Stuart Rosenberg

A highly skilled and hard-working director, Stuart Rosenberg earned the respect of his peers and the eternal appreciation of fans for his contributions to film and television. Receiving his start as a television editor in New York in the 1950s, he broke into directing on such NYC-based crime shows as "Decoy" (syndicated, 1957-59) and "Naked City" (ABC, 1958-1963). After a decade largely comprised of small screen efforts, Rosenfeld struck cinematic gold with his sweltering prison camp saga "Cool Hand Luke" (1967), starring Paul Newman in one of his most memorable roles as an irascible convict serving time at a harsh Florida state prison farm. He quickly went on to direct feature material as diverse as the Jack Lemmon-Catherine Deneuve romance "The April Fools" (1969) and the visceral Walter Matthau crime thriller "The Laughing Policeman" (1973). The director worked with Newman again several times on films like the private eye tale "The Drowning Pool" (1975), but had his biggest commercial hit with the horror film "The Amityville Horror" (1979), based on the best-selling book. Still working with the best and the brightest late in his career, he gave direction to superstar Robert Redford on "Brubaker" (1980) and guided up-and-comers Mickey Rourke and Eric Roberts through their bravura performances in "The Pope of Greenwich Village" (1984). While never a household name with audiences, Rosenberg's professionalism kept him continually employed as the director of several lauded films that stood the test of time.