Mel Stuart

Biography

Mel Stuart (born Stuart Solomon; September 2, 1928 – August 9, 2012) was an American film director and producer who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, at whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance. Stuart directed the fantasy-musical Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). He has directed other features, including If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), One Is a Lonely Number (1974) and Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135 (2000). Stuart also directed feature documentaries including Four Days in November and Wattstax. In addition he has directed or produced over 150 films including movies of the week, The Triangle Factory Fire, Bill, The Chisholms, and Ruby and Oswald, the television series Ripley's Believe it Not, and the documentaries The Making of the President 1960, 1964, and 1968, The Hobart Shakespeareans, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Man Ray - The Prophet of the Avant-Garde, George Plimpton and the Philharmonic and The Poet's View. He has been awarded four Emmy awards, an Academy Award nomination, a Peabody and numerous other awards. He served as president of the International Documentary Association for two years. He was…

Directed

1. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) — Director
2. Welcome Back, Kotter (1975) — Director
3. If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) — Director
4. Wattstax (1973) — Director
5. Running on the Sun: The Badwater 135 (2000) — Director
6. Sophia Loren: Her Own Story (1980) — Director
7. Happy Anniversary 007: 25 Years of James Bond (1987) — Director
8. AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) — Director
9. One Is a Lonely Number (1972) — Director
10. Four Days In November (1964) — Director
11. Mean Dog Blues (1978) — Director
12. The Chisholms (1979) — Director
13. I Love My Wife (1970) — Director
14. The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal (1979) — Director
15. Brenda Starr (1976) — Director
16. China: The Roots of Madness (1967) — Director
17. The Hobart Shakespeareans (2005) — Director
18. Ruby and Oswald (1978) — Director
19. LIFE Goes to the Movies (1976) — Director
20. Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy (1998) — Director
21. The Unfinished Journey of Robert Kennedy (1970) — Director
22. The White Lions (1981) — Director
23. Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant-Garde (1997) — Director
24. The Mystery of Sleep (2010) — Director
25. The Making of the President: 1964 (1966) — Director
26. The Making of the President 1960 (1963) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Pure Imagination: The Story of 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' (2001) — Self
2. Remembering Gene Wilder (2024) — Self
3. Turn-On (1969)
4. After They Were Famous (2002) — Self