PREVIEW

Robert Benton, director of Best Picture Kramer vs. Kramer, has died aged 92. The three-time Oscar-winning director and screenwriter, who was also known for films including The Late Show, Places in the Heart, and Nobody's Fool, passed away at his home in Manhattan. His death was confirmed to the New York Times by his assistant and manager, Marisa Forzano. In 1979, working with Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Meryl Streep, Benton directed Kramer vs. Kramer after Francois Truffaut dropped out of the project. It won him two Oscars and grossed more than $100 million. Five years later came Places in the Heart. It starred Sally Field as a young woman who, in the midst of The Great Depression in Benton's hometown of Waxahachie, Texas, is forced to take charge of her farm after her husband dies. The film received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Actress for Field, and Best Original Screenplay for Benton. Benton would go on to direct six more films. His final film, Feast of Love, was released in 2007. Benton’s influence in Hollywood as a scriptwriter was just as vast, with writing credits for such classics as 1967's Bonnie and Clyde and Richard Donner's Superman.
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