This legendary woman was not just an actress but also a groundbreaker. According to the press release, at 26, Grant won Cannes’ Best Actress award and was Oscar-nominated (for Detective Story); within the year, she was blacklisted for over a decade. Coming back strong, she won an Emmy for Peyton Place, then appeared in a series of modern movie classics, winning an Oscar for her brilliant comic performance in Shampoo. But a whole new career beckoned as the director of acclaimed documentaries (including a Best Documentary Oscar for Down and Out in America), both warm portraits of friends and cutting-edge films on women’s gender issues.
She made her film debut in William Wyler's Detective Story, starring with Kirk Douglas. Lee Grant is also known as being the first woman to win a DGA Award. Her stellar career spans decades, and she is still active, having a small role in a new film called Killian and the Comeback Kids, to be released in 2020.
In the Heat of the Night |
Lee states, “I discovered directing at fifty. It freed me from being an aging actress in Hollywood,” says Grant. “The burst of freedom to explore what I want and to expose the bad guys was like kicking in the door to the world. As an actor who was blacklisted from film and TV from1952 to 1964, my acting career restarted on Peyton Place, which aired 3 times a week. It was so popular, I went from the Blacklist one week to the most popular TV show the next. My first Hollywood movie after the Blacklist was In the Heat of the Night and I would go on to receive four Oscar nominations, receiving one for acting (Shampoo) and for my documentary Down and Out in America. I’m so grateful to Film Forum for inviting me as I turn 92 years-old this year."
Screening of A Father, A Son, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. |
This is the schedule:
OPENING NIGHT (Sunday, November 17
Grant will chat with Film Forum Repertory Director Bruce Goldstein following the 8:25 screening of In the Heat of the Night.
Grant will also appear in person for screenings of her documentaries Down and Out in America on Monday, December 16 at 6:00 and Women on Trial on Thursday, December 19 at 6:00.
Public Screening Schedule:
Sunday, November 17 FREE SCREENING OF
SIDNEY POITIER: ONE BRIGHT LIGHT (2000, Grant)
7:00
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967, Norman Jewison) 4K DCP restoration
8:25
*LEE GRANT in person
Tuesday, November 19
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967, Norman Jewison) 4K DCP restoration
4:50
Sunday, December 1
SHAMPOO (1975, Hal Ashby) 4K DCP restoration
3:50
Saturday, December 14
WHAT SEX AM I? (1985, Grant) Digital
3:40
Monday, December 16
DOWN AND OUT IN AMERICA (1986, Grant)
16mm print courtesy Academy Film Archive
6:00
*LEE GRANT in person
Thursday, December 19
WOMEN ON TRIAL (1992, Grant)
6:00
*LEE GRANT in person
WHEN WOMEN KILL (1983, Grant) Digital
6:00
Thursday, January 16
BATTERED (1989, Grant) Digital
6:00
Sunday, January 26
DETECTIVE STORY (1951, William Wyler) DCP
1:40
Sunday, January 26
A FATHER… A SON… ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
(2005, Grant) Digital
3:45
Sunday, February 2
THE LANDLORD (1970, Hal Ashby) 35mm
7:30
Monday, February 3
THE LANDLORD (1970, Hal Ashby) 35mm
4:20, 8:30
AN AFFAIR OF THE SKIN (1963, Ben Maddow) 16mm print courtesy UCLA Film & Television Archive
6:30
THE BALCONY (1963, Joseph Strick) 35mm print courtesy BFI, London
2:25, 6:20
Note: Film Forum’s Repertory Calendar is programmed by Bruce Goldstein
For Tickets and Info: https://filmforum.org/
Specific Inquiries: raj@filmforum.org
Photos from Lee Grant Facebook