William Oliver Stone (genus. Three-time winner of the Oscars and a number of other prestigious awards.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Oliver Stone, which we will talk about in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Stone.
Biography of Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone was born on September 15, 1946 in New York. His father, Louis Silverstein, worked as a broker and was Jewish by nationality. Mother, Jacqueline Godde, was a French woman who grew up in a baker's family.
Childhood and youth
As a child, Oliver went to an evangelical school, in connection with which he later called himself "not a very religious Protestant." An interesting fact is that in adulthood he will accept Buddhism.
When Stone was about 16 years old, his parents decided to divorce, after which he stayed with his father. Having received a certificate, he successfully passed the exams at the Pennsylvania college. Then he continued his education at Yale University, but studied there for less than a year.
Oliver dropped out and flew to South Vietnam as a volunteer English teacher. After about a year, he returns to his homeland, and then decides to go to Mexico.
At the age of 21, Stone was drafted into the service he was doing in Vietnam. Here he fought for about a year, participating in battles and receiving 2 wounds. The soldier returned to his homeland with 8 military awards, including the "Bronze Star".
Soon, Oliver Stone became a student at New York University, where he studied with the famous actor and director Martin Scorsese.
Films
Oliver's first work as a filmmaker was his autobiographical Last Year in Vietnam. In subsequent years, he shot several more low-budget films, among which the psychological thriller "The Hand" received the greatest recognition.
It is worth noting that in The Hand, Stone acted as a director, screenwriter and actor. In 1982 he presented his next work "Conan the Barbarian", the main role in which went to Arnold Schwarzenegger. The following year, the man directed the crime drama Scarface.
The director was especially popular with the "Vietnamese trilogy": "Platoon", "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Heaven and Earth". The first film won 4 Oscars in the nominations for Best Film, Best Directing, Best Sound and Best Editing.
The second work from this trilogy won 2 Oscars and 4 Golden Globe awards. An interesting fact is that the budget of both Oscar-winning films did not exceed $ 20 million, while the box office reached $ 300 million!
In 1987, Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" premiered. She received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Michael Douglas). After 23 years, the continuation of the film was filmed.
In 1991, Stone produced a sensational investigative biopic titled John F. Kennedy. Shots in Dallas ”, which caused a great resonance in society. In his work, the director refuted the traditional version of the assassination of the 35th US President.
Curiously, the film grossed over $ 205 million at the box office! She was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning in 2 categories. In addition, the film has won about a dozen other prestigious film awards.
In 1995, Oliver Stone filmed the biographical drama "Nixon", which tells the story of the 37th American president. The main role went to Anthony Hopkins. The tape paid special attention to the famous Watergate scandal, which, as you know, ended with Nixon's resignation from the post of head of the country.
At the beginning of the new millennium, Stone shot 3 documentaries dedicated to the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. At the same time, a documentary film "South of the Border" appeared on the big screen, in which interviews of 7 presidents of Latin America were shown.
Oliver continued to be interested in military conflicts, which resulted in the filming of new projects, including "Persona non grata" (Palestinian-Israeli conflict and "Ukraine on fire" (Ukrainian revolution in 2014).
During the biography 2015-2017. the man filmed a biographical film "Interview with Putin", dedicated to the Russian chapter. By that time, he had managed to shoot a number of art pictures, the most famous of which were "Alexander" and "Twin Towers".
In 2016, Oliver Stone presented the biographical drama Snowden, which tells the story of the world-famous American programmer and special agent Edward Snowden.
Behind Oliver's shoulders are many films in which he starred as an actor. Over the years of his creative biography, he played dozens of characters, transforming into different heroes.
Personal life
Stone's first wife was Naiva Sarkis, with whom he lived for 6 years. He then married actress Elizabeth Burkit Cox. In this union, the couple had two boys - Sean Christopher and Michael Jack.
The couple lived together for 12 years, after which they decided to leave. Oliver's third wife is the Korean woman Sun-Chung Jung, with whom he has been happy for over 20 years. They have a daughter, Tara.
Oliver Stone today
In 2019, Oliver Stone acted as a producer and interviewer for the documentary In the Struggle for Ukraine. It chronicled the events in Ukraine after the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan in chronological order.
The creators of this project sought to find the reasons for the protracted political crisis in the state. Stone has pages on social networks, where he periodically comments on certain events in the world.
Photo by Oliver Stone
