---
name: "Martin Ritt"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/martin-ritt"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "2 March 1914"
died: "8 December 1990"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T06:06:58.971300+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Martin Ritt

Director. Born 2 March 1914 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 8 December 1990.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 2 March 1914, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 8 December 1990
- **Active:** 1972–1979
- **BAFTA Film Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Ritt, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q287451, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0728688/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/18854

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Sounder*](https://film.one/film/sounder.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Martin Ritt (2 March 1914 – 8 December 1990) was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in New York City, he began his career in theatre with the Group Theatre and later worked as an assistant to Elia Kazan. His early television directing was curtailed by the Hollywood blacklist in the early 1950s.

Ritt made his feature debut with *Edge of the City* (1957). He went on to direct a series of socially conscious dramas and literary adaptations, including *The Long, Hot Summer* (1958), *Hud* (1963), *The Spy Who Came In from the Cold* (1965) and *Norma Rae* (1979). In 1972 he directed *Sounder*, an adaptation of the William H. Armstrong novel set in the Depression-era South.

Several of his films received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture or Best Director. Ritt also guided numerous performers to Oscar recognition across his career.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, britannica.com, tvinsider.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Norma Rae* (1979), Fi1m 82, as Factory Worker (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/norma-rae.md)
- *Sounder* (1972), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/sounder.md)

## Complete filmography (30)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Stanley & Iris* (1990), Director
- *Nuts* (1987), Director, Co-Producer
- *Murphy's Romance* (1985), Director
- *The Slugger's Wife* (1985), as Burly De Vito
- *Cross Creek* (1983), Director, Producer
- *Back Roads* (1981), Director
- *Norma Rae* (1979), as Factory Worker (uncredited) · Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/norma-rae.md)
- *Casey's Shadow* (1978), Director
- *The Front* (1976), Director, Producer
- *End of the Game* (1975), as Hans Bärlach
- *Conrack* (1974), Director, Producer
- *Pete 'n' Tillie* (1972), Director
- *Sounder* (1972), Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/sounder.md)
- *Awake and Sing!* (1972), as Uncle Morty
- *The Great White Hope* (1970), Director
- *The Molly Maguires* (1970), Director, Producer
- *The Brotherhood* (1968), Director
- *Hombre* (1967), Producer, Director
- *The Spy Who Came In from the Cold* (1965), Director, Producer
- *The Outrage* (1964), Director, Producer
- *Hud* (1963), Director, Producer
- *Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man* (1962), Director
- *Paris Blues* (1961), Director
- *Five Branded Women* (1960), Director
- *The Sound and the Fury* (1959), Director
- *The Black Orchid* (1959), Director
- *The Long, Hot Summer* (1958), Director
- *No Down Payment* (1957), Director
- *Edge of the City* (1957), Director
- *Winged Victory* (1944), as Gleason

## Gallery

- ![Film director Martin Ritt, 1979](https://film.one/media/person/1244811/gallery-9d6c99deb870.jpg) Film director Martin Ritt, 1979 — Mary Frampton, Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Martin_Ritt%2C_1979.jpg/1280px-Martin_Ritt%2C_1979.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Martin Ritt](https://film.one/media/person/1244811/gallery-5a183f8de51e.jpg) Martin Ritt — Joop van Bilsen for Anefo 

/ Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Martin_Ritt_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Martin Ritt](https://film.one/media/person/1244811/gallery-5d0fbe346f19.jpg) Martin Ritt — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1964: Best Director (nominated), for *Hud*

### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won

- 1967: Best British Film (won), for *The Spy Who Came in from the Cold*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/martin-ritt