Martin Ritt Biography, Age, Weight, Height, Friend, Like, Affairs, Favourite, Birthdate & Other

Martin Ritt was an American director, producer and actor associated with both theatres and films. He is however most noted for his films that were themed on social consciousness and narrated the life of the oppressed and downtrodden. The protagonists of his films were characteristically dark-horses or loners whose ethical values often put them into precarious situations considering the society’s dubious values. Ritt started his career as a stage actor with Federal Theatre Project and then with Theatre of Action.

He also worked with Lee Strasberg’s famous Group Theatre. The 1940s saw him getting success in directing plays such as Set My People Free and The Big People. He then changed gears and entered TV in the late 1940s and for the next few years acted in around 150 teleplays apart from directing over 100 shows. While the Great Depression was in full swing Ritt like many other theatre personalities became highly motivated by the leftist ideals and principles. Although never a member of the Communist Party, his leftist perspective made him a target of Senator Joseph McCarthy, which resulted in his ouster from the CBS.

Thereafter he resumed his association with the Group Theater and also endeavoured into directing feature films. Starting with Edge of The City, he made some remarkable films over the next three decades cementing his position as one of the prominent filmmakers of those times. Some of his highly successful and widely acclaimed films were Norma Rae, The Long, Hot Summer, Sounder, Hud, Hombre, The Great White Hope, Murphy’s Romance, The Molly Maguires and Stanley & Iris.