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Irvin Kershner is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter and Producer American born on 29 april 1923 at Philadelphia (USA)

Irvin Kershner

Irvin Kershner
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Birth name Isadore Kershner
Nationality USA
Birth 29 april 1923 at Philadelphia (USA)
Death 27 november 2010 (at 87 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923 – November 27, 2010) was an American film director and occasional actor, best known for directing quirky, independent films early in his career, and then The Empire Strikes Back, the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, and RoboCop 2.

Biography

Irvin Kershner étudie la photographie au Art Center College of Design de Pasadena avant de l'enseigner lui-même à l'University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

Il réalise ensuite quelques documentaires en Iran, en Grèce et en Turquie pour le compte du service d'information américain, puis développe la série télévisée Confidential File.

En 1958, il met en scène son premier long métrage, le film policier Stakeout on Dope Street. Suivront ensuite The Luck of Ginger Coffey (1964) avec Robert Shaw, L'Homme à la tête fêlée (1966) avec Sean Connery, Loving (1970) avec George Segal, Up the Sandbox (1972) avec Barbra Streisand.

En 1974, il dirige deux des acteurs de M*A*S*H, Elliott Gould et Donald Sutherland, dans la comédie Les 'S' Pions. Il acquiert de la notoriété surtout au cours des années 1970 avec le western La Revanche d'un homme nommé cheval (1976), avec Richard Harris, et le thriller Les Yeux de Laura Mars (1979).

Ancien professeur de George Lucas à la Southern University, Irvin Kershner se voit confier la réalisation de Star Wars, épisode V : L'Empire contre-attaque (1980), souvent considéré comme le meilleur épisode de la saga Star Wars. Après le succès du film, il réalise un James Bond « non officiel », Jamais plus jamais (1983), qui marque le retour de Sean Connery dans la peau de l'agent 007.

En 1988, il s'essaie au métier d'acteur dans La Dernière Tentation du Christ de Martin Scorsese.

En 1989, il réalise RoboCop 2, sur un script de Frank Miller.

En 2007, il est président du jury long métrage au festival Fantastic'Arts de Gérardmer.

Le 27 novembre 2010, il meurt à l'âge de 87 ans alors qu'il luttait contre un cancer du poumon depuis trois ans et demi.

Best films

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
(Director)
Never Say Never Again (1983)
(Director)
RoboCop 2 (1990)
(Director)
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
(Director)

Usually with

George Lucas
George Lucas
(4 films)
David Tomblin
David Tomblin
(3 films)
Phil Tippett
Phil Tippett
(3 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Irvin Kershner (27 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Being and Becoming, 1h39
Directed by Clara Bellar
Origin France
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about education
Actors Clara Bellar, Irvin Kershner
Roles himself
Rating69% 3.464883.464883.464883.464883.46488
Être et devenir propose, pour la première fois sur grand écran, des récits d’expériences et des rencontres qui explorent le choix de ne pas scolariser ses enfants, de leur faire confiance et de les laisser apprendre librement ce qui les passionne. Le chemin de découverte de la réalisatrice nous emmène à travers quatre pays, les Etats-Unis, l'Allemagne (où il est illégal de ne pas aller l'école), la France et l'Angleterre. Ce film est une quête de vérité sur le désir inné d'apprendre.
Berkeley
Berkeley (2005)

