About

Known credits:
59
Birthday:
1911-08-07
Place of birth:
Galesville, Wisconsin, USA
Website:
N/A

Nicholas Ray

Overview

Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers.

His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home Again, which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death.

During his lifetime, Ray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause, twice for the Golden Lion, for Bigger Than Life (1956) and Bitter Victory (1957), and a Palme d'Or for The Savage Innocents (1960). Three of his films were ranked by Cahiers du Cinéma in their Annual Top 10 Lists.

Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and use of color are particularly well regarded and he was an important influence on the French New Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard famously writing in a review of Bitter Victory, "... there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."

Known for

Acting
2011 Don't Expect Too Much Actor Himself 59
Average
2006 Edge of Outside Actor Self (archive footage) 58
Average
2005 Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents Actor Himself (uncredited) N/A
N/A
1990 Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year Actor 59
Average
1980 Lightning Over Water Actor Self 59
Average
1979 Nicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre Actor N/A
N/A
1979 Hair Actor The General 66
Fair
1977 The American Friend Actor Derwatt 64
Fair
1977 Profile of Nicholas Ray Actor Self N/A
N/A
1975 James Dean: The First American Teenager Actor Self 59
Average
1975 I'm a Stranger Here Myself Actor Self 59
Average
1973 We Can't Go Home Again Actor Nick Ray 59
Average
1963 55 Days at Peking Actor US Minister (uncredited) 61
Fair
1955 Rebel Without a Cause Actor Man in Last Shot (uncredited) 71
Good
1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Actor Bakery Clerk (uncredited) 61
Fair

Directing
1980 Lightning Over Water Directing Director 59
Average
1978 Marco Directing Director N/A
N/A
1974 Wet Dreams Directing Director 59
Average
1974 The Janitor Directing Director N/A
N/A
1973 We Can't Go Home Again Directing Director 59
Average
1963 55 Days at Peking Directing Director 61
Fair
1961 King of Kings Directing Director 62
Fair
1960 The Savage Innocents Directing Director 59
Average
1958 Party Girl Directing Director 59
Average
1958 Wind Across the Everglades Directing Director 59
Average
1957 Bitter Victory Directing Director 59
Average
1957 The True Story of Jesse James Directing Director 59
Average
1956 Bigger Than Life Directing Director 62
Fair
1956 Hot Blood Directing Director 59
Average
1955 Rebel Without a Cause Directing Director 71
Good
1955 Run for Cover Directing Director 59
Average
1954 Johnny Guitar Directing Director 65
Fair
1952 Androcles and the Lion Directing Co-Director 59
Average
1952 The Lusty Men Directing Director 60
Fair
1952 Macao Directing Co-Director 59
Average
1951 On Dangerous Ground Directing Director 60
Fair
1951 Flying Leathernecks Directing Director 58
Average
1950 Born to Be Bad Directing Director 59
Average
1950 In a Lonely Place Directing Director 67
Fair
1949 They Live by Night Directing Director 61
Fair
1949 Roseanna McCoy Directing Co-Director 59
Average
1949 Knock on Any Door Directing Director 59
Average
1949 A Woman's Secret Directing Director 58
Average
1945 Tuesday in November Directing Assistant Director N/A
N/A

Writing
2024 Wilder Demons #2 Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1980 Lightning Over Water Writing Writer 59
Average
1973 We Can't Go Home Again Writing Writer 59
Average
1964 Circus World Writing Story 59
Average
1960 The Savage Innocents Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1957 Bitter Victory Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1955 Rebel Without a Cause Writing Story 71
Good
1954 Johnny Guitar Writing Writer 65
Fair
1951 On Dangerous Ground Writing Adaptation 60
Fair
1949 They Live by Night Writing Adaptation 61
Fair
1946 Swing Parade of 1946 Writing Writer 58
Average
1945 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Writing Dialogue 61
Fair

Production
1954 Johnny Guitar Production Producer 65
Fair

Crew
1967 Made in U.S.A Crew Thanks 59
Average
1956 Bigger Than Life Crew Additional Writing 62
Fair