Share

Stanley Kubrick biography

1 photo

Quick Facts

Best Known For

Stanley Kubrick was an American filmmaker best known for directing Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket.


Videos see all videos

Quiz

Think you know about Biography?

Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.

Play Now
Stanley Kubrick - Film Icon watch more videos (1)

Synopsis

Born in New York City on July 26, 1928, Stanley Kubrick worked as a photographer for Look magazine before exploring filmmaking in the 1950s. He went on to direct a number of acclaimed films, inclduing Spartacus (1960), Lolita (1962), Dr. Strangelove (1964), Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980), Full Metal Jacket (1987) and Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Kubrick died in England on March 7, 1999.

Quotes

"A filmmaker has almost the same freedom as a novelist has when he buys himself some paper."

– Stanley Kubrick

"The great nations have always acted like gangsters, and the small nations like prostitutes."

– Stanley Kubrick

"It's a mistake to confuse pity with love."

– Stanley Kubrick

"I never learned anything at school, and I never read a book for pleasure until I was 19."

– Stanley Kubrick

"I started out thinking if I couldn't play for the Yankees, I'd be a novelist."

– Stanley Kubrick

Younger Years

Famed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City on July 26, 1928, and grew up in the Bronx, New York, where his father, Jacques Kubrick, worked as a doctor and his mother, Sadie (Perveler) Kubrick, was a housewife. He had a younger sister, Barbara.

Kubrick never adjusted to or did well in school. In elementary school, his attendance record was evenly split between days absent and present. In high school, he was a social outcast and the prototypical underachiever, ranking at the bottom of his class, despite his intelligence. "I never learned anything at school, and I never read a book for pleasure until I was 19," he once said.

Kubrick's early ambitions were to become a writer or play baseball. "I started out thinking if I couldn't play for the Yankees, I'd be a novelist," he later remembered. Seeking creative endeavors rather than to focus on his academic status, Kubrick played the drums in his high school's jazz band; its vocalist later became known as Eydie Gorme. Kubrick also displayed early promise as a photographer for the school paper, and at age 16, began selling his photos to Look magazine. A year later, he was hired for the staff of the magazine. When not traveling for Look, he spent most of his evenings at the Museum of Modern Art.

Toward the end of his high school career, Kubrick applied to several colleges, but was turned down for admission by all of them.

Foray into Filmmaking

Kubrick began to explore the art of filmmaking in the 1950s. His first films were documentary shorts financed by friends and relatives. His first feature, the 1953 military drama Fear and Desire, was made independently of a studio—an uncommon practice for the time. Early into his filmmaking career, Kubrick acted as cinematographer, editor and soundman, in addition to directing. Later, he would also write and produce.

Kubrick made 10 feature films from 1957 to 1998, with early releases including the acclaimed films Spartacus (1960); Lolita (1962), based on the novel by Vladimir Nabokov; and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Denied official cooperation from the U.S. armed services during the filming of Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick went on to construct sets from photographs and other public sources.

'2001: A Space Odyssey'

Kubrick  released his most popular film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in 1968, after working diligently on the production for a number of years—from co-writing the script with sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke to working on the special effects, to directing.

ADVERTISEMENT
9369672 9369672
profile id: 9369672
profile name: Stanley Kubrick
profile occupation:
related profile id: 9369672
related profile name: Stanley Kubrick
related profile occupation:
related profile img: /imported/images/Biography/Images/Profiles/K/Stanley-Kubrick-9369672-1-402.jpg
related profile URL: /people/stanley-kubrick-9369672
profile
pop
Your Connections

Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.

specific profile connection
Your Friends' Connections
specific friend connection
Profile Connections
    Show More Connections
    Included In These Groups

    See all related groups


    ADVERTISEMENT

    Celebrity Connections

    Show More Connections
    Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!