Directed by Bobby Roth
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Actors Laura Jordan, Bonnie Bedelia, Tom Morello, Henry Winkler, Sarah Carter, Thomas Gibson
Roles Statistics Professor
Rating50% 2.5278352.5278352.5278352.5278352.527835
Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy, 2h30
Directed by Kevin Burns
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about films, Space adventure films, Dans l'espace, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Films about extraterrestrial life, Documentary films about films, Space opera, Films about extraterrestrial life
Actors Robert Clotworthy, Kenny Baker, Ben Burtt, Walter Cronkite, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg
Roles Self
Rating82% 4.134274.134274.134274.134274.13427
L'Empire des Rêves relate l'épopée que fût la création de la première trilogie Star Wars. Des tous premières ébauches de scénario dans l'esprit de son créateur George Lucas jusqu'au succès qu'on connaît à la saga, ce documentaire nous entraine dans les coulisses d'un tournage tantôt chaotique, tantôt enivrant, racontés par les acteurs, les membres de la production, et George Lucas lui-même.
Angus
Angus (1995)
, 1h27
Directed by Patrick Read Johnson
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Actors Charlie Talbert, Perry Anzilotti, George C. Scott, Kathy Bates, Chris Owen, Tony Denman
Roles Mr. Stoff
Rating66% 3.3480253.3480253.3480253.3480253.348025
Angus Bethune (Charlie Talbert) is a teenage boy living in Minnesota, who, despite his talents as a football player and in science class, holds deep insecurities about himself. Since kindergarten, Angus has been regularly harassed by handsome Rick Sanford (James Van Der Beek), and his complacent cohorts, for not being "normal" due to being overweight and is, in their view, "named after a cow". His only friend is Troy Wedberg (Chris Owen), who is also a social outcast like him. Angus also had feelings for Melissa Lefevre (Ariana Richards), though is fearful of expressing it because she is dating Rick. Eventually, tired of the abuse from Rick, Angus applies for a magnet school where he hopes to be free of the constant humiliation. However, well aware of Angus's feelings for Melissa, Rick rigs an election so that Angus and Melissa will dance together in the upcoming freshman Winter Ball as King and Queen, respectively. While confronting Rick about the stunt, Angus is ordered by the principal not to lay a hand on Rick or he would be expelled and lose his chance to go to the magnet school.
On Deadly Ground, 1h41
Directed by Steven Seagal
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action
Themes Environmental films, Eco-terrorism in fiction
Actors Steven Seagal, Michael Caine, Joan Chen, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Billy Bob Thornton
Roles Walters
Rating46% 2.3048152.3048152.3048152.3048152.304815
Aegis Oil operates Aegis 1, an oil refinery and several oil rigs in Alaska. They purchased the oil rights from the local Alaskan Natives 20 years ago, but will lose them if the refinery isn’t on-line by a certain deadline. With 13 days to go, and billions of dollars at stake, the company cuts corners and uses faulty equipment. Hugh Palmer, a rig foreman, is aware of this; as he predicts, his rig catches fire. It takes Forrest Taft (Seagal), a specialist in dealing with oil drilling-related fires, to extinguish the fire. Taft refuses to believe Hugh’s story of faulty equipment, but discovers that it’s true after accessing the company’s computer records. Michael Jennings (Michael Caine), the ruthless CEO of Aegis, believes that Hugh's carelessness is to blame and arranges for him to be ‘dealt with’ by his henchmen MacGruder (John C. McGinley) and Otto (Sven-Ole Thorsen).
The Last Temptation of Christ, 2h44
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Demons in film, Films based on the Bible, Portrayals of Jesus in film, Alternate history films, Films about virginity
Actors Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, Steve Shill, David Bowie
Roles Zebedee
Rating74% 3.747463.747463.747463.747463.74746
The film begins with a man whispering in despair, "The feeling begins. Very tender, very loving. Then the pain starts. Claws slip underneath the skin and tear their way up. Just before they reach my eyes, they dig in. And I remember. First I fasted for three months. I even whipped myself before I went to sleep. At first it worked. Then the pain came back. And the voices. They call me by the name: Jesus." Jesus of Nazareth is a carpenter in Roman-occupied Judea, torn between his own desires and his knowledge that God has a plan for him. His conflict results in self-loathing, and he collaborates with the Romans to crucify Jewish rebels.
The Return of a Man Called Horse, 2h9
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Western
Actors Richard Harris, Gale Sondergaard, Irvin Kershner, Geoffrey Lewis, Jorge Luke, William Lucking
Rating60% 3.0450053.0450053.0450053.0450053.045005
Trappers with government support force the Yellow Hands Sioux off their sacred land. The Indians retreat, but await supernatural punishment to descend on their usurpers. Harris reprises his role as John Morgan, 8th Earl of Kildare, who had lived with the tribe for years and is known as Horse, leaves his English fiancée and estate and returns to America, where he discovers the Yellow Hand people have been largely massacred or put into slavery by the unscrupulous white traders and their Indian cohorts. The few survivors, including wise old Running Bull and stubborn old Elk Woman (Gale Sondergaard) have gone into the Badlands and been forced to eat their dogs. "Why did you return?" asks Elk Woman. "I had to come back," says Morgan. "I had to prove something to myself... there was an empty place in my soul. I could not forget." He finds the tribe dispirited, because of the actions of the trappers, and he begins to devise a strategy to overpower the trappers' stronghold, convincing the Indians to take direct action. Soon even the Indian women and boys are assigned tasks to aid the assault to regain their ancestral land.

