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| Also Known As: | Died: | ||
| Born: | August 17, 1946 | Cause of Death: | |
| Birth Place: | New Haven, Connecticut, USA | Profession: | director, editor, screenwriter, producer, singer, actor |
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A proficient director of mainstream Hollywood fare, Martha Coolidge began her career in her native Connecticut as a stage actress appearing with a local theater company. While attending the Rhode Island School of Design, she began to make films and found her true calling, turning out six student films. After further studies at NYC's School of Visual Arts and at Columbia University, she landed her first professional gig as a writer and producer of the Canadian daily children's show "Magic Tom". Returning to the USA, Coolidge enrolled at NYU's Institute of Film and Television and went on to turn out several award-winning documentary portraits, including two of family members, "David: On and Off" (1972), about her brother, and "Old Fashioned Woman" (1974), about her grandmother. These, along with the pseudo-documentary "Not a Pretty Picture" (1976) which reconstructed her high school date rape, helped establish her reputation as a filmmaker.
A proficient director of mainstream Hollywood fare, Martha Coolidge began her career in her native Connecticut as a stage actress appearing with a local theater company. While attending the Rhode Island School of Design, she began to make films and found her true calling, turning out six student films. After further studies at NYC's School of Visual Arts and at Columbia University, she landed her first professional gig as a writer and producer of the Canadian daily children's show "Magic Tom". Returning to the USA, Coolidge enrolled at NYU's Institute of Film and Television and went on to turn out several award-winning documentary portraits, including two of family members, "David: On and Off" (1972), about her brother, and "Old Fashioned Woman" (1974), about her grandmother. These, along with the pseudo-documentary "Not a Pretty Picture" (1976) which reconstructed her high school date rape, helped establish her reputation as a filmmaker.
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Notes
She is a distant cousin of former president Calvin Coolidge.
In March 2002, Coolidge became the first female president of the Directors Guild of America when she succeeded Jack Shea who resigned.
Awarded the Crystal Award by Women in Film.
Awarded the Breakthrough Award by Women, Men & Media.
"If a man is demanding and doesn't stand for inefficiency, if he wants things done in a certain way, he will frequently get forceful, Many directors get angry and yell. They may be difficult. And on some level they are worshipped for that.
"If I do that, I run the risk of being 'shrill', 'a screamer' or 'a bitch'. This is a big dilemma for women directors. There are more people questioning what we can do every day. There are more people thinking they can push us around than there are thinking they can push men around. A director must be demanding and tough. When a woman gets that way she can run into criticism which I consider to be gender-based." --Martha Coolidge to DGA Magazine, November 1998.
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