Director Robert Mulligan, beloved by actors for his low-key style and temperament behind the camera, has passed away at age 83. Mulligan began directing in live TV productions in the 1950s but graduated to feature films with the acclaimed production of
Fear Strikes Out. His career highlight was helming the 1962 classic screen adaptation of
To Kill a Mockingbird for which he was nominated for an Oscar. Under his direction, star Gregory Peck won the Best Actor Academy Award for his immortal performance as Atticus Finch in the film. Mulligan never directed blockbuster hits, but several of his productions proved to be extremely popular with audiences and critics. Among them:
Come September, Love With the Proper Stranger, Baby, The Rain Must Fall (the latter two starring Steve McQueen),
Up the Down Staircase, Summer of '42 and the bittersweet comedy
Same Time, Next Year. However, some of his best work remained under-rated, including such films as
The Rat Race, Inside Daisy Clover, and his one foray into the supernatural, his creepy 1972 screen adaptation of author Thomas Tryon's
The Other. He and Gregory Peck had also reunited in 1968 for the superb western thriller
The Stalking Moon which found Peck's character relentlessly pursued by a murderous but unseen Indian chief. For more on Mulligan
click here