Director

RoboCop 2
RoboCop 2 (1990)
, 1h57
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Films about computing, Medical-themed films, Films about drugs, Films set in the future, Superhero films, Films about disabilities, Political films, Cyberpunk films, Dystopian films, Anticipation, Robot films
Actors Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan, Gabriel Damon
Rating58% 2.9017652.9017652.9017652.9017652.901765
In the year after the success of the RoboCop program and Jones's death, Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has created a new plan to have Detroit default on its debt so that OCP can foreclose on the entire city, take over its government, and replace the old neighborhoods with Delta City, a new planned city center independent of the United States government, enabling them to effectively have an entire city to be controlled by OCP.
Never Say Never Again, 2h14
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Action, Adventure, Spy
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about children, Spy films, Seafaring films, Films about terrorism, Transport films, Underwater action films, Arme nucléaire
Actors Sean Connery, Kim Basinger, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Barbara Carrera, Max von Sydow, Bernie Casey
Rating60% 3.0497353.0497353.0497353.0497353.049735
After MI6 agent James Bond, 007, fails a routine training exercise, his superior, M, orders Bond to a health clinic outside London to get back into shape. While there, Bond witnesses a mysterious nurse named Fatima Blush giving a sadomasochistic beating to a patient in a nearby room. The man's face is bandaged and after Blush finishes her beating, Bond sees the patient using a machine which scans his eye. Bond is seen by Blush and an attempt is subsequently made to kill him in the clinic gym, but Bond manages to defeat the assassin.
Return of the Ewok, 24minutes
Directed by Irvin Kershner, David Tomblin
Genres Science fiction, Comedy, Documentary, Adventure
Themes Space adventure films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Space opera, Films about extraterrestrial life
Actors Warwick Davis, Harrison Ford, Roy Kinnear, Mark Hamill, Robert Watts, Carrie Fisher
Rating61% 3.092223.092223.092223.092223.09222
Return of the Ewok focuses on the fictional account of Davis' decision to become an actor and act as Wicket in Return of the Jedi (notably, however, Davis refers to the film as Revenge of the Jedi, its temporary pre-release title). It also follows his transformation into Wicket. As Warwick and as Wicket, he visits and interacts with many of the cast and crew of the movie and then characters of the movie. As Warwick, he goes to Elstree Studios where he interacts with the cast, both in and out of character. At one point, he even interacts with Luke Skywalker as he jumps out of a movie screen. As Wicket, he goes to Dagobah to see Yoda, and the Death Star to see Darth Vader, and is chased by Boba Fett.
The Empire Strikes Back, 2h4
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Action, Adventure
Themes Space adventure films, Monde imaginaire, Dans l'espace, Sur une planète fictive, Films about extraterrestrial life, Films about disabilities, Space opera, Children's films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Robot films
Actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse
Rating84% 4.2060954.2060954.2060954.2060954.206095
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance has been driven from their former base on Yavin IV by the Galactic Empire. Princess Leia leads a contingent including Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in a new base on the icy planet Hoth. The Imperial Fleet, led by Darth Vader, continues to hunt for Rebels’ new base by dispatching probe droids across the galaxy.
Eyes of Laura Mars, 1h44
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror, Crime
Themes Serial killer films
Actors Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, René Auberjonois, Raúl Juliá, Darlanne Fluegel
Rating61% 3.0969653.0969653.0969653.0969653.096965
Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) is a glamorous fashion photographer who specializes in stylized violence. Amid controversy over whether her photographs glorify violence and are demeaning to women, Laura begins seeing, in first person through the eyes of the killer, real-time visions of the murders of her friends and colleagues.
Raid on Entebbe, 2h25
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Documentary, Action, Historical
Themes Films set in Africa, Films about terrorism, Transport films, Aviation films, Political films, Dans un avion, Children's films, Films about hijackings
Actors Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto, James Woods, Robert Loggia, Horst Buchholz
Rating66% 3.3442153.3442153.3442153.3442153.344215
The film focuses on the basic facts of the rescue of hostages held when hijackers belonging to a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine under the orders of Wadie Haddad boarded and hijacked an Air France plane. It recounts the events and response of the Israeli government and the controversy that the rescue stirred.