1 | [[quoteright:346:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c5a4cb9f_7b15_41ea_a203_c9f306be6146.jpeg]] |
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3 | ->''"You must understand if somebody says '''me''', then they are automatically saying '''the film''', for we are one and the same."'' |
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5 | Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was one of the most acclaimed directors of the UsefulNotes/NewHollywood era. |
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7 | Born and raised in Ogden, Utah, he moved to California in 1949, fed up with the harsh winter weather and drudgery of working on a railroad construction crew in Wyoming. Taking a job in the printing department at Creator/{{Universal}}, he slowly moved up the Hollywood ladder to become a film editor. After editing several films for director Norman Jewison, including ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight'' (for which he won an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward) and ''Film/TheThomasCrownAffair1968'', Ashby moved into directing with 1970's ''The Landlord'' (produced by Jewison). A disappointment at the box office, ''The Landlord'' still garnered some good reviews, citing Ashby as a talent to watch, and even received an Oscar nomination (Creator/LeeGrant for Best Supporting Actress). |
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9 | His next film, ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'', recovered from a poor initial reception to become one the most famous and beloved [[CultClassic Cult Classics]] of all time. After that Ashby swiftly became an A-list director, working with the likes of Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/WarrenBeatty, Creator/JaneFonda and Creator/PeterSellers. His films garnered near-universal acclaim, did well at the box office, and won multiple Oscars. |
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11 | After this incredible run in TheSeventies, Ashby's career collapsed once TheEighties rolled around. Frequent battles over ExecutiveMeddling and rumors of [[ArtisticStimulation excessive drug use]][[note]]his biographer Nick Dawson agrees that Ashby had a fondness for recreational drugs but feels that the extent of his use was exaggerated to fit the image of an out-of-control eccentric by people who didn't like him.[[/note]] made it hard for him to find employment. After directing a few little-noticed big screen films and doing some television work, he decided to clean up his life and make an attempt at a comeback. Unfortunately, by that time he had developed colon cancer and would soon pass away at the age of 59. |
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13 | While his films continued to remain popular, by the time of his death Ashby himself had been reduced to a footnote in film history. But with the re-evaluation of New Hollywood in TheNineties, Ashby came to be appreciated as a symbol of the creative innovation and quality of that era of filmmaking, as well as a sad cautionary tale of the excesses that went along with it. His filmmaking has been VindicatedByHistory, and many modern directors (most notably Creator/WesAnderson) have been influenced by his work. |
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15 | He was married five times, but had no children. |
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17 | ---- |
18 | !!Hal Ashby films with their own trope pages include: |
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20 | * ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'' (1971) |
21 | * ''Film/TheLastDetail'' (1973) |
22 | * ''{{Film/Shampoo}}'' (1975) |
23 | * ''Film/BoundForGlory'' (1976) |
24 | * ''Film/ComingHome'' (1978) |
25 | * ''Film/BeingThere'' (1979) |
26 | * ''Film/EightMillionWaysToDie'' (1986) |
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28 | !!Tropes associated with Ashby: |
29 | * UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: Won one for editing ''Film/InTheHeatOfTheNight'', and his films from TheSeventies won a total of 7 (out of 24 nominations), including all four acting categories (Creator/JonVoight as Best Actor and Creator/JaneFonda as Best Actress in ''Film/ComingHome'', Lee Grant as Best Supporting Actress in ''Film/{{Shampoo}}'', Melvyn Douglas as Best Supporting Actor in ''Film/BeingThere''). ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'' was his only 70s film to not get a nomination. |
30 | * ConcertFilm: Directed ''Let's Spend the Night Together'' for Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}} and ''Solo Trans'' for Music/NeilYoung. |
31 | * CreatorCameo: Inspired by Creator/AlfredHitchcock, he often gave himself tiny, usually silent parts in his own films. In fact, he's seen in the very first shot of his debut film ''The Landlord'' (as the groom at a wedding; it was filmed at Ashby's own RealLife wedding to actress Joan Marshall). |
32 | * LonelyRichKid: Several characters fit this description, like Elgar Enders in ''The Landlord'', [[Film/HaroldAndMaude Harold Chasen]], [[Creator/CarrieFisher Lorna Karpf]] in ''Film/{{Shampoo}}'', and, in an odd {{Manchild}} way, Chance in ''Film/BeingThere''. |
33 | * ProductionPosse: Frequently worked with actors Creator/JonVoight, Creator/LeeGrant, Creator/JackWarden, and David Clennon, writers Creator/RobertTowne and Robert C. Jones, and producer Charles Mulvehill. |
34 | * RichBoredom: Several of Ashby's protagonists are wealthy people who find the strictures of upper class life confining and rebel against them: ''The Landlord'' (wealthy young white Long Island fop tries to [[VillainousGentrification gentrify]] a black Brooklyn neighborhood, only to develop empathy for the residents), ''Film/HaroldAndMaude'' (wealthy young Californian stages fake suicides and gets into a relationship with an elderly woman), ''Film/{{Shampoo}}'' (Beverly Hills/Hollywood types engage in sexual shenanigans), ''Film/BeingThere'' (a simpleminded gardener fascinates a bunch of D.C. movers-and-shakers, and the TrophyWife of one of them becomes sexually attracted to him). |
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