George Stevens, Jr.
| George Stevens Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
George Cooper Stevens Jr. April 3, 1932 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | United States |
| Known for | film and television |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Guest |
George Cooper Stevens Jr. (born April 3, 1932) is an American writer, author, playwright, director and producer. He is the founder of the American Film Institute, creator of the AFI Life Achievement Award and instigator/producer of the Kennedy Center Honors. Since 2009 he has served as Co-Chairman of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Accolades to date for his professional career include seventeen Emmys, eight Writers Guild awards, two Peabody Awards, the Humanitas Prize and an Honorary Academy Award.
George Stevens Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California, son of Academy Award–winning director George Stevens (1904–1975) and actress mother Yvonne Howell (née Julia Rose Shevlin; 1905–2010), and grandson of actors Landers Stevens and Georgie Cooper and comedian Alice Howell. In July 1965, he married Elizabeth Guest, and has children Michael Stevens (a producer/director), David Averell, and a stepdaughter Caroline Stevens (a producer).
Stevens began his career in Hollywood as production assistant to the director on several of the landmark films directed by his filmmaker father. These films included A Place in the Sun, Shane and Giant. His two years of military service were spent in the US Air Force and drawing on his background and established talents, Stevens was tasked with directing training films.
After his discharge, Stevens returned to Hollywood and gained experience as a Second Unit Director and Associate Producer (The Diary Of Anne Frank) and occasional TV director (Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Peter Gunn).
In 1961, the distinguished broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, at that time Director of the United States Information Agency, recruited Stevens to supervise the Agency's film and television output. Stevens relocated to Washington, D.C. and as Director of the USIA's Motion Picture Service supervised over 1,500 films, primarily short subjects, during a five-year period. Among the notable films produced by Stevens during his tenure were John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums (the agency's first full-length feature) which was designated as one of the Ten Best Films of the Year by The National Board of Review and the Academy Award-winning documentary Nine From Little Rock, which told the story of the first black students admitted to an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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