Franklin J. Schaffner(1920-1989)
- Director
- Producer
- Actor
Franklin J. Schaffner was one of the most innovative creative minds in
the early days of American network television, utilizing a moving
camera in the days when most television directors kept the camera
static. His eye for visuals was developed in the dozens of live
television programs he directed on prestigious shows such as
Studio One (1948) and
Playhouse 90 (1956), not to
mention his work in news and public affairs on "March of Time" and as
one of the directors of TV coverage of the 1948 political conventions
in Philadelphia. His visual sense came to be one of the important
attributes of his work in feature films, such as the trek taken across
the desert by the astronauts at the start of
Planet of the Apes (1968). In
addition to his Oscar and DGA Awards for
Patton (1970), Schaffner also won Sylvania
Awards in 1953 and 1954, Emmy Awards in 1954, 1955 and 1962 and a
Variety Critics Poll Award in 1960.
