Robert Benton, director, screenwriter and three times awarded with Oscar.
Robert Benton’s son, John Benton, said the director died last Sunday (11.05.25) at his home in Manhattan for “natural causes”.
Triple Oscar -winning, Benton won awards for the film’s script and directing “Kramer vs. Kramer.” Oscar’s third came from the script of the film “One place in the heart » (Places in the Heart) of 1985, which he directed.
Robert Benton was born in Guhachaci, Texas and studied fine arts at the University of Texas. He did postgraduate studies in Columbia with the aim of becoming a painter. At the same time he was trying to make a living as a cartoonist. His first professional success came when he was hired as an assistant artistic director in Esquire magazine to later take up the post of artistic director (1958-64).
Benton worked with dozens of actors, many of whom won an Oscar starring in a film he directed. THE Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep Everyone won an Oscar for their interpretations in the film “Kramer vs. Kramer” and Salley Fild She won her award for her role in ‘A place in the heart. “
Robert Benton worked with David Newman In the Oscar nominee Screenplay ‘Bonnie and Clid’which redefined American cinema in the 1960s. The roads of the two met while Benton was an artistic director in Esquire magazine, where Newman was previously working.
In the movie «Nobody’s Fool» Ironic comedy released in 1994 starred by Paul Newman, In his last Oscar nominee, as a disturbant in a small town north of New York.
Benton, whose film was based on Richard Rousseau’s novel, was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Award.