Robert Wise

He married actress Patricia Doyle on May 25, 1942 who died on September 22, 1975. They had a son, Robert A. Wise from this marriage.

He married Millicent Franklin on January 29, 1977 who was with him till his death. He also had a stepdaughter, Pamela.

Robert Wise died of a heart attack in Los Angeles, California on September 14, 2005 at the age of 91.

Robert Wise was born Robert Earl Wise on September 10, 1914 in Winchester, Indiana, USA.

His father was a meat packer named Earl Waldo Wise and his mother was Olive R. Longenecker. He had an elder brother named David and was the youngest of the three sons.

He attended the ‘Connersville High School’ and then the ‘Franklin College’ near Indianapolis. He had to drop out of college during the ‘Great Depression’.

Robert Wise joined his older brother who worked as an accountant at the RKO Pictures’ in Los Angeles and took up a job at the editorial department in the studio.

During the next decade he became an assistant, then an apprentice of the editor for sound effects, and eventually a film editor.

He edited notable films that included ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ in 1939 made by Lon Chaney.

He then went into film direction and directed his first movie ‘Citizen Kane’ written by Orson Welles in 1941.

He directed the film ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ in 1942 but did not get any credit for it.

Robert Wise won his first ‘Academy Award’ nomination for ‘Best Editing’ in 1939 for the film ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’.

In 1949 he won the ‘Critics’ Prize’ at the ‘Cannes Film Festival’ for the film ‘Set Up’.

He won his first ‘Academy Award’ and ‘Golden Globe Award’ nomination for ‘Best Director’ for ‘I Want to Live’ in 1958.

In 1961 he won ‘Academy Award’ for ‘Best Director’ for the film ‘West Side Story’, which also won ‘Best Picture’ Oscar. He was also won a nomination for the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Director’.

In 1963 Wise was nominated for a ‘Golden Globe Award’ for ‘Best Director’ for ‘The Haunting’.