DIRECTOR · BORN 1897 · DIED 1991
Frank Capra
- Born
- 18 May 1897, Bisacquino, Sicilia, Italia
- Died
- 3 September 1991
- Known for
- It Happened One Night (1934), Why We Fight (2005), Five Came Back (2017), Five Came Back (2017)
44 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (44)
- #001
When Frank Capra was nominated for his first Best Director Oscar in 1933 (for Lady for a Day (1933)), presenter Will Rogers simply opened the envelope and said, "Come and get it, Frank!" Already halfway to the stage, Capra realized Rogers meant not him but Frank Lloyd, who won the Oscar for Cavalcade (1933).
- #002
Frank Capra claimed Frank Sinatra had the potential to be the greatest actor of all time. He once told Sinatra to give up his music career and concentrate solely on acting, saying that if he did, he would be remembered as the greatest actor who ever lived.
- #003
Frank Capra is the second most represented filmmaker on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Films of All Time list (after Steven Spielberg), with four films on the list: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) at No. 83, Meet John Doe (1941) at No. 49, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) at No. 5, and It's a Wonderful Life (1946), the most uplifting film of all time.
- #004
Capra's father, Turiddu, died in a horrific factory accident in 1915. While working on some gears, the old man was caught in the machinery and nearly cut in two.
- #005
Both Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Sinatra claimed Capra said they "left their best scenes in rehearsal," after which all subsequent takes quickly went stale. Capra generally shot scenes with them without any rehearsal, which drove other actors crazy. Edward G. Robinson once stormed off the set of A Hole in the Head (1959) and asked for his contract to be canceled because he was used to rehearsing all his roles.
- #006
Although many of his films were written by people on the political left inclined to spread the spirit of the New Deal, Capra himself was a lifelong conservative Republican who never voted for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, admired Francisco Franco and Benito Mussolini, and later served as a secret FBI informant for his friend J. Edgar Hoover during the McCarthy "Red Scare."
- #007
Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn was famous for coming onto film sets and trying to override directors' decisions (usually for financial reasons); so when Capra won his first Oscar, he renegotiated his contract with Columbia and insisted on a clause barring Cohn from the set of any film Capra made for Columbia. Cohn agreed.
- #008
Capra's surname means "goat" in his native Italian.
- #009
Critics called his films "Capra-corn" because of their simple and concise stories.
- #010
Among the many unproduced projects of his long career, one he was especially committed to was a film about the life of Saint Paul, to star Frank Sinatra.
- #011
Capra directed ten different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: May Robson, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, H. B. Warner, Spring Byington, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Harry Carey and Peter Falk. Gable and Colbert won Oscars for their roles in It Happened One Night (1934).
- #012
Capra said Jean Arthur would get very nervous before filming began and would often become violently ill. But once the cameras started rolling, he said, she always managed to pull herself together and act as if nothing were wrong.
- #013
Frank Capra was a determined opponent of abortion and donated funds to support the Human Life Amendment.
- #014
Capra had a son named Johnny, who died in 1938 at the age of 3 from complications of a tonsillectomy.
- #015
Capra hosted the Academy Awards in 1936 and 1939.
- #016
Capra directed seven films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). It Happened One Night and You Can't Take It with You won in the category.
- #017
Frank Capra served as jury president at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1958.
- #018
Frank Capra inspired the adjective "Capraesque."
- #019
Frank Capra received the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 1982.
- #020
In May 2012, Frank Capra was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, alongside John Ford, Billy Wilder and John Huston.
- #021
Frank Capra was named the 9th greatest director of all time by "Entertainment Weekly."
- #022
Frank Capra once worked as a gagman at the Keystone Film Company, which was best known for its Keystone Cops short films.
- #023
After his death, Frank Capra's remains were interred at Coachella Valley Public Cemetery in Coachella, CA. The location is parcel 289, Unit 8, Block 77.
- #024
After retiring from directing, Frank Capra became friends with Clint Eastwood later in life. Eastwood said his only regret about their friendship was feeling that Capra was still quite capable of making good films even in his old age, and that he always wondered why Capra retired so early.
- #025
Frank Capra got his first film assignment by answering an advertisement in a Los Angeles newspaper.
- #026
Among Frank Capra's classmates at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles were the singer Lawrence Tibbett and future war hero Jimmy Dolittle.
- #027
In 1986, Frank Capra was awarded the American National Medal of Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC.
- #028
Frank Capra emigrated to America with his family in 1903. They settled in Los Angeles, where his older brother already lived.
- #029
Frank Capra was the father of Frank Capra Jr. (March 20, 1934 - December 19, 2007), John Capra (April 24, 1935 - August 23, 1938), Lulu Capra (b. September 16, 1937) and Tom Capra (b. February 12, 1941). The family lived in Fallbrook, California.
- #030
MGM production chief Irving Thalberg wanted to borrow Frank Capra from Columbia Pictures and offered Columbia head Harry Cohn $50,000; the offer included the use of an MGM star of Capra's choosing and properties of Capra's choosing. The director chose "Soviet," the story of an American engineer building a dam in Russia. The leads were to be Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery. Thalberg's illness led MGM boss Louis B. Mayer to cancel the production, but MGM succeeded in the payment and loan arrangement.
- #031
Biography: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives." Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 96-98. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
- #032
Colleen Moore recalled that Frank Capra directed Harry Langdon's cameo appearance in the First National film Ella Cinders (1926).
- #033
Frank Capra directed six films selected by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Strong Man (1926), The Power of the Press (1928), It Happened One Night (1934), Lost Horizon (1937), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946). He is also credited on the government's World War II documentary series "Why We Fight": Why We Fight (1942), The Nazis Strike (1943), Divide and Conquer (1943), The Battle of Britain (1943), The Battle of Russia (1943), The Battle of China (1944) and War Comes to America (1945).
- #034
Biography: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945." Pages 96-103. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1987.
- #035
Frank Capra was originally set to write and direct Circus World (1964), but he left the project when its star, John Wayne, rejected Capra's screenplay and insisted that it be written by his old friend James Edward Grant.
- #036
Frank Capra was interviewed by Stuart Oderman for "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" (BearManor Media).
- #037
Frank Capra is featured in "Conversations with Directors: An Anthology of Interviews from Literature/Film Quarterly", edited by E. M. Walker and D. T. Johnson (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2008).
- #038
Frank Capra greatly influenced his friend Thomas R. Bond II, a producer and director who learned much of what he knew about directing and producing from Capra.
- #039
Frank Capra spent the Second World War making documentaries for the Army Pictorial Service, including Prelude to War, The Nazis Strike, Divide and Conquer, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of Russia.
- #040
Frank Capra was such a fan of the series The Addams Family (1964) that he offered to come out of retirement and direct some episodes, but he could not reach a financial agreement with the producers.
- #041
Frank Capra was a colonel during the Second World War and produced the seven documentaries of the Prelude to War series.
- #042
Frank Capra's play "It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago" was staged with its cast at the American Blues Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, and was nominated for the 2017 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award in the Ensemble category.
- #043
Frank Capra's play "It's A Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!", staged at the American Blues Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, was nominated for the 2017 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award in the Midsize Play Production category.
- #044
Frank Capra won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 1942.
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