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
15 Facts From Frank Capra's Career
- #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.
- #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.
- #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).
- #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.
- #019
Frank Capra received the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 1982.
- #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.
- #027
In 1986, Frank Capra was awarded the American National Medal of Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC.
- #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).
- #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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