Stanley Kubrick

He married his high school sweetheart Toba Metz in 1948. But the marriage did not flourish and the couple divorced three years later.

His second marriage was to dancer Ruth Sobotka in 1954. This marriage too ended in divorce.

He met German actress and artist Christiane Harlan while the two were working together in a film. The couple wed in 1958 and had two daughters. They had a happy marriage that lasted till Kubrick’s death.

Stanley Kubrick was born in New York to Jacques Kubrick and Sadie Gertrude. His father was a well-to-do doctor and the boy had a comfortable upbringing.

His father bought him a camera when he was 13, instilling in him a lifelong fascination for photography. He was also good at playing chess.

Even though intelligent, he did not do well in school and often skipped classes. He attended William Howard Taft High School and graduated in 1945.

Because of his poor grades, he could not secure admission in any good college, and began attending evening classes at the City College of New York in 1946.

He was a talented photographer and had sold a series of photographs to ‘Look’ magazine even while he was in high school. He found employment as an apprentice photographer for the same magazine and later got promoted to full-time staff photographer.

During this time he also became increasingly interested in the science and art of film making and frequented film screenings. He was particularly inspired by the style of the directors Max Ophuls and Elia Kazan.

In 1951, he directed his first movie, ‘Day of the Fight’, a short documentary based on the life of the boxer Walter Cartier. He financed the film himself on a shoestring budget.

He quit his job at Look magazine and began to focus on film making. His second movie, ‘Flying Padre’ (1951) was a nine minute long documentary based on the life of a Catholic priest.

He shot his first colour film, ‘The Seafarers’ in 1953. He used a sideways-shooting dolly shot in the film which would become one of the signature techniques he would use in later films also.

The 1964 dark comedy film, ‘Dr. Strangelove’ which he co-wrote, directed and produced was one of his biggest successes. The movie ranked by critics as one of the greatest films of all times, was nominated for four Academy Awards.

His film, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) was a science fiction dealing with extraterrestrial life and artificial intelligence. The film garnered a cult following and was also a critical as well as commercial success.

‘Barry Lyndon’ (1975) starring Ryan O’Neal and Marisa Berenson is considered to be one of Kubrick’s finest films. The movie won four Academy Awards and was appreciated for the unconventional use of lighting in cinematography.