History Creator / NicholasRay

Ray's Hollywood career ended with the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem which led to a long period in Europe. He returned to America at the height of TheSixties and was thrilled at seeing a culture heralded by his most famous film. He became a beloved teacher at New York University and SUNY Binghamton, one of his students in the former was Creator/JimJarmusch, with Ray making his final film, the experimental ''We Can't Go Home Again'' with students from the latter that wasn't officially released until 2012. The German director Creator/WimWenders was another fan and he and Ray collaborated on ''Lightning Over Water'' as Ray was on his deathbed, the film becoming finally a documentary about his final days. He's coming back into focus in the 21st century especially with the popularity of his lesser known titles like ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' on DVD.

Oh, and that one exception? That was ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'', starring Creator/JamesDean. You may remember the final shot, a man walking up to the Observatory with a briefcase; that was [[CreatorCameo the director himself]]. In his lifetime, he worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Creator/RobertRyan, Creator/RobertMitchum, Creator/HumphreyBogart, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Burl Ives, Sterling Hayden, Creator/JoanCrawford in addition to the cast of Rebel. As critic Robin Wood remarked, "no one gives a bad performance in a Ray film."

* ''They Live by Night'' (1948)

* FaceDeathWithDignity: Wenders' documentary on Ray, ''Lightning Over Water'' shows Ray in his final days, dying from cancer trying vainly to continue living by working on many projects (which both he and Wenders know won't get made), giving talks at universities about his films and conducting various theatre productions. Ray even goes as far as to fictionally dramatize hospital visits by various people.

** Creator/JeanLucGodard famously dedicated his film ''Made in USA'' to "Nick and [[Creator/SamuelFuller Sam]] who raised me to respect image and sound."

Oh and that one exception! That was ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'' starring Creator/JamesDean. You may remember the final shot, a man walking up to the Observatory with a briefcase, that was [[CreatorCameo the director himself]]. In his lifetime, he worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Creator/RobertRyan, Creator/RobertMitchum, Creator/HumphreyBogart, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Burl Ives, Sterling Hayden, Creator/JoanCrawford in addition to the cast of Rebel. As critic Robin Wood remarked, "no one gives a bad performance in a Ray film."

He was also noted for a messy, turbulent personal life not unlike that of his characters. Already being an erratic student prone to [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]], his drinking and drug problems only worsened as his career progressed, culminating in him collapsing on the set of ''55 Days in Peking'', his final Hollywood film. His marriage to Creator/GloriaGrahame infamously ended when he discovered her in bed with [[PaedoHunt his 13-year-old son Tony, whom she'd later marry.]]

Ray's Hollywood career ended with the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem which led to a long period in Europe. He returned to America at the height of TheSixties and was thrilled at seeing a culture heralded by his most famous film. He became a beloved teacher at New York University and SUNY Binghamton, one of his students in the former was Creator/JimJarmusch, with Ray making his final film, the experimental ''We Can't Go Home Again'' with students from the latter that wasn't officially released until 2012. The German director Creator/WimWenders was another fan and he and Ray collaborated on ''Lightning Over Water'' as Ray was on his deathbed, the film becoming finally a documentary about his final days. He's coming back into focus in the 21st Century especially with the popularity of his lesser known titles like ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' on DVD.

Important books on Nicholas Ray, include ''Nicholas Ray: An American Life'' by Bernard Eisenschitz which is not only considered his definitive biography, but one of the best biographies on any film director, currently in print from the University of Minnesota Press. Other books include, ''I Was Interrupted'', a collection of articles, interviews, and personal notes by Ray during his time as teacher in New York.

[[/index]]

He was also noted for a messy, turbulent personal life not unlike that of his characters. Already being an erratic student prone to [[TheAlcoholic alcoholism]], his drinking and drug problems only worsened as his career progressed, culminating in him collapsing on the set of ''55 Days in Peking'', his final Hollywood film. His marriage to Creator/GloriaGrahame infamously ended when he discovered [[YourCheatingHeart her in bed with]] [[PaedoHunt his 13-year-old son Tony, whom she'd later marry.]]

Oh and that one exception! That was ''RebelWithoutACause'' starring Creator/JamesDean. You may remember the final shot, a man walking up to the Observatory with a briefcase, that was [[CreatorCameo the director himself]]. In his lifetime, he worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Creator/RobertRyan, Creator/RobertMitchum, Creator/HumphreyBogart, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Burl Ives, Sterling Hayden, Creator/JoanCrawford in addition to the cast of Rebel. As critic Robin Wood remarked, "no one gives a bad performance in a Ray film."

Ray's Hollywood career ended with the UsefulNotes/FallOfTheStudioSystem which led to a long period in Europe. He returned to America at the height of TheSixties and was thrilled at seeing a culture heralded by his most famous film. He became a beloved teacher in New York University, one of his students was Creator/JimJarmusch. The German director Creator/WimWenders was another fan and he and Ray collaborated on ''Lightning Over Water'' as Ray was on his deathbed, the film becoming finally a documentary about his final days. He worked with his students in making an experimental film that was finally released and completed in 2012, years after his death. He's coming back into focus in the 21st Century especially with the popularity of his lesser known titles like ''Film/InALonelyPlace'' on DVD.

Oh and that one exception! That was ''RebelWithoutACause'' starring Creator/JamesDean. You may remember the final shot, a man walking up to the Observatory with a briefcase, that was [[CreatorCameo the director himself]]. In his lifetime, he worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Robert Ryan, Creator/RobertMitchum, Creator/HumphreyBogart, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Burl Ives, Sterling Hayden, Creator/JoanCrawford in addition to the cast of Rebel. As critic Robin Wood remarked, "no one gives a bad performance in a Ray film."

Oh and that one exception! That was ''RebelWithoutACause'' starring JamesDean. You may remember the final shot, a man walking up to the Observatory with a briefcase, that was [[CreatorCameo the director himself]]. In his lifetime, he worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Robert Ryan, Creator/RobertMitchum, Creator/HumphreyBogart, James Mason, Christopher Plummer, Burl Ives, Sterling Hayden, Creator/JoanCrawford in addition to the cast of Rebel. As critic Robin Wood remarked, "no one gives a bad performance in a Ray film."