Artists to Write, Direct, and Star in the Same Movie

Submitted by podizz on Mon, 08/22/2011 - 08:31
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  1. Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, written with screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz though there is much debate over who should get credit for authorship. Mankiewicz wrote, "I'm particularly furious at the incredibly insolent description of how Orson wrote his masterpiece. The fact is that there isn't one single line in the picture that wasn't in writing – writing from and by me – before ever a camera turned." He later claimed that Welles offered him a bonus of ten thousand dollars if he would let Welles take full credit. Critic Robert Carringer points out that subsequent drafts clarified Welles' contribution to the script:
  2. "Fortunately enough evidence to settle the matter has survived. A virtually complete set of script records for Citizen Kane has been preserved in the archives of RKO General Pictures in Hollywood, and these provide almost a day-to-day record of the history of the scripting...The full evidence reveals that Welles’s contribution to the Citizen Kane script was not only substantial but definitive."
  3. Woody Allen (Annie Hall) over thirty in all
  4. Charlie Chaplin (The Great Dictator, A King in New York, several others) The Great Dictator was Chaplin's first talking picutre and there his first crack at writing a script. Chaplin was known as an extremely perfectionist director, sometimes shooting up to 100 takes of a single scene until he was satisfied. Also often wrote the scores for many of his films, at one point winning the Oscar for best film score for the movie Limelight.
  5. Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) Co-written with Peter Fonda and Terry Southern. Plays Billy. Mostly shot without a screenplay however, with mostly ad-libbing. Seminal countculture film of the 1960s, including the groundbreaking on-screen portrayal of drug use.
  6. Mel Brooks (Blazing Saddles, History of the World Pt I, Spaceballs) Played Moses, Comicus, Tomas de Torquemada, Louis XVI of France and Jacques le Garçon de Pisse in History of the World and in addition to writing directing and acting is one of the few artists to have won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony award.
  7. Jerry Lewis (The Nutty Professor, The Ladies Man, others..) Co-written with Bill Richmond. Plays Professor Julius Kelp/Buddy Love/Baby Kelp.
  8. Roberto Benigni (Life is Beautiful, The Tiger and the Snow, others...) Life is Beautiful co-written with Vincenzo Cerami. Won best actor and best foreign film.
  9. Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) Mr Brown. Pulp Fiction co-written with Roger Avary. "Tarantino and Avary decided to write a short, on the theory that it would be easier to get made than a feature. But they quickly realized that nobody produces shorts, so the film became a trilogy, with one section by Tarantino, one by Avary, and one by a third director who never materialized. Each eventually expanded his section into a feature-length script...." won best original screenplay, with nominations for best picture and director. Also played Jimmie Dimmick.
  10. George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck) Co-written with Grant Heslov. Clooney plays Fred Friendly, Edward R Murrow's co-producer. Clooney got Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture nominations. Sophomore directorial effort after 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Highlights conflict between the journalism of Murrow and ant-Communist Senator Joseph McCarthy. George's father, Nick Clooney, was a longtime television journalist. Only had a budget of 7.5 million as Clooney took only a million each to direct, write and star in the film.
  11. Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade) Adapted by Thornton from his short film and previous screenplay, Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade. Breakthrough performance, winning the Academy award for best adapted screenplay and getting the nomination for best actor. First of 4 movies directed by Thornton.
  12. Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Mallrats, Chasing Amy...)
  13. Robert Duvall (The Apostle, Assassination Tango) The Apostle took over a decade to get made, as Duvall finally had to direct and finance the movie himself before it was picked up by October Films. Duvall went on to receive an Best Actor nom for his portrayal of trouble preacher Sonny Dewey.
  14. Ben Stiller (Tropic Thunder, Zoolander)
  15. Warren Beatty (Bulworth, Reds)
  16. Rob Reiner (This is Spinal Tap) Co-written with "band members" Christopher Guest, Michael McKean
  17. and Harry Shearer. Reiner plays Marty DiBergi, the maker of the documentary.
  18. Ben Affleck (The Town) Plays lead Doug MacRay. Co-written with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard.
  19. Tom Hanks (That Thing You Do!, Larry Crowne) Plays Mr. White in That Thing You Do!, the manager of a one-hit-wonder band from the 1960's. Fared much better than Hanks' second directorial effort 2011's Larry Crowne, co-written with Nia Vardalos, in which he plays a simple, down on his luck Navy vet alongside love-interest Julia Roberts.
  20. Sylvester Stallone (Rocky II, III, IV and Balboa, Rambo, Paradise Alley and The Expendables) The man who got his start in soft core porn. After writing and starring the the Best Picture-winner Rocky, Stallone took over the directing reigns for the next 5 in the series.
  21. Zach Braff (Garden State) Braff plays Andrew Largeman, a depressed, heavily medicated 26-year-old actor/waiter who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies. Took only 25 days to film with a budget of 2.5 million, eventually making almost 18 times that. Braff also accepted a Grammy Award for his hand-picked soundtrack to the film. Won numerous awards for new director.
  22. Charlton Heston (Antony and Cleopatra)
  23. Kevin Spacey (Beyond the Sea)
  24. Ed Harris (Appaloosa)
  25. Billy Crystal (Forget Paris, Mr Saturday Night)
  26. Keenan Ivory Wayans (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, A Low Down Dirty Shame)
  27. Paul Newman (Harry and Son)
  28. Tommy Chong (Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, Still Smokin, Nice Dreams)
  29. Ricky Gervais (The Invention of Lying)
  30. Gene Wilder (The Woman in Red, Haunted Honeymoon, 2 others)
  31. Dan Aykroyd (Nothing But Trouble)
  32. Eddie Murphy (Harlem Nights)
  33. Anthony Hopkins (Slipstream)
  34. Chris Rock (I Think I Love My Wife, Head of State)
  35. Johnny Depp (The Brave, contributing writer)
  36. Jeff Daniels (Super Sucker)
  37. Martin Lawrence (A Thin Line Between Love and Hate)
  38. Oliver Stone (Platoon, cameo appearance)
  39. M Knight Shyamalan (Sixth Sense, Signs, others..all cameos)