Biography

Irvin Kershner

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Irvin Kershner was born on April 29, 1923 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the University of Southern California film school, Kershner began his career in 1950, producing documentaries for the United States Information Service in the Middle East. He later turned to television, directing and photographing a series of documentaries called "Confidential File". Kershner was one of the directors given his first break by producer Roger Corman, for whom he shot Stakeout on Dope Street (1958). The main theme that runs through many of his films is social alienation and human weaknesses - although his biggest commercial success was the science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Irvin Kershner died at age 87 of lung cancer in his home in Los Angeles, California on November 27, 2010.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Fills up the movie frame with the characters' faces
Sometimes shows a robot or a cyborg being dismantled (e.g. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and RoboCop 2 (1990)).
Sometimes shows a character getting his own hand cut off (e.g. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and RoboCop 2 (1990)).
A few of his films were sequels of previous films (e.g. The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976), Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and RoboCop 2 (1990)).
Frequent Use of the Color "Blue"

Of the three directors to direct the Star Wars films made between 1977 and 1983, the cast and crew have stated that he was their favorite director to work with, describing him as very helpful and supportive.
Kershner had been one of George Lucas' instructors in college. At first, he turned down the opportunity to direct Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), but his agent convinced him to take the job.
Kershner provided the voice of Darth Vader himself in the temporary mix of Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980), before James Earl Jones recorded the final version.
While he was directing Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)--the first Star Wars film to feature the character Yoda--he earned the nickname "Kersh". He was also filming "Empire" at the same studio Stanley Kubrick was using to film The Shining (1980). Stephen King was on the set and met Kershner. Years later, King wrote his novel "It" which features a character named Mrs. Kersh, who sounds like Yoda.
To date (2010), only American to direct a James Bond movie--Never Say Never Again (1983)--though the film itself is technically not considered a "true" Bond film. Kershner first directed Sean Connery in A Fine Madness (1966) 17 years earlier.

[on the Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) bonus DVD, speaking about Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)] I think it went beyond "Star Wars". You had some humor, you got to know the characters a little better. I saw it as the second movement in an opera. That's why I wanted some of the things slower. And it ends in a way that you can't wait to see or to hear the vivace, the allegretto. I didn't have a climax at the end. I had an emotional climax.
[on RoboCop 2 (1990)] I saw RoboCop (1987) twice. I saw it when it first came out and then I ran it once on cassette and that was it. I never wanted to see it again. I felt that what I remembered, the residual memory, was enough. I wanted a different style of shooting. I wanted the character to go further than they did the first time. I was working towards an emotional base that would be true to "RoboCop" one year later.
I like to fill up the frame with the characters' faces. There's nothing more interesting than the landscape of the human face.
[on why George Lucas asked him to direct Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)] Of all the younger guys around, all the hot shots, why me? I remember he said, "Well, because you know everything a Hollywood director is supposed to know, but you're not Hollywood". I liked that.
I didn't believe in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978). I believed in the idea I began with, but I did not believe in what was imposed on me during its production.

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