Born in Braddock, PA. His studies at UCLA were interrupted by WW II, which he spent as a cameraman with the USAAF. Returning to civilian life, he made his first film, the documentary MUSCLE BEACH (co-directed with Irving Lerner; 1948), on weekends while working as a copyboy at the Los Angeles Times. Later, while working in television, he took five years to complete in his spare time THE SAVAGE EYE (1959), an innovative semi-documentary feature about urban life, which he co-directed with Ben Maddow and Sidney Meyers. The film won several international awards. Venturing into literary adaptations in the 1960s, he drew much praise but also some criticism for his courageous undertaking of converting to the screen James Joyce's complex stream-of-consciousness novel Ulysses (1967). In 1971 he won an Oscar® for his documentary short INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS (1970). Other notable credits include THE BALCONY (1963, producer & director), THE LEGEND OF THE BOY AND THE EAGLE (1967, producer), RING OF BRIGHT WATER (1969, producer), TROPIC OF CANCER (1970, producer, director & writer), THE DARWIN ADVENTURE (1972), ROAD MOVIE (1974, producer & director), PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN (1977, producer & director), NEVER CRY WOLF (1983, producer), "Survive the Savage Sea" (1992, Warner Bros. TV, co-producer) and the feature documentary CRIMINALS (1996, producer & director).  Nominated for Writing (Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) 1967: ULYSSES (w. Fred Haines)  Best Documentary (Short Subjects) 1970: INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS - Producer 2 nominations, 1 Award