Background
Schaffner was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of American missionaries Sarah Horting (née Swords) and Paul Franklin Schaffner, and was raised in Japan.
Schaffner was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of American missionaries Sarah Horting (née Swords) and Paul Franklin Schaffner, and was raised in Japan.
He returned to the United States and graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was active in drama. He studied law at Columbia University in New York City but his education was interrupted by service with the United States Navy in World War II during which he served with American amphibious forces in Europe and North Africa. In the latter stages of the war he was sent to the Pacific Far East to serve with the United States Office for Strategic Services.
Returning home after the war, he found work in the television industry with March of Time and then joined the CBS network. He won directing Emmys for his work on the original 1954 CBS teleplay, Twelve Angry Men. Schaffner earned two more Emmy awards for his work on the 1955 TV adaptation of the Broadway play, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, shown on the anthology series Ford Star Jubilee. He won his fourth Emmy Award for his work on the series, The Defenders.
In 1960, he directed Allen Drury's stage play Advise and Consent. His first motion picture The Stripper was praised, and he later made The Best Man, The War Lord, and The Double Man. They were followed by the critical and commercial hit Planet of the Apes. His next film, Patton was a major success for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director. Later works included Nicholas and Alexandra, Papillon, Islands in the Stream and The Boys from Brazil.
Schaffner was President of the Directors Guild of America from 1987 until his death in 1989.
Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for seven of his films: The Stripper, Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon, Islands in the Stream, The Boys from Brazil and Lionheart. Four of them were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Schaffner twice worked with actors Charlton Heston and Maurice Evans (The War Lord; Planet of the Apes), George C. Scott (Patton; Islands in the Stream) and Laurence Olivier (Nicholas and Alexandra; The Boys from Brazil).
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Served to lieutenant United States Naval Reserve, 1942-1946. Member Directors Guild American (national board directors 1960-1961, 62-63, 64-65, 73-74), National Academy television Arts and Sciences, Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Phi Beta Kappa. Clubs: Players (New York City).
Riviera Tennis (Los Angeles). Waramaug Country (New Preston, Connecticut). Reform (London).
Schaffner married Helen Jane Gilchrist in 1948. The couple had two children, Jennie and Kate.