Frank Capra: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Francesco Rosario Capra
Born	May 18, 1897 • Palermo • Italy
Died	September 3, 1991 (aged 94) • Italy
Awards And Honors	Academy Award (1939) • Academy Award (1937) • Academy Award (1935)
Notable Works	“A Hole in the Head” • “Arsenic and Old Lace” • “Broadway Bill” • “It Happened One Night” • “It’s a Wonderful Life” • “Lost Horizon” • “Meet John Doe” • “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” • “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” • “Platinum Blonde” • “Pocketful of Miracles” • “Riding High” • “State of the Union” • “You Can’t Take It with You”

Photos

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town

The set of It Happened One Night (1934)

Gary Cooper seated at a table reaches for Jean Arthur's hand as she is held back by a uniformed officer in a courtroom scene from Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936).

James Stewart as Jefferson Smith stands in the Senate chamber surrounded by piles of letters and baskets of mail, addressing a group of seated men in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

James Stewart holding a booklet labeled Washington while seated at a desk, with Jean Arthur leaning in beside him, in a scene from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Walter Brennan, Gary Cooper, and Barbara Stanwyck in a black-and-white scene from Meet John Doe, sitting at a table with dishes and food, engaged in conversation.

James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life

Katharine Hepburn leans over Spencer Tracy, resting her hands on his shoulders, in a scene from the film State of the Union (1948).

Lobby card for It Happened One Night shows Clark Gable holding Claudette Colbert in his arms, with film title and credits in yellow text on a blue background with a crescent moon.

James Stewart and Donna Reed embrace with children gathered around them in a joyful scene from the film It's a Wonderful Life (1946), directed by Frank Capra.

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Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

British actor, producer, writer, and director

Cecil B. DeMille, wearing a dark suit and patterned tie, smiles while looking to the side in this black-and-white portrait.

Cecil B. DeMille

American film director

Mel Brooks in a tuxedo smiles widely and points at his Emmy Award trophy while posing in front of a blue Emmy Awards backdrop.

Mel Brooks

American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor

Louis C.K.

Louis C.K.

American comedian and writer

Amy Poehler, as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation, smiles and points both hands in a playful gesture while standing in an office setting.

Amy Poehler

American comedian and actress

The multitalented Donald Glover, 2019

Donald Glover

American writer, actor, and musician

Hal Roach

Hal Roach

American director and producer

Jordan Peele wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, standing in front of a blue background.

Jordan Peele

American comedian, writer, director, and producer

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Jesse Lasky

American producer

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Joy Batchelor

British director and animator

Master of suspense

Alfred Hitchcock

English-born American director

Steven Spielberg wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, smiling at the camera on the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Steven Spielberg

American film director and producer

Woody Allen speaking into a microphone with hands raised beside his face during a press conference, against a red background.

Woody Allen

American director, writer, and actor

Orson Welles

Orson Welles

American actor, director, and writer

Martin Scorsese smiling in a tuxedo and bow tie, holding an Oscar statuette at the Academy Awards, with a gold Oscar statue in the background.

Martin Scorsese

American filmmaker

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

John Huston

American director, writer, and actor

William Wyler

William Wyler

German-born American director

Howard Hawks stands at right, speaking with actors John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson in cowboy costumes on the set of the western film Rio Bravo.

Howard Hawks

American director

Billy Wilder poses in a suit and hat, leaning against a streetlamp with a sign reading Sunset Blvd. in a promotional photo for the film Sunset Boulevard.

Billy Wilder

Austrian-born American director and producer

Francis Ford Coppola, with a beard, sits on a camera dolly surrounded by crew and actors on the set of The Godfather: Part II, with storefronts in the background.

Francis Ford Coppola

American director and screenwriter

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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