Roland Godefroy · CC BY-SA 3.0

Richard Brooks, born Reuben Sax, directed 24 films over 35 years built around hard-hitting subjects and psychologically complicated characters, from the juvenile-delinquency drama Blackboard Jungle to In Cold Blood and Elmer Gantry, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Earlier, as a screenwriter, he helped shape the film noir genre with The Killers, Brute Force, and Key Largo. He was nominated for eight Oscars in total, three for directing, and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.