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WINKLER Irwin
WINKLER Irwin
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WINKLER Irwin

WINKLER
Irwin

American film producer and director

  • Date of Birth: 28 May 1931
  • Age: 95 years old
  • In the rating: #35 Producer

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Biography

Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 50 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards. He won an Oscar for Best Picture for 1976's Rocky. As a producer, he has been nominated for Best Picture for four films: Rocky, Raging Bull (1980), The Right Stuff (1983), and Goodfellas (1990).

Career

Early career

Winkler's first job after graduating university was at the William Morris Agency (WMA). Starting out in the mail room, some of his fellow mailboys were Bernie Brillstein and Jerry Weintraub. Among his first clients as an agent were comedians Sammy Shore and Jackie Vernon, though Winkler says of himself he was a "mediocre" agent.

After meeting Robert Chartoff, who managed several comedians, including Jackie Mason, the two set up their own talent management company. Among the "unsuccessful clients" the William Morris Agency allowed him to take with him at the time was Nat Cohen, the producer of the British Carry On series of films. One of their first clients as agents was the actress Julie Christie, whose screentest for Doctor Zhivago they arranged. Through another of their clients, Winkler and Chartoff brokered the John Schlesinger film Darling to film producer Joseph E. Levine. This deal led them from talent management to film production.

Career as film producer and director

Forming the production company Winkler-Chartoff Productions, Winkler began producing films with his partner Robert Chartoff in the late 1960s. Their first effort (along with Judd Bernard), was John Boorman's thriller Point Blank (1967), largely ignored in its day but now regarded as a top film of the time. Adding Sydney Pollack to their production team for one project, they garnered critical acclaim for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Their next film, The Strawberry Statement (1970), won the Jury Prize at Cannes. Chartoff and Winkler achieved their greatest success yet with Rocky (1976), which earned the Academy Award as Best Picture. Subsequently, the producing duo picked up Best Picture Oscar nominations for Raging Bull (1980) and The Right Stuff (1983), their last project together before Chartoff-Winkler Productions dissolved in 1985. Winkler launched his solo career with Revolution (1985).

Winkler produced such noteworthy features as Bertrand Tavernier's Round Midnight (1986) and back-to-back Costa-Gavras films, Betrayed (1988) and Music Box (1989), before receiving another Best Picture Oscar nomination for Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas (1990). He also returned to the franchise to oversee Rocky IV (1985) and Rocky V (1990), continuing the association forged with Sylvester Stallone on their first three Chartoff-Winkler productions.

Approaching the age of 60, Winkler moved into the director's chair, debuting with Guilty by Suspicion (1991), a drama (which he also scripted) about the Hollywood blacklist that starred Robert De Niro. His second feature, the unsuccessful 1992 remake of Night and the City, also starred De Niro. Winkler had better luck at the box office as writer-director of the Sandra Bullock vehicle The Net (1995), which spawned a series of the same name debuting on the USA Network in 1998.

Life as a House (2001) is the tale of a depressed dying man (Kevin Kline) who funnels his energies into rebuilding the dilapidated beach shack he inherited from his abusive father and, in the process, building bridges between himself and his disaffected son (Hayden Christensen). After this film received critical praise, Winkler re-teamed with Kline for the follow-up De-Lovely (2004), casting the actor as the lead in his biographical film about American composer Cole Porter, which centered on his unique relationship with his wife and muse (Ashley Judd).

While his directorial career would last through 2006, Winkler continued to produce his share of films, including The Shipping News (2001), Enough (2002), the 2014 remake of The Gambler—he'd also produced James Toback's 1974 original—and his further return to the Rocky franchise with Rocky Balboa (2006) and the spin-offs-sequels Creed (2015) and Creed II (2018). His work with Scorsese carried on with The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and Silence (2016), and The Irishman (2019). The latter film is Winkler's first collaboration with Netflix. In 2009, his Winkler Films production company inked a deal with FremantleMedia.

In 2019, Winkler published his autobiography A Life in Movies: Stories from 50 years in Hollywood.

On July 23, 2019, in an interview with Variety, Sylvester Stallone said that a Rocky sequel and prequel are in development. Winkler said “We’re very high on it" and that negotiations are underway for Stallone to write and star in the feature. “We’re very anxious to make it.” Stallone also said there are "ongoing discussions" about a Rocky prequel television series, which he hopes will land on a streaming service and the series will likely follow a young Rocky Balboa as a professional boxing hopeful. Stallone said Winkler is hesitant on making the series saying that "There was some conflict there, yes. He felt in his mind that “Rocky” was primarily a feature film, and he didn't see it as being translated for cable, so there was a big bone of contention."

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Date of Birth 28 May 1931
Age 95 years old
Gemini Zodiac sign Gemini Gemini - friendliness and practicality Gemini is undoubtedly an active sign, nevertheless, their energy and strength lacks the constant direction that is necessary in order to achieve success. Gemini sometimes cannot bring a distant goal closer, at…
Goat Chinese horoscope Goat Goat - elegant and artistic People born in the year of the Goat are endowed with a variety of talents and rich imagination. They are courteous and helpful, elegant and artistic. Most of these people have good taste, understanding of color and shape.…
Elk Slavic horoscope Elk Born under the Elk sign of the Slavic horoscope, people often combine mythic memory with practical steadiness — reading cycles early and standing firm for those they call their own.
Set Egyptian horoscope Set The Egyptian sign of Set reflects divine patronage and a particular season of character in the ancient calendar. People born under this deity often feel motives early and carry a recognizable moral gravity.
Hawthorn Druid horoscope Hawthorn Hawthorn joins outer reserve with inner fire. Born 13 May to 9 June, these people sense beauty deeply and love with intensity behind a quiet face.
Vrishabha Indian horoscope Vrishabha Born under Vrishabha, people in the Indian horoscope often blend spiritual depth with practical discipline, reading life as a sequence of karmic lessons and duties.
Chamomile Flower horoscope Chamomile Born under Chamomile in the flower horoscope, people often find strength in beauty, atmosphere, and the quiet symbolism of their birth bloom.
Gemini — 1st decan Decan horoscope Gemini — 1st decan Born in the Gemini — 1st decan period, people often show a sharper flavor of their sign: faster or slower, bolder or more reflective, yet always recognizable by birth date.

Horoscope Gemini: horoscope for today, horoscope for tomorrow, horoscope for week, horoscope for month, horoscope for year, 双子座 星座运势, tử vi song tử, ดูดวง เมถุน

Days left until next birthday: 222 Days.

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