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Robert Benton, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who directed Kramer vs. Kramer, has died at age 92
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His death was confirmed by his longtime manager and assistant Maria Forzano, who told The New York Times that Benton died at home in New York City on Sunday, May 11
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Benton was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, artist Sallie Benton, in 2023, and is survived by son John Benton, per the Times
Robert Benton, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who wrote and directed Kramer vs. Kramer, has died at age 92.
Benton’s longtime manager and assistant confirmed the news to The New York Times, revealing that he died Sunday, May 11, at his home in New York City. A cause of death was not disclosed.
Benton was famous for his work on several films that drew acclaim over the course of his decades-long career, including the 1979 legal drama Kramer vs. Kramer.
For that film, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, Benton nabbed both his first and second Academy Awards: for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
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Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Benton was nominated at the Oscars previously for Best Original Screenplay, for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Late Show (1978), and later won in the category for 1984’s Places in the Heart.
Other movies that the late filmmaker worked on included There Was a Crooked Man … (1970); What’s Up, Doc? (1972); Still of the Night (1983); Nobody’s Fool (1994) and Feast of Love (2007), his final film credit. He also co-wrote the screenplay for 1978’s Superman starring Christopher Reeve.
Back in November 2003, Benton said in an interview with Box Office Mojo surrounding his movie The Human Stain that when he decided which projects to take on, he was “looking for something that’s different from what I did last time.”
“Scripts survive a kind of winnowing process, and I reach the point where I enjoy these characters enough to spend two years with them,” he added.
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Robert Benton at the 57th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on March 25, 1985
During the same interview, Banton said that he believed Ermanno Almi was “the greatest living director” (he later died in 2018), and that he love(s) and admire(s)” Francis Ford Coppola.
As for actors, “I would love to work with [Robert] Duvall and [Adrien] Brody,” he added. “I’d love to work with [Gene] Hackman again. I like Naomi Watts.”
Benton was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, artist Sallie Benton, in 2023, according to The New York Times.
He is survived by one child, son John Benton.
Read the original article on People
