George Stevens Jr. Looks Back On AFI, Kennedy Center Honors, A Family Legacy And A Career From Hollywood To D.C.

24.12.2022 - 01:21 / deadline.com

With two days to go until Christmas, I can’t think of a better gift for film lovers or those with an interest in iconic forces in the entertainment industry than the 2022 autobiography My Place in the Sun, which chronicles the life of George Stevens Jr — now 90 and still going strong in a remarkable career that has traversed the highest corridors of Hollywood to Washington, D.C.

Most significantly, however, it is the story of a father and son. The father is legendary two-time Oscar-winning director George Stevens, whose films ranged from Astaire and Rogers musicals, Gunga Din, The More the Merrier and Woman of the Year, to, following World War II, a string of immortal classics including A Place in the Sun, Giant, Shane and The Diary of Anne Frank. George Jr. spent a lot of time on some of those sets right up to 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, on which he was an assistant director. But not only because of his name but also a desire to prove himself, he had to get out from under the shadow of a famous dad and make his own mark, finding as the title of the book says “my own place in the sun.” Boy, did he ever, and this book is a fascinating testament to that. His impact is still felt today, in fact, right around the season we are celebrating right now.

Stevens Jr. is the founding director of the American Film Institute, which among many other things will be honoring those selected for the prestigious AFI Movies and TV Programs of the Year on January 13. He also created the equally prestigious AFI Life Achievement Award, which first went to John Ford in 1973 and most recently in June to Julie Andrews. Next week brings the telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS, from a ceremony held in D.C. earlier this month