Tuesday, October 27, 2009

John Huston



John Huston was born on August 5, 1906 in Nevada, Missouri to Walter Huston and Rhea Gore.

John Huston's career spanned five decades as a director, actor and screenwriter. In fact he is one of the few people to receive at least one Oscar nomination in five consecutive decades.

John began performing on stage with his vaudevillian father at age 3.

He quit school at age 14 to become a full-fledged boxer and eventually won the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Championship of California, winning 22 of 25 bouts.

John Huston's screenplay writing credits include Jezebel (1938), High Sierra (1941), Sergeant York (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierre Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), and the Night of the Iguana (1964).

John Huston's directing credits include The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierre Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), The Misfits (1961), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Annie (1982) and Prizzi's Honor (1985).

Huston appeared in cameo roles in some of his films. In Treasure of the Sierre Madre he is the American in the white suit that Bogart's character hits up for money twice. In The Misfits, he is an extra playing blackjack.

In Chinatown (1974) he played Noah Cross.

John Huston was married five times including once to Evelyn Keyes of Gone With the Wind, and had four children including his daughter Angelica Huston.

Huston received 15 Academy Award nominations in the course of his career. In fact, he is the oldest person ever to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar when, at 79 years old, he was nominated for Prizzi's Honor (1985). He also has the unique distinction of directing both his father Walter and his daughter Anjelica in Oscar winning performances (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Prizzi's Honor, respectively), making the Hustons the first family to have three generations of Academy Award winners. He received the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Writing Screenplay for Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

John Huston's interests included painting, hunting, sculpting, and flying.

He passed away on August 28, 1987 in Rhode Island of emphysema.

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