Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and producer in film, television, and theatre, known for his socially-conscious dramas and literary adaptations.
After leaving St. John's University (he had previously attended Eton College in South Carolina, playing football there), Ritt joined a theater group during The Great Depression, and eventually find himself working as an actor in the Group Theatre under Elia Kazan. After serving with the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, Ritt moved on to directing for theater and television, though his career was interrupted by The Hollywood Blacklist, even though Ritt always denied ever being a member of the Communist Party (he went on to make a movie about the blacklist in 1976 with The Front). In 1957, he came to Hollywood when the blacklist was on the wane and made his directorial debut with Edge of the City, starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes. Ritt went on to direct 25 more films, including six with Paul Newman (starting with The Long, Hot Summer in 1958) and three with Sally Field (starting with Norma Rae in 1985).
His last film was Stanley and Iris, starring Robert De Niro and Jane Fonda, which came out in 1990. He died that same year of a heart attack at age 76.
Works directed by Martin Ritt with their own page:
- Edge of the City (1957)
- The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
- The Sound and the Fury (1959)
- Paris Blues (1961)
- Hud (1963)
- The Outrage (1964)
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)
- Hombre (1967)
- The Molly Maguires (1970)
- The Great White Hope (1970)
- Sounder (1972)
- The Front (1976)
- Norma Rae (1979)
- Nuts (1987)
