Sidney Lumet (June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his name. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982). He did not win an individual Academy Award, although he did receive an Academy Honorary Award and 14 of his films were nominated for various Oscars, such as Network, which was nominated for 10, winning 4. The Encyclopedia of Hollywood states that Lumet was one of the most prolific directors of the modern era, making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. He was noted by Turner Classic Movies for his "strong direction of actors", "vigorous storytelling" and the "social realism" in his best work. Film critic Roger Ebert described him as having been "one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors." Lumet was also known as an "actor's director," having worked with the best of them during his career, probably more than "any other director." Lumet began his career as an Off-Broadway director, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie was typical of his best work: a well-acted, tightly written, deeply considered "problem picture," 12 Angry Men (1957). From that point on Lumet divided his energies among other idealistic problem pictures along with literate adaptations of plays and novels, big stylish pictures, New York-based black comedies, and realistic crime dramas, including Serpico and Prince of the City. As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he was also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies. In 2005, Lumet received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his "brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture." Two years later, he concluded his career with the acclaimed drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). Description above from the Wikipedia article Sidney Lumet, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

Filmography

• 2009In Her Skin — Consulting Producer
• 2007Before the Devil Knows You're Dead — Director
• 2006Find Me Guilty — Screenplay, Director
• 2004Rachel, When the Lord — Director
• 2004Strip Search — Director
• 2004The Manchurian Candidate — Political Pundit
• 100 Centre Street — Director, Executive Producer, Writer
• 2000Inside: 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb' — Self - Director, 'Fail Safe'
• 1999Gloria — Director
• 1997Critical Care — Director, Producer
• 1997Night Falls on Manhattan — Director, Screenplay
• 1993Guilty as Sin — Director
• 1992A Stranger Among Us — Director
• 1990Q & A — Director, Screenplay
• 1989Family Business — Director
• 1988Running on Empty — Director
• 1986Power — Director
• 1986The Morning After — Director
• 1984Garbo Talks — Director
• 1983Daniel — Director, Executive Producer
• 1982Deathtrap — Director
• 1982The Verdict — Director
• 1981Prince of the City — Director, Screenplay
• 1980Just Tell Me What You Want — Director, Producer
• 1978The Wiz — Director
• 1977Equus — Director
• 1976Network — Director
• 1975Dog Day Afternoon — Director
• 1974Lovin' Molly — Director
• 1974Murder on the Orient Express — Director
• 1973Serpico — Director
• 1973The Offence — Director
• 1972Child's Play — Director
• 1971The Anderson Tapes — Director
• 1970King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis — Director
• 1970Last of the Mobile Hot Shots — Director, Producer
• 1969The Appointment — Director
• 1968Bye Bye Braverman — Director, Producer
• 1968The Sea Gull — Director, Producer
• 1967The Deadly Affair — Director, Producer
• 1966The Group — Director
• 1965The Hill — Director
• 1965The Pawnbroker — Director
• 1964Fail Safe — Executive Producer, Director
• 1962A View from the Bridge — Director
• 1962Long Day's Journey Into Night — Director
• 1960Beyond the Time Barrier — Casting Director
• 1960John Brown's Raid — Director
• 1960Play of the Week: Rashomon — Director
• 1960Playhouse 90: The Hiding Place — Director
• 1960The Dybbuk — Director
• 1960The Fugitive Kind — Director
• The Iceman Cometh — Director
• NBC Sunday Showcase — Director
• Play of the Week — Director
• 1959Sunday Showcase — Director
• 1959That Kind of Woman — Director
• 1958All the King's Men — Director
• 1958Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates — Director
• 1958Stage Struck — Director
• 1958The Count of Monte Cristo — Director
• 1958Three Plays by Tennessee Williams — Director
• 195712 Angry Men — Director
• DuPont Show of the Month — Director
• 1957Mr. Broadway — Director, Producer
• The Seven Lively Arts — Director
• Playhouse 90 — Director
• 1956Tragedy in a Temporary Town — Director
• Frontier — Director
• Star Stage — Director
• The Alcoa Hour — Director
• 1955The Challenge — Director
• Producers' Showcase — Director
• The Best of Broadway — Director
• The Elgin Hour — Director
• The United States Steel Hour — Director
• You Are There — Director
• CBS Television Workshop — Director
• Omnibus — Director
• Casey, Crime Photographer — Director
• Goodyear Television Playhouse — Director
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Director
• Danger — Director
• Mama — Director
• Studio One — Director
• Kraft Television Theatre — Director
• 1939One Third of a Nation — Joey Rogers
• 1939The 400 Million — Additional Voice (voice)

Appearances as themselves (36)

• 2025Breakdown: 1975 — Self - Director of Dog day afternoon (archive footage)
• 2023One Step Further: Becoming Lumet — Self
• 2015By Sidney Lumet — Self
• Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood — Self
• 2009I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale — Self
• 2008Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Making '12 Angry Men' — Self
• 2008Directed by Sidney Lumet: How the Devil Was Made — Self
• 2008You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story — Self
• 2007Prince of the City: The Real Story — Self
• 2006Eugene O’Neill: A Documentary Film — Self
• 2006The Making of 'Dog Day Afternoon' — Self
• 2006The Making of 'Network' — Self
• 2004Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust — Self
• 2004Making 'Murder on the Orient-Express' — Self
• 2003A Decade Under the Influence — Self
• 2003The Education of Gore Vidal — Self
• 2003The Evolution of an American Filmmaker — Self
• 2002Dziga and His Brothers — Self
• 2002Inside 'Serpico' — Self
• 2002New York at the Movies — Self
• 2002Serpico: From Real to Reel — Self
• 2002The Tramp and the Dictator — Self (uncredited)
• 2000Revisiting 'Fail-Safe' — Self
• 1999Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows — Self
• 1998Intimate Portrait: Sean Connery — Self
• Inside the Actors Studio — Self
• 1992Fonda on Fonda — Self
• 1990Night of 100 Stars III — Self
• 1989William Holden: The Golden Boy — Self
• 1988Funny — Self
• American Masters — Self
• 1978Wiz on Down the Road — Self - Director
• Spécial cinéma — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
• 1965The Sun... the Sand... the Hill — Self