Jerry Schatzberg

• American film director and photographer born in New York in 1927.

  Jerry Schatzberg grew up in the Bronx and went into the family fur business before being turned on to photography. He created his own studio in the 1950s and became a renowned photographer, notably for his portraits of artists such as Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, Rolling Stones, Fidel Castro, Ted Kennedy, Faye Dunaway, and Edie Sedgwick. In 1970, he made a remarkable entrance into the film world with Puzzle of a downfall child, making him one of the key figures of New Hollywood. The Panic in Needle Park was to follow, which offered Al Pacino his first major role in film, and Scarecrow, with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman, which won the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973. In 1987 he cast Morgan Freeman in Street Smart, Freeman's first major role in film. In 1989, Reunion, an adaptation by Harold Pinter of Fred Uhlman’s famous novel, was once again in competition at Cannes.

  Photo © Andrew Matusik

• Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1970) – The Panic in Needle Park (1971) – Scarecrow (1973) – Sweet Revenge (1976) – The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) – Show Bus (1980) – Misunderstood (1984) – No Small Affair (1984) – Street Smart (1987) –Reunion (1989) – The Day the Ponies Come Back (2001)