Sidney Lumet was born into a show business family in 1924. His father was an actor, producer, and director. His mother was a dancer. And young Sidney made his own acting debut at the age most kids are starting kindergarten. He was on Broadway by age 11.
But in his 20s Lumet found his real talent: directing. After several successful years in the young new medium of television, Lumet directed his first feature film in 1957, a little production you may have heard of called “Twelve Angry Men.”
In the years that followed Lumet made his mark in Hollywood directing such films as” Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” and “ Murder On The Orient Express,”
And then there was “Failsafe,” “Serpico,” and “The Wiz,” among many other notable films.
But after decades of successful filmmaking, Lumet came to realize how little most people actually know about how movies get made. So in 1995 Sidney Lumet wrote a book called Making Movies. It was his chance to pull back the curtain and show us what really goes on.
I met him 1 day that spring when he was on a book tour.
So here now, from 1995, Sidney Lumet.
Sidney Lumet died in 2011 at age 86.