Irving Kershner Biography
Irvin Kershner was born in Philadelphia in 1923. From a young age he demonstrated a great passion for the arts, studying the violin, viola and musical composition. Later, he deepened his interest in the figurative arts by enrolling at Temple University-Tyler School of Fine Arts. Subsequently, he moved to New York where he collaborated with the painter Hans Hofmann and enrolled in the photography course at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles.
It was during his time teaching photography at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles that Kershner became interested in cinema thanks to the lessons of director and editor Slavko Vorkapić. Over time, Kershner established himself as a director and documentary maker, making his debut in 1958 with the detective film "G-Men of the Fifth Team", produced by his mentor Roger Corman.
Other successes followed, such as the road movie "One step away from death" in 1959, "The Scoundrels Sleep in Peace" in 1961, the comedy "Paper That Wins, Paper That Loses" in 1967. In the Seventies, Kershner made films such as "I Want Freedom" (1972) with Barbra Streisand, "Revenge of the Man Called Horse" (1976) with Richard Harris and "The Lions of War" in 1978.
Later, the director receives an offer that changes his career forever: George Lucas chooses him to direct "The Empire Strikes Back", the second episode of the Star Wars saga. The film confirmed itself as a worldwide success and Kershner became a true legend in the science fiction genre.
In 1983, Kershner directed Sean Connery in "007, Never Say Never Again", which marked the actor's return as James Bond.
The last film in which he appeared as an actor was Bobby Roth's "Berkeley" in 2005, in which he played an elderly statistics professor. Kershner dies at 87, after a long battle with cancer.
