Martin Ritt
Biography
Martin Ritt was a director, actor, and playwright born in New York City on March 2, 1914. He gained recognition for his socially-conscious dramas and literary adaptations, earning Academy Award nominations for Best Director for Hud (1963) and Best Picture for Sounder (1972) and Norma Rae (1979). Ritt's films also included The Long, Hot Summer (1958) and the John le Carré adaptation The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965).