japan • Died — 2 July 1989 • Place of death — Santa Monica, California, U.S. • Education — Franklin & Marshall College Columbia University Law School • Occupation — Director • Title — President of the Directors Guild of America, 1987–89 • Spouse — Helen Jean Gilchrist (1948–89) (died 2007) • Awards — Academy Award for Best Director; 1971 Patton

• Illustration — (from far left) Stanley O'Toole, Gregory Peck and Franklin J. Schaffner outside Franklin & Marshall College after accepting an honorary degree in 1977 Schaffner was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of American missionaries Sarah Horting (née Swords) and Paul Franklin Schaffner, and was raised in Japan. The Schaffners returned to the United States and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania when Franklin Schaffner was 5 years old. Franklin Schaffner attended J.P. McCaskey High School, where he appeared as Mr. Darcy in the school's production of Pride and Prejudice. In 1938, he graduated as valedictorian of McCaskey High School's first graduating class. Schaffner graduated from Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) in Lancaster. As a student, Schaffner was active in the drama program at F&M's Green Room Theatre, where he appeared in eleven plays and served as president of the Green Room Club. He then studied law at Columbia University in New York City, but his education was interrupted by service with the U.S. Navy in World War II during which he served with amphibious forces in Europe and North Africa. In the latter stages of the war, he was sent to the Pacific Far East to serve with the Office of Strategic Services.

Schaffner returned to the United States after the war. He worked for a world peace organization, then as an assistant director for the documentary film series The March of Time. He became a director in the news and public affairs department of CBS television, where his jobs including covering sports, beauty pageants and public-service programs. In 1950 he directed "The Traitor", the first episode of Ford Theatre. He also did adaptations of Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island. He directed "Thunder on Sycamore Street" by Reginald Rose for Studio One. He and Rose reunited on Twelve Angry Men which won Schaffner an Emmy for Best Director. The following year Schaffner earned another Emmy for his work on the 1955 TV adaptation of the Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, shown on the anthology series Ford Star Jubilee. Schaffner became one of three regular directors on The Kaiser Aluminum Hour; the others were George Roy Hill and Fielder Cook. He was also a regular director on Playhouse 90. He was the original director on the series, The Defenders, created by Rose. Schaffner's work earned him another Emmy. In 1960, he directed Allen Drury's stage play Advise and Consent. This earned him the Best Director recognition in the Variety Critics Poll. In the realm of network television, Schaffner also received widespread critical acclaim in 1962 for his groundbreaking collaboration with the First Lady of the United States Jacqueline Kennedy and CBS television's Musical Director Alfredo Antonini in the production of A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy, a television special broadcast to over 80 million viewers worldwide. Schaffner's contributions in this production earned him a nomination in 1963 by the Directors Guild of America, for its award in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television.

In January 1960 Schaffner signed a multi picture deal with Columbia Pictures. In May 1961 he signed to make A Summer Place at 20th Century Fox with Fabian and Dolores Hart. The film was not made. Schaffner directed The Good Years (1962) for TV with Henry Fonda and Lucille Ball. Other TV work included The Great American Robbery. Instead Schaffner's first motion picture was The Stripper (1963), made at Fox from a play by William Inge, starring Richard Beymer and Joanne Woodward. The film was well-received critically, but not a commercial success. He continued to work for TV including The Legend of Lylah Clare. Schaffner later made The Best Man (1964) based on a play by Gore Vidal and The War Lord (1965), based on a play by Leslie Stevens, with Charlton Heston. In a 1966 interview he said "as you mature you learn that the story is the most important thing." He announced various films for Columbia – The Day Lincoln Was Shot, The Whistle Blows for Victory and The Green Beret – but they were not made. He went to Britain to make The Double Man (1967) with Yul Brynner, a film Schaffner admitted he did for the money.

Schaffner had a huge critical and commercial hit in Planet of the Apes (1968) starring Heston at 20th Century Fox. In December 1968 Schaffner signed a non-exclusive three-picture deal with Columbia. His next film was for 20th Century Fox, however: Patton (1970), a biopic of General Patton starring George C. Scott. It was a major success for which Schaffner won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director. He made Nicholas and Alexandra (1971) for producer Sam Spiegel, based on the book of the same name by Robert K. Massie. It was an expensive box-office failure. Schaffner followed it with Papillon (1973) a $14 million epic with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman that was a considerable financial success. In 1971 he said his films "are almost always about people who are out of their time and place." Schaffner intended to follow Papillon with Dynasty of Western Outlaws, about outlaws over the years in Missouri from a script by John Gay, and an adaptation of The French Lieutenant's Woman. He ended up making neither: Dynasty was never made, and French Lieutenant was made a decade later by another director. Schaffner reunited with George C. Scott in Islands in the Stream (1977), based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. He then did The Boys from Brazil (1978) based on a novel by Ira Levin with Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier.

