Michael Ritchie (filmmaker)
Michael Ritchie | |
---|---|
Born | Michael Brunswick Ritchie November 28, 1938 Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States |
Died | April 16, 2001 | (aged 62)
Occupation | Film director |
Notable work | Downhill Racer The Candidate The Bad News Bears Fletch Fletch Lives The Scout |
Spouse | Jimmie B. Ritchie |
Children | 5 |
Michael Brunswick Ritchie (November 28, 1938 – April 16, 2001) was an American film director, producer, and writer of films with comical or satirical leanings, such as The Candidate and Smile. He scored commercial successes directing sports films, like Downhill Racer and The Bad News Bears, and Chevy Chase's Fletch comedies and Eddie Murphy's The Golden Child.
Personal life
Ritchie was born in
Career
While at Harvard, Ritchie directed the original production of the Arthur Kopit play, Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This led Robert Saudek to offer him a job, and Ritchie worked on several TV series prior to his film debut in 1969 with Downhill Racer.[3]
In 1970, Ritchie worked for John V. Tunney's senate election campaign; Tunney was the basis for Robert Redford's character in Ritchie's Oscar-winning film, The Candidate.[4]
As a director, Ritchie's output was highly varied. Although originally known for his sports films and satires in the 1970s, such as The Candidate and The Bad News Bears, he became more known for his broad comedies in the 1980s, such as Fletch and The Golden Child.[5]
Ritchie also briefly pursued a career as an author, writing Please Stand By: A Prehistory of Television, a nonfiction book about the experimental period of the television industry from the 1920s through the 1940s.[6]
Death and legacy
Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "It’s difficult to think of any director, ever, who had a more consistently uneven career."[5] According to Mark LeFanu, his films were recognized as "unpretentious, closely observed, finely textured works...there comes a point when, looking back, one sees that their consistency itself – consistent excellence – is telling us something: something about the way that cinema itself is able to move out and look around."[7] Ritchie died from complications related to prostate cancer.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1969 | Downhill Racer | Yes | No | No | Directorial debut |
1972 | Prime Cut | Yes | No | No | |
The Candidate | Yes | No | No | ||
1975 | Smile | Yes | Yes | No | |
1976 | The Bad News Bears | Yes | No | No | |
1977 | Semi-Tough | Yes | No | No | |
1978 | The Bad News Bears Go to Japan | No | Yes | No | |
1979 | An Almost Perfect Affair | Yes | No | Story | |
1980 | The Island | Yes | No | No | |
Divine Madness | Yes | No | No | Concert film | |
1981 | Student Bodies | Yes | Yes | No | Uncredited as co-director ( Allen Smithee "
|
1983 | The Survivors | Yes | No | No | |
1985 | Fletch | Yes | No | No | |
1986 | Wildcats | Yes | No | No | |
The Golden Child | Yes | No | No | ||
1988 | The Couch Trip | Yes | No | No | |
1989 | Fletch Lives | Yes | No | No | |
1992 | Diggstown | Yes | No | No | |
Innocent Blood | No | No | No | Role as "Night Watchman" | |
1993 | Cool Runnings | No | No | Story | |
1994 | Cops & Robbersons | Yes | No | No | |
The Scout | Yes | No | No | ||
1995 | The Fantasticks | Yes | Yes | No | Also music producer |
1997 | A Simple Wish | Yes | No | No |
Television
TV movies
Title | Year | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Theater of Tomorrow | 1963 | Yes | No | |
The Sound of Anger | 1968 | Yes | No | |
The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom | 1993 | Yes | No | Voice role as "Minister" |
Comfort, Texas | 1997 | Yes | No | |
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie | 2002 | No | Story |
TV series
Title | Year | Director | Associate Producer |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Omnibus | 1955 | Yes | No | Segment "The Trial of St. Joan" |
Profiles in Courage | 1965 | Yes | Yes | Director (2 episodes) / Producer (2 episodes) |
Dr. Kildare | Yes | No | 3 episodes | |
The Big Valley | 1966 | Yes | No | 3 episodes |
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Yes | No | Episode "The Nowhere Affair" | |
Felony Squad
|
Yes | No | 3 episodes | |
Run for Your Life | 1966-67 | Yes | No | 11 episodes |
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | 1967 | Yes | No | Episode "To Sleep, Perchance to Scream" |
The Outsider | 1967-68 | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
Harold Robbins' The Survivors | 1969 | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
L'encyclopédie audio-visuelle | 1993 | Yes | No | Documentary series; episode "Albert Einstein" |
Beggars and Choosers | 1999 | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
References
- ^ Michael Ritchie Biography (1938-2001)
- ^ "BRENTWOOD : Marilyn Monroe's House Sold, May Be Torn Down". Los Angeles Times. 1994-11-08. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
- ^ van Gelder, Lawrence (2001-04-18). "Michael Ritchie, 62, Director Of 'Smile' and 'Downhill Racer'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
- ^ The Washington Post, "John V. Tunney, California lawmaker whose campaign inspired a film, dies at 83", By Matt Schudel, 914 words, 16 January 2018. Retrieved on 9/11/2020
- ^ a b Willman, Chris. "EW.com's tribute to Downhill Racer director Michael Ritchie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
- ISBN 0-87951-615-1.
- ISBN 007013264X.
External links
- Michael Ritchie at IMDb