Nicholas Ray

Biography

Nicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle; 7 August 1911 – 16 June 1979) was an American film director best known for the films Rebel Without a Cause and Johnny Guitar. Described by the Harvard Film Archive as "Hollywood's last romantic" and "one of postwar American cinema’s supremely gifted and ultimately tragic filmmakers," Ray was considered an iconoclastic auteur director who often clashed with the Hollywood studio system of the time, but would prove highly influential to future generations of filmmakers. His best-known work is the 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause, starring James Dean. He is appreciated for many narrative features produced between 1947 and 1963, including They Live By Night (1948), In A Lonely Place (1950), Johnny Guitar (1954), Bigger Than Life (1956), and King of Kings (1961), as well as an experimental work produced throughout the 1970s titled We Can't Go Home Again, which was unfinished at the time of Ray's death. During his lifetime, Ray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Rebel Without a Cause, twice for the Golden Lion, for Bigger Than Life (1956) and Bitter Victory (1957), and a Palme d'Or for The Savage Innocents (196…

Directed

1. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) — Director
2. In a Lonely Place (1950) — Director
3. Johnny Guitar (1954) — Director
4. King of Kings (1961) — Director
5. 55 Days at Peking (1963) — Director
6. They Live by Night (1949) — Director
7. Bigger Than Life (1956) — Director
8. On Dangerous Ground (1951) — Director
9. The Lusty Men (1952) — Director
10. Flying Leathernecks (1951) — Director
11. Knock on Any Door (1949) — Director
12. Party Girl (1958) — Director
13. Bitter Victory (1957) — Director
14. The True Story of Jesse James (1957) — Director
15. A Woman's Secret (1949) — Director
16. The Savage Innocents (1960) — Director
17. Run for Cover (1955) — Director
18. Born to Be Bad (1950) — Director
19. Lightning Over Water (1980) — Director
20. Wind Across the Everglades (1958) — Director
21. We Can't Go Home Again (1973) — Director
22. Hot Blood (1956) — Director
23. General Electric Theater (1953) — Director
24. Wet Dreams (1974) — Director
25. Marco (1978) — Director
26. The Janitor (1974) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Rebel Without a Cause (1955) — Man in Last Shot (uncredited)
2. Hair (1979) — The General
3. The American Friend (1977) — Derwatt
4. 55 Days at Peking (1963) — US Minister (uncredited)
5. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) — Bakery Clerk (uncredited)
6. Lightning Over Water (1980) — Self
7. We Can't Go Home Again (1973) — Nick Ray
8. I'm a Stranger Here Myself (1975) — Self
9. Horizons (1973)
10. Don't Expect Too Much (2011) — Himself
11. James Dean: The First American Teenager (1975) — Self
12. Vanity Fair: Jeanette Starion the Pet of the Year (1990)
13. James Dean: A Portrait (1995) — Self (archive footage)
14. Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents (2005) — Himself (uncredited)
15. Nicholas Ray: Especially for Pierre (1979)
16. Profile of Nicholas Ray (1977) — Self
17. Films to Die For (2025) — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
18. Johnny, weil Du Geburtstag hast (1977) — Self