Born in New York City. Stage and screen actor who began directing for theater and TV after WW II. When Ritt's small-screen career was curtailed by blacklisting, he began teaching at the Actors Studio, where his students included Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Rod Steiger and Lee Remick. His 1956 stage production of Robert Aurthur's A Very Special Baby caught the attention of Hollywood and he directed his first feature, EDGE OF THE CITY, the next year. A gritty waterfront drama starring Sidney Poitier and John Cassavetes, the film earned high critical praise and established Ritt as a director of note. Ritt went on to demonstrate his skill as a meticulous craftsman capable of eliciting fine ensemble performances and tackling important and controversial social issues in an intelligent -- if sometimes heavy-handed -- manner. Highlights of his career include the Faulkner adaptation, THE LONG HOT SUMMER (1958), which marked the first of many collaborations with writers Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr.; HUD (1963), which helped popularize the concept of the "anti-hero" (Paul Newman) and earned James Wong Howe an Oscar® for best cinematography and Patricia Neal and Melvyn Douglas Oscars for best actress and best supporting actor, respectively; and THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965), an unglamorized adaptation of the John Le Carré novel featuring a fine central performance by Richard Burton. Ritt's seriocomic film on the travails of blacklisted writers, THE FRONT (1976), drew on his own experiences in the early 1950s. He continued to direct dramas on themes such as union organizing (NORMA RAE, 1979) and illiteracy (STANLEY & IRIS, 1990) until his death, from heart disease complications in 1990. Visit the Internet Movie Database for a fuller listing of Ritt's film and TV credits.  Nominated for Directing 1963: HUD 1 nomination