- Known For
- Directing
- Born
- August 7, 1911
- Place of Birth
- Galesville, Wisconsin, USA
- Died
- June 16, 1979
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers. His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home …
Filmography
movieFilms to Die For
2025 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Wilder Demons #2
movieWilder Demons #2
2024 · Writer
movieDon't Expect Too Much
2011 · Himself
movieRebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents
2005 · Himself (uncredited)
movieJames Dean: A Portrait
1995 · Self (archive footage)
movieVanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year
1990
movieLightning Over Water
1980 · Self, Director, Writer
Nicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre
movieNicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre
1979
movieHair
1979 · The General
Marco
movieMarco
1978 · Director
movieThe American Friend
1977 · Derwatt
movieJohnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast
1977 · Self
movieProfile of Nicholas Ray
1977 · Self
movieJames Dean: The First American Teenager
1975 · Self
movieI'm a Stranger Here Myself
1975 · Self
movieWet Dreams
1974 · Director
The Janitor
movieThe Janitor
1974 · Director
movieHorizons
1973
movieWe Can't Go Home Again
1973 · Nick Ray, Writer, Director
movieMade in U.S.A
1967 · Thanks
movieCircus World
1964 · Story
movie55 Days at Peking
1963 · US Minister (uncredited), Director
movieKing of Kings
1961 · Director
movieThe Savage Innocents
1960 · Director, Screenplay
movieParty Girl
1958 · Director
movieWind Across the Everglades
1958 · Director
movieBitter Victory
1957 · Director, Screenplay
movieThe True Story of Jesse James
1957 · Director
movieBigger Than Life
1956 · Director, Additional Writing
movieHot Blood
1956 · Director
movieRebel Without a Cause
1955 · Man in Last Shot (uncredited), Director, Story
movieRun for Cover
1955 · Director
movieJohnny Guitar
1954 · Producer, Writer, Director
tvGeneral Electric Theater
1953 · Director
movieAndrocles and the Lion
1952 · Co-Director
movieThe Lusty Men
1952 · Director
movieMacao
1952 · Co-Director
movieOn Dangerous Ground
1951 · Adaptation, Director
movieFlying Leathernecks
1951 · Director
movieBorn to Be Bad
1950 · Director
movieIn a Lonely Place
1950 · Director
movieThey Live by Night
1949 · Director, Adaptation
movieRoseanna McCoy
1949 · Co-Director
movieKnock on Any Door
1949 · Director
movieA Woman's Secret
1949 · Director
movieSwing Parade of 1946
1946 · Writer
movieTuesday in November
1945 · Assistant Director
movieA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
1945 · Bakery Clerk (uncredited), Dialogue