Nicholas Ray

Nicholas Ray, born as Raymond Nicholas Kienzle Jr., was an influential American film director, screenwriter, and actor. Ray was identified by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s preeminent and tragic filmmakers." He was known as an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of his era, however, his influence was deeply felt in generations of filmmakers. His most notable work was the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, which starred the legendary James Dean. Ray is also appreciated for multiple narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, such as They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961). He also worked on experimental films throughout the 1970s, including the unfinished We Can't Go Home Again at the time of his death. Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and his use of color was widely praised, and his influence was noted especially in the French New Wave cinema. Ray was born in Galesville, Wisconsin, and grew up in La Crosse. He was the youngest of four children and the only son of Olene "Lena" (Toppen) and Raymond Nicholas Kienzle, a contractor and builder. His paternal grandparents were German and his maternal grandparents were Norwegian. As a young man, Ray exhibited signs of rebellion and alcohol abuse. He was sent to live with his older, married sister in Chicago, Illinois, where he experienced the Al Capone-era nightlife. He is known for his temperamental and erratic student life and was expelled from the University of Chicago due to excessive drinking and poor grades. However, during his time there, he established a significant relationship with dramatist Thornton Wilder, then a professor.