Frank Capra

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945." Pages 96-103. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Emigrated to America with his parents in 1903. They settled in Los Angeles, where his older brother was already living.

His father, Turiddu, died in a horrible factory accident in 1915. When the aging man was working some gears, he got caught in the gears and was nearly ripped in half.

When he was nominated for his first Best Director Oscar in 1933 (for Lady for a Day (1933)), presenter Will Rogers merely opened the envelope and said "Come and get it, Frank!" Already halfway to the stage, Capra realized that Rogers wasn't referring to him, but to Frank Lloyd, who was getting the Oscar for Cavalcade (1933).

Father of Frank Capra Jr. (born March 20th 1934 - died December 19th 2007)), Tom Capra (born February 12th 1941), Lulu Capra (born September 16th 1937) and John Capra (born April 12th 1935 - died August 23rd 1938). Family lived in Fallbrook, California, USA.

Directed 10 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: May Robson, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, H.B. Warner, Spring Byington, James Stewart, Claude Rains, Harry Carey and Peter Falk. Gable and Colbert won Academy Awards for their roles in It Happened One Night (1934).

President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1935 to 1939

Hosted the Academy Awards in 1936 and 1939.

Is the second most-represented filmmaker (behind Steven Spielberg) on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time, with four of his films on the list. They are: Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) at #83, Meet John Doe (1941) at #49, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) at #5, and the most uplifting movie of all time, It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

Had a son, Johnny, who died in 1938, at about age 3, of complications arising from a tonsillectomy.

President of the Screen Directors Guild. [1939-1941]

Head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1958.

Claimed that both Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Sinatra "left their best scenes in rehearsal," saying that all subsequent takes got stale quickly. Capra would often shoot scenes with them without any rehearsing at all. This used to drive the other actors nuts. Edward G. Robinson once stormed off the set of A Hole in the Head (1959) and asked to be let out of his contract because he was used to rehearsing all his roles.

President of the Directors Guild of America (DGA). [1960-1961]

Was originally supposed to write and direct Circus World (1964) but quit the project when star John Wayne rejected Capra's script and instead insisted it be written by his old friend, James Edward Grant.

Awarded American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. [1982]

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1986 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 96-98. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.

Honored on a US Postage Stamp in May 2012 (with John Ford, Billy Wilder, and John Huston).