Today in History - Director John Huston dies

CAIRO – 28 August 2017: Director John Huston passed away on August 28, 1986, succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 81. In his long career spanning over 50 years, Huston was an acclaimed director, writer and actor who won over 3 Oscars and was nominated for dozens of awards.

Born in Nevada, Missouri on August 5, 1905, Huston was the son of vaudeville actor Walter Huston and news reporter Rhea Gore. Though he was born with health complications such as a weak frame and an abnormally enlarged heart, Huston managed to grow from a sickly boy to a well-built teen, so much so that he quit school to pursue boxing, leaving him with a trademark broken nose.

Although he went on to study painting at the Los Angeles Smith School of Art; Huston eventually decided to become a journalist at the place where his mother worked, The New York Graphic. This is where his relationship with writing would begin, producing screenplays for movies such as 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'. Huston had not settled during this period however, and even went on to join the U.S. cavalry in Mexico for a time.

It wasn't until 1937 that Huston's lifelong relationship to movies would truly begin. In 1941, his directorial debut 'The Maltese Falcon', starring Humphrey Bogart was released to critical praise and was nominated for 3 Oscars. Huston continued filmmaking even during his time in the Second World War, producing documentaries to help in the effort.

Upon leaving the war in 1945, Huston continued directing and returned to Hollywood with The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, an adventure film released in 1948 that also starred Bogart. It was noted for being one of the first Hollywood films to be shot on location outside of the U.S. The film won 3 Oscar awards, two of which were awarded to Huston himself.

Huston went on to direct the film adaptation for the classic novel 'Moby Dick' in 1956, adding in his trademark adventurous touch to transform the book into a grand film spectacle befitting Huston's body of work. Not just content with being in the director's seat, Huston took up acting as well, starring in a long range of films such as 1963's 'The Cardinal', which had Huston nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar.

Outside filmmaking, Huston is known for standing up against the House Un-American Activities Committee, which persecuted those that they suspected were communists. He helped form the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947 to counteract them, but was so disgusted by the Hollywood blacklists that he moved with his family to Ireland.

There he had a daughter, actress Anjelica Huston with his fourth wife.

Eventually moving back to America, Huston would direct several films with his daughter, eventually winning her an Oscar in 1985's ‘Prizzi's Honor’, which also starred Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner. With Anjelica winning an Oscar of her own, the Huston line is the only family to have won Oscars across three generations.