His later films included Sphinx (1981), a $10 million thriller about Egypt based on a novel by Robin Cook and produced by Stanley O'Toole, who had made Boys from Brazil with Schaffner. It was a commercial and critical failure, as was Yes, Giorgio (1982), a musical comedy starring Luciano Pavarotti. Schaffner's last films were the critically well-received Lionheart (1987) and Welcome Home (1989). Schaffner was president of the Directors Guild of America from 1987 until his death in 1989.

Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for seven of his films: The Stripper, Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon, Islands in the Stream, The Boys from Brazil and Lionheart. Four of them were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Schaffner twice worked with actors Charlton Heston and Maurice Evans (The War Lord; Planet of the Apes), George C. Scott (Patton; Islands in the Stream) and Laurence Olivier (Nicholas and Alexandra; The Boys from Brazil).

Schaffner married Helen Jean Gilchrist in 1948. The couple had two children, Jennie and Kate. She died in 2007. Schaffner died on July 2, 1989, at the age of 69. He was released 10 days before his death from a hospital where he was being treated for lung cancer.

Screenwriter William Goldman identified Schaffner in 1981 as being one of the three best directors (then living) at handling "scope" (a gift for screen epics) in films. The other two were David Lean and Richard Attenborough.

• Year — Title — Notes • 1948–51 — The Ford Theatre Hour — 22 episodes • 1949 — Wesley — 13 episodes • 1949–56 — Studio One — 110 episodes • 1951 — Tales of Tomorrow — 5 episodes • 1953–59 — Person to Person — 248 episodes • 1955 — The Best of Broadway — 1 episode • 1955–56 — Ford Star Jubilee — 2 episodes • 1956–57 — The Kaiser Aluminum Hour — 6 episodes • 1957 — Producers' Showcase — 1 episode • 1957–60 — Playhouse 90 — 19 episodes • 1959 — Startime — 1 episode • 1961–62 — The Defenders — 6 episodes • 1962 — A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy — Documentary special • 1962–64 — The DuPont Show of the Week — 10 episodes • 1967 — ABC Stage 67 — 1 episode TV movies • Cry Vengeance! (1961) • The Good Years (1962) • Ambassador at Large (1964) • One-Eyed Jacks Are Wild (1966)

• Year — Title — Emmy Awards — Golden Globe Awards • Nominations — Wins — Nominations — Wins • 1949–56 — Studio One — 12 — 5 • 1953–59 — Person to Person — 6 • 1955 — The Best of Broadway — 1 • 1955–56 — Ford Star Jubilee — 4 — 3 • 1956–57 — The Kaiser Aluminum Hour — 1 • 1957 — Producers' Showcase — 13 — 7 • 1957–60 — Playhouse 90 — 34 — 13 — 1 • 1959 — Startime — 5 — 1 • 1961–62 — The Defenders — 8 — 14 — 2 — 1 • 1962–64 — The DuPont Show of the Week — 8 • 1967 — ABC Stage 67 — 4 — 2 • Total — 96 — 45 — 2 — 2 • Year — Award/Association — Category — Work — Episode — Result • 1955 — Primetime Emmy Award — Best Direction — Studio One — "Twelve Angry Men" • 1956 — Ford Star Jubilee — "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" • Best Television Adaptation • 1961 — Directors Guild of America Award — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television — Playhouse 90 — "The Cruel Day" • 1962 — Primetime Emmy Award — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama — The Defenders — Various • 1963 — Directors Guild of America Award — Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television — A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy

• Year — Title — Director — Producer • 1952 — The Wings of the Dove • 1963 — The Stripper • 1964 — The Best Man • 1965 — The War Lord • 1967 — The Double Man • 1968 — Planet of the Apes • 1970 — Patton • 1971 — Nicholas and Alexandra • 1973 — Papillon • 1977 — Islands in the Stream • 1978 — The Boys from Brazil • 1981 — Sphinx — Executive • 1982 — Yes, Giorgio • 1987 — Lionheart • 1989 — Welcome Home

• Year — Title — Academy Awards — Golden Globe Awards — BAFTA Awards • Nominations — Wins — Nominations — Wins — Nominations — Wins • 1963 — The Stripper — 1 • 1964 — The Best Man — 1 — 2 • 1968 — Planet of the Apes — 2 — 1 • 1970 — Patton — 10 — 7 — 2 — 1 — 2 • 1971 — Nicholas and Alexandra — 6 — 2 — 3 — 3 • 1973 — Papillon — 1 — 1 • 1976 — Islands in the Stream — 1 • 1978 — The Boys from Brazil — 3 — 1 • 1982 — Yes, Giorgio — 1 — 1 • Total — 26 — 10 — 10 — 1 — 5 • Year — Award/Association — Category — Work — Result • 1964 — Karlovy Vary International Film Festival — Crystal Globe — The Best Man • Special Jury Prize • 1971 — Academy Awards — Best Director — Patton • Golden Globe Awards — Best Director • Directors Guild of America Award — Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures • 1979 — Saturn Awards — Best Director — The Boys from Brazil • 2008 — Jules Verne Award — Légendaire Award — Planet of the Apes