Nicholas Ray

Directing·Aug 7, 1911·Galesville, Wisconsin, USA

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Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers. His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home Again, which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death. During his lifetime, Ray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause, twice for the Golden Lion, for Bigger Than Life (1956) and Bitter Victory (1957), and a Palme d'Or for The Savage Innocents (1960). Three of his films were ranked by Cahiers du Cinéma in their Annual Top 10 Lists. Ray's compositions within the CinemaScope frame and use of color are particularly well regarded and he was an important influence on the French New Wave, with Jean-Luc Godard famously writing in a review of Bitter Victory, "... there is cinema. And the cinema is Nicholas Ray."

Film	Credit
Films to Die For2025 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)	Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
WWilder Demons #22024 · Writer	Writer
Don't Expect Too Much2011 · Himself	Himself
Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents2005 · Himself (uncredited)	Himself (uncredited)
James Dean: A Portrait1995 · Self (archive footage)	Self (archive footage)
Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year1990 · Actor	Actor
Lightning Over Water1980 · Self, Director, Writer	Self, Director, Writer
NNicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre1979 · Actor	Actor
Hair1979 · The General	The General
MMarco1978 · Director	Director
The American Friend1977 · Derwatt	Derwatt
Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast1977 · Self	Self
Profile of Nicholas Ray1977 · Self	Self
James Dean: The First American Teenager1975 · Self	Self
I'm a Stranger Here Myself1975 · Self	Self
Wet Dreams1974 · Director	Director
TThe Janitor1974 · Director	Director
Horizons1973 · Actor	Actor
We Can't Go Home Again1973 · Nick Ray, Writer, Director	Nick Ray, Writer, Director
55 Days at Peking1963 · US Minister (uncredited), Director	US Minister (uncredited), Director
King of Kings1961 · Director	Director
The Savage Innocents1960 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
Party Girl1958 · Director	Director
Wind Across the Everglades1958 · Director	Director
Bitter Victory1957 · Director, Screenplay	Director, Screenplay
The True Story of Jesse James1957 · Director	Director
Bigger Than Life1956 · Director	Director
Hot Blood1956 · Director	Director
Rebel Without a Cause1955 · Man in Last Shot (uncredited), Director	Man in Last Shot (uncredited), Director
Run for Cover1955 · Director	Director
Johnny Guitar1954 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
The Lusty Men1952 · Director	Director
On Dangerous Ground1951 · Director	Director
Flying Leathernecks1951 · Director	Director
Born to Be Bad1950 · Director	Director
In a Lonely Place1950 · Director	Director
They Live by Night1949 · Director	Director
Knock on Any Door1949 · Director	Director
A Woman's Secret1949 · Director	Director
Swing Parade of 19461946 · Writer	Writer
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn1945 · Bakery Clerk (uncredited)	Bakery Clerk (uncredited)