- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRobert Jay Rafelson
- Bob Rafelson was an American film director, writer and producer. He is regarded as one of the founders of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. Among his best-known films are Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). He was also one of the creators of the pop group and TV series The Monkees (1965).
Rafelson's debut as a director was Head, a feature film starring the Monkees. Co-written with friend Jack Nicholson, and featuring appearances by Nicholson, Victor Mature, Teri Garr, Carol Doda, Annette Funicello, Frank Zappa, Sonny Liston, Timothy Carey, Ray Nitschke, and Dennis Hopper. Rafelson did six films with Jack Nicholson, Head (1968), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Man Trouble (1992), and Blood and Wine (1996).
- IMDb mini biography by: Pedro Borges
- SpousesGabrielle Taurek(1999 - July 23, 2022) (his death, 2 children)Toby Carr Rafelson(November 1955 - June 1977) (divorced, 1 child)
- ParentsSydney RafelsonMarjorie Blumenfeld
- Often cast Jack Nicholson
- Directed two actors in Oscar nominated performances: Jack Nicholson and Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces (1970).
- Co-created The Monkees, along with Bert Schneider.
- Cannes Film Festival - The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) (international premiere).
- His initial work in American films was as associate producer for Universal. He later moved via Desilu Productions to Screen Gems.
- He opened Belgrade Film Festival - FEST 2007.
- [In a 1981 interview] In '7, I said I'll be lucky if I direct ten pictures in my life. It looks like I'm on schedule.
- I regard film not as a sacred parchment, but as a pliable canvas.
- I'd have to watch an Ozu [Yasujirō Ozu] movie over and over again - say, Tokyo Story (1953) - and I was hypnotized by the stillness of his frames, his sureness of composition. So I suppose my own aesthetic evolved from looking at certain kinds of pictures - Bergman [Ingmar Bergman] and Ozu and John Ford, if you will. [Interview with critic Peter Tonguette]
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