Personal info
Known for
Director
Gender
Male
Date of Birth
1923-04-29
Location
California, United States
Edit pageIrvin Kershner
Biography
Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923 – November 27, 2010) was an American director for film and television.
Early in his career as a filmmaker, he directed quirky, independent drama films, while working as a lecturer at the University of Southern California. Later, he transitioned to high-budget blockbusters such as The Empire Strikes Back, the James Bond adaptation Never Say Never Again, and RoboCop 2. Through the course of his career, he received numerous accolades, including being nominated for both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Palme d'Or.
When he returned to the States, he and Paul Coates developed Confidential File, a documentary television series. Kershner worked as a writer, director, cinematographer, and editor. He later developed and directed the television series The Rebel (1959–61), as well as the pilots for Peyton Place, Cain's Hundred, Philip Marlowe, and others.
He then moved on to feature films, including The Hoodlum Priest (which starred Don Murray); The Luck of Ginger Coffey (with Robert Shaw and Mary Ure); A Fine Madness (with Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, and Jean Seberg); The Flim-Flam Man (starring Michael Sarrazin, George C. Scott, and Sue Lyon); Loving (with George Segal and Eva Marie Saint); Up the Sandbox (with Barbra Streisand); The Return of a Man Called Horse (starring Richard Harris); the critically acclaimed TV movie Raid on Entebbe (a true-life drama which was nominated for nine Emmys, including Best Direction); and the supernatural thriller Eyes of Laura Mars (starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones).
Kershner was the son of Jewish immigrants. He considered himself an internationalist, saying: "I've been a student of Christianity. I've been interested in the historical basis of the Muslim religion. I studied Buddhism. I don't think of myself as a Jew except by birth, as I don't follow the customs. I'm a Jew because other people consider me so. My pride is in being international."
