Hal Ashby

William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor. His work exemplified the countercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide ranging films featuring iconic performances. He is associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Mike Nichols, and Sidney Lumet. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), which earned Ashby an Oscar nomination for Best Editing, and In the Heat of the Night (1967), which earned him his only Oscar for the same category. Ashby received a third Oscar nomination, this time for Best Director for Coming Home (1978). Other films directed by Ashby include The Landlord (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976), and Being There (1979). Early life and education Ashby was born September 2, 1929, in Ogden, Utah, the youngest of four siblings born to Mormon parents Eileen Ireta (née Hetzler) and James Thomas Ashby, a dairy farm owner. Ashby's parents divorced in 1936, after which his father remarried. Following the divorce, Ashby and his siblings lived with their mother, briefly in Logan, Utah, before relocating to Portland, Oregon, where his elder brother took a job in the timber industry. His mother, a cooking enthusiast, opened a restaurant in Portland. After several years in Portland, the family returned to Ogden, where Ashby primarily lived with his father. When Ashby was 12 years old, his father committed suicide.