Lewis Milestone

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Director Born Lev Milstein on Sept. 30, 1895 in Chisinau, Russian Federation

Lewis Milestone was the director of the original production of the motion picture classic "All Quiet on the Western Front."

During his film career, spanning more than 40 years from the silent movie days, Milestone twice won an Academy Award for directing. In 1927, he and the late Frank Borzage won the first Oscars ever awarded to directors: Milestone for a war comedy called "Two Arabian Knights," and Borzage for "7th Heaven," a drama.

Milestone's second Oscar came in 1930 for "All Quiet on the Western Front," a sensitive portrayal of German soldiers in World War I.

Altogether, Milestone directed about 40 movies, including the 1931 smash "The Front Page," starring Pat O'Brien and Adolphe Menjou. He followed that with such well-known pictures as "The General Died at Dawn," "Of Mice and Men," "A Walk in the Sun," "The Red Pony," "Les Miserables," "Pork Chop Hill" and "Ocean's 11."

Milestone's first job in pictures was as an assistant in a film-cutting room. He became a highly regarded editor and wrote films before moving up to directing.

His last film was a remake of "Mutiny on the Bounty" in 1962 with Marlon Brando.

— John Kendall in the Los Angeles Times Sept. 26, 1980

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