Having followed brother Herman J. Mankiewicz's footsteps into motion pictures, Joseph L. Mankiewicz went from prominent writer to prolific producer to esteemed director over the course of his long career. Along the way, he won a total of four Academy Awards - two for writing and two for directing. He hit directorial peak with All About Eve (1950), a showbiz slice-of-life that earned a record 14 Academy Award nominations and won six.

Born on Feb. 11, 1909 in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Mankiewicz was raised by his father, Franz, a German immigrant who became a teacher, and his mother, Johanna, a dressmaker. After earning his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1928, he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in Berlin before moving to Hollywood, where brother Herman J. Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) had already become one of motion pictures' highest-paid screenwriters. In fact, his brother was head of the scenario department at Paramount Pictures and gave Mankiewicz a $60-a-week writing contract.

Having found consistent work as a screenwriter, Mankiewicz co-wrote his first big success, Skippy (1931), which starred youngest-ever Oscar nominee Jackie Cooper as an enterprising lad who helps his poor best friend (Robert Coogan) raise money for a dog license, only to suffer a shocking tragedy at the hands of a mean dogcatcher. While Cooper made history with his performance, Mankiewicz faired pretty well himself with an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Mankiewicz eventually moved away from Paramount in favor of MGM, where he began producing motion pictures such as George Cukor's The Philadelphia Story (1940), with Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Katharine Hepburn. Two years later, he produced another Hollywood classic, Woman of the Year (1942), a romantic comedy starring Hepburn as a hotshot newspaper reporter who falls in love with and marries a lowly sports writer (Spencer Tracy). It was the legendary screen team's first of many films together. At this point, however, Mankiewicz wanted to move into directing, but had to leave MGM and switch over to 20th Century Fox to do so. After writing and producing The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) for Fox, Mankiewicz made his directing debut with Dragonwyck (1946), a gothic period drama about the wealthy heir of a feudal dynasty (Vincent Price) who slips into insanity after poisoning his wife in order to marry a distant relative (Gene Tierney).

Now moved fully into directing, Mankiewicz entered the prime of his career, helming a number of classic movies while amassing several Academy Award nominations and a pair of Best Director statuettes by the time he was finished. He directed Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), House of Strangers (1949) starring Edward G. Robinson, and the race-themed drama No Way Out (1950), which featured Sidney Poitier in his feature debut. He next helmed his greatest accomplishment, All About Eve (1950), a witty showbiz dramedy about an aging Broadway star. Nominated for an astounding 14 Academy Awards, All About Eve took home six Oscars, including Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Mankiewicz followed up with the politically themed comedy People Will Talk (1951) starring Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain, and the true-to-life spy drama, 5 Fingers (1952), which earned him his third Oscar nomination for Best Director.

Working with famed producer and actor John Houseman, Mankiewicz directed his first Shakespeare film with Julius Caesar (1953), a surprisingly visual adaptation of the historical play that starred James Mason as the reluctant traitor Brutus, John Gielgud as Cassius, and Marlon Brando as the loyal Marc Antony. He next directed Humphrey Bogart in The Barefoot Contessa (1954), a biting if rather derivative showbiz drama that depicted Bogie as a down-and-out director who launches a comeback by turning a nightclub dancer (Ava Gardner) into a star. Supporting actor Edmund O'Brien, who played a sweaty publicist, won an Oscar for his performance, while Mankiewicz earned another nomination for Best Screenplay. He went on to direct the musical Guys and Dolls (1955), starring Brando, Frank Sinatra, and Jean Simmons.

In 1960, Mankiewicz made the career-destroying mistake of taking over production of Cleopatra (1963). Mankiewicz had jumped onboard a movie that was already several million dollars over budget with no useable footage, since several key actors left for other work. Making matters worse, Elizabeth Taylor fell seriously ill and required an emergency tracheotomy, which shut down the movie. Later production had to be moved from London to Rome in order to facilitate her recovery. Meanwhile, she and co-star Richard Burton engaged in a scandalous affair (both were married at the time) which caused negative headlines worldwide. Mankiewicz was subsequently fired after production, but rehired since nobody could cobble together the footage for a usable cut. He eventually turned in a film clocking six hours, which the studios whittled down to just three over Mankiewicz's vehement objections. When all was said and done, Cleopatra was major box-office flop that almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox. Ironically, the film was the highest-grossing movie of 1963, the only such film to be the biggest money maker of the year to still lose money.

The fallout from Cleopatra on Mankiewicz's career was lasting. In fact, he would make only one more studio film. Sleuth (1972), a sophisticated double-cross murder yarn starring Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, earned Mankiewicz his final Academy Award nomination for Best Director. While not comparable to the director's best work of the 1940s and 1950s, the independently produced film was a spectacular showcase for the two actors, who were the only characters in the film.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz died on February 5, 1993 in Bedford, NY. He was 83 years old.

THE MAESTRO: Joseph L. Mankiewicz