DIRECTOR · BORN 1928 · DIED 1999
Stanley Kubrick
- Born
- 26 July 1928, New York City, New York, USA
- Died
- 7 March 1999
- Known for
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Stanley Kubrick - Ein Leben für den Film (2001)
96 archived facts 7 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
11 Facts From Stanley Kubrick's Career
- #002
In May 1990, Stanley Kubrick joined some of the most influential directors in cinema history to found The Film Foundation. The step, taken together with Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, Robert Redford, Sydney Pollack and George Lucas, became a turning point for the preservation and restoration of film heritage. The foundation worked in particular to ensure that classic films could be passed on to future generations without deterioration, and Kubrick's role in the initiative showed that he saw cinema not only as an art form but also as a cultural heritage.
- #011
By the age of thirteen, Kubrick was passionately devoted to photography, chess and jazz drumming. These three fields deeply influenced his later career: photography developed his visual storytelling, chess his strategic thinking, and jazz his sense of rhythm and timing. These early interests laid the foundation for him to become a versatile artist.
- #021
Stanley Kubrick's dissatisfaction with his first film, Fear and Desire (1952), is one of the best-known examples of a director's self-criticism in cinema history. Regarding the work as a product of his youth, he tried to buy up all copies so that others would not see it. This behavior reveals his perfectionist nature and the importance he placed on his artistic reputation, and it also shows how ruthless an artist can be toward his own early work.
- #025
Stanley Kubrick's fear of flying never went away, even though he often had to fly early in his career; he was even known to react hysterically on planes. For this reason he tried to keep the number of flights to a minimum. According to Malcolm McDowell, Kubrick would listen to the air traffic controllers at Heathrow Airport for long stretches and would advise McDowell never to fly. This fear played a part in his settling in England and in his avoidance of travel in the later years of his career.
- #032
Stanley Kubrick opposed conceptual analysis of his films and did not want to have to explain what his works meant. He argued that each film should be evaluated on its own and disliked having them assessed within the whole of his career. He said his method was to find stories that interested him and not to repeat himself; this approach shows the importance he placed on his artistic freedom and innovation.
- #044
Over the course of his career, Kubrick directed two actors in Oscar-nominated roles: Peter Sellers for his performance in Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Peter Ustinov for his role in Spartacus (1960). Ustinov went on to win the Oscar for this role. This achievement shows Kubrick's mastery of directing actors and his ability to bring out their best performances.
- #058
Kubrick directed six films selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being 'culturally, historically or aesthetically' significant: Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960), Dr. Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and The Shining (1980). This achievement proves the lasting impact of Kubrick's films on American cultural heritage and their importance in cinema history.
- #060
In 1950, Kubrick prepared and published a photo essay on boxing for Look magazine; with the income from its sale, he made his first film, the 16-minute documentary Day of the Fight (1951), on the same subject. The film marked the beginning of Kubrick's cinema career and is regarded as an important step in his transition from photography to filmmaking.
- #064
Entertainment Weekly named Kubrick the 23rd Greatest Director of All Time; he made the list despite having made only 16 films over a 48-year career. This shows that he was one of the least prolific directors, yet each of his films had a major impact. Kubrick's sparse but substantial filmography left a deep mark on cinema history.
- #077
Seven of his last nine films were nominated for Oscars. With his films from Dr. Strangelove (1964) through Barry Lyndon (1975), he was nominated for Best Director four times in a row.
- #096
Kubrick directed three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Dr. Strangelove (1964), A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975).
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work