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Born in Brookline, MA; educated at Syracuse University (psychology) and Boston University (psychology). With his brother David, one of the chief exponents of the direct cinema school of documentary filmmaking. The brothers began working as a team in 1957, each having previously been involved in film in very different ways -- Al making a documentary on Soviet mental institutions and David working as production assistant on two Marilyn Monroe films. The brothers designed their own portable equipment to help in their goal of capturing the raw, spontaneous flow of experience, without intruding into the situations being filmed. The Maysles were influenced by Robert Drew and Richard Leacock, with whom they had worked on PRIMARY (1960), and often collaborated with Charlotte Zwerin. They are best known for SALESMAN (1969) and the controversial GIMME SHELTER (1970), a record of a Rolling Stones concert in which a young man is knifed to death onscreen; the latter film stirred much discussion of the moral issues raised by the filmmaker's "detached observer" status. Their 1975 documentary, GREY GARDENS, about the reclusive Edith and 'Little Edie' Beale, served as the basis for the 2006-2007 Broadway musical of the same name.
Other notable documentaries include: (As cinematographer) VLADIMIR HOROWITZ: THE LAST ROMANTIC (1986), HOROWITZ PLAYS MOZART (1987, also director), CHRISTO IN PARIS (1991, also director), WHEN WE WERE KINGS (1996) and LALEE'S KIN: THE LEGACY OF COTTON (2001, also director).
1 nomination |
Nominated for Documentary (Short Subjects)