Shirley Clarke
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"Personally, I am an out-of-the-system person and always have been, politically, emotionally ... It was a matter of pride not to be from Hollywood." --Shirley Clarke in 1978
"It was years before it dawned on me that if I had been a man I would have been Stanley Kubrick. He made two early films, then went to Hollywood and had his way, but I was some kind of threat. I didn't make myself acceptable and I had no intention of making their films." --Clarke in 1978
Biography
A former dancer, choreographer and head of the National Dance Association, Shirley Clarke began making short films in 1953 with the seven-minute "Dance in the Sun." She then went on to make a series of short films about dance including "In Paris Parks" (1954) and "Bullfight" (1955). By the time she made "A Moment in Love" (1957), Clarke had begun to explore movement as a means of communicating story. "Skyscraper" (1959) traced the construction of a building, used color and black-and-white shots and was made in collaboration with Willard Van Dyke and Irving Jacoby. The film, which Clarke characterized as "a musical comedy about the building of a skyscraper" won several festival prizes and earned a 1959 Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short Subject. earned an Oscar nomination.
After developing a searing cinema verite style in her experimental shorts and documentaries, she graduated to features with "The Connection" (1960), based on Jack Gelber's play, about heroin junkies being filmed by a documentarian and "Portrait of Jason" (1967), an interview with a black male hustler. Clarke helmed the Oscar-winning documentary short "Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With the World" (1963), which had been commissioned by President John F Kennedy. While alienating her from Hollywood, Clarke's provocative subject matter made her a major influence on American underground film culture. (With Jonas Mekas she co-founded New York's Filmmaker's Cooperative in 1962.) In Agnes Varda's "Lion's Love" (1969), she appropriately played 'Shirley Clarke', a character trying to interest a producer in a film project. While teaching at UCLA from 1975 to 1983, Clarke was completing what would be her last film, "Ornette: Made in America" (1985). Begun in 1968 and utilizing film and video, it was a documentary portrait of jazz musician Ornette Coleman and his son Denardo. Clarke died in 1997 after suffering a stroke.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Editing (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Short)
Cast (Short)
Cinematography (Short)
Writer (Short)
Producer (Short)
Editing (Short)
Film Production - Main (Short)
Life Events
1942
First work as choreographer performed at 92nd Street YMCAin New York City
1946
Became first president of the National Dance Association
1953
Filmmaking debut, "Dance in the Sun" (7 mins)
1960
Feature directing debut, "The Connection"
1962
Co-founded the "Filmmakers Cooperative" in New York, with Jonas Mekas
1963
Directed the Oscar-winning documentary, "Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel With the World"
1968
Began filming a documentary on jazz musician Ornette Coleman
1969
Played herself in Agnes Varda's "Lions Love"
1969
Began working exclusively with videotape
1973
T.P. Videospace Troupe toured USA offering workshops on working with video
1975
Moved to Los Angeles; became instructor of experimental TV at UCLA (named full professor 1980)
1980
Was the subject of a retrospective at the UCLA Film Archives
1985
Released "Ornette: Made in America", which she had begun in 1968
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Personally, I am an out-of-the-system person and always have been, politically, emotionally ... It was a matter of pride not to be from Hollywood." --Shirley Clarke in 1978
"It was years before it dawned on me that if I had been a man I would have been Stanley Kubrick. He made two early films, then went to Hollywood and had his way, but I was some kind of threat. I didn't make myself acceptable and I had no intention of making their films." --Clarke in 1978
