Sidney Lumet

In his three-hour interview, Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) speaks of his work as an actor on the stage before he became a director in television. He recalls his work on the television series Danger (1950-55) and You Are There (1953-57), both "live" dramatic shows of the time. He discusses the use of blacklisted writers on these shows and how the material they wrote often reflected the era of McCarthyism. He also discusses other television dramatic anthology series he directed, including Omnibus, Goodyear Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, Studio One, and Kraft Television Theatre. Lumet describes his direction of the well-known television special The Sacco-Vanzetti Story and The Play of the Week: "The Iceman Cometh," both of which aired in 1960. He speaks of his transition to directing feature films with 12 Angry Men in 1957 and his work on feature films including Paddy Chayefsky's satire, Network (1976). Dr. Ralph Engelman conducted the interview on October 28, 1999 in New York, NY.