Alan J. Pakula
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- April 7, 1928, New York City, New York, USA
- Died
- November 19, 1998
- Movies
- 30
Alan Jay Pakula (/pəˈkuːlə/; April 7, 1928 – November 19, 1998) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Associated with the New Hollywood movement, his best-known works include his critically acclaimed "paranoia trilogy": the neo-noir mystery Klute (1971), the conspiracy thriller The Parallax View (1974), and the Watergate scandal drama All the President's Men (1976). His other notable films included Comes a Horseman (1978), Starting Over (1979), Sophie's Choice (1982), Presumed Innocent (1990), and The Pelican Brief (1993).
Pakula received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for All the President's Men and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sophie's Choice. He was also nominated for Best Picture for producing To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Additionally, he was a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Directors Guild of America Award nominee.
Pakula's films often dealt with psychological and political themes. His obituary in The New York Times stated Pakula made "different kinds of movies, all of them intended to entertain, but the thread connecting many of them was a style that emphasized and explored the psychology and motivations of his characters." He was the subject of the 2023 documentary Alan Pakula: Going for Truth.
Best-Known Movies
Filmography
| 2020 | Citizen Jane Fonda | Self (archive footage) |
| 2020 | Meryl Streep: Mystery and Metamorphosis | Self - Filmmaker (archive footage) |
| 1998 | Fearful Symmetry | Self |
| 1985 | George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey | Self |
| 1976 | Pressure and the Press: The Making of 'All the President's Men' | Self |
| 1971 | 'Klute' in New York | Self |
| 1961 | Hollywood: The Selznick Years | Self (uncredited) |
Directing, Writing & Producing
| 1997 | The Devil's Own | Director |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief | Producer, Screenplay, Director |
| 1992 | Consenting Adults | Producer, Director |
| 1990 | Presumed Innocent | Director, Screenplay |
| 1989 | See You in the Morning | Director, Writer, Producer |
| 1987 | Orphans | Producer, Director |
| 1986 | Dream Lover | Director, Producer |
| 1982 | Sophie's Choice | Screenplay, Director, Producer |
| 1981 | Rollover | Director |
| 1979 | Starting Over | Director, Producer |
| 1978 | Comes a Horseman | Director |
| 1976 | All the President's Men | Director |
| 1974 | The Parallax View | Director, Producer |
| 1973 | Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing | Director, Producer |
| 1971 | Klute | Producer, Director |
| 1969 | The Sterile Cuckoo | Director, Producer |
| 1968 | The Stalking Moon | Producer |
| 1967 | Up the Down Staircase | Producer |
| 1966 | Inside Daisy Clover | Producer |
| 1965 | Baby the Rain Must Fall | Producer |
| 1963 | Love with the Proper Stranger | Producer |
| 1962 | To Kill a Mockingbird | Producer |
| 1957 | Fear Strikes Out | Producer |
Data from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.