By Jagmohan Singh Barhok

On his 77th Birth Anniversary

Born in New York to Jacqueline & Louis Stone, Oliver Stone, the subject of this write up, is a renowned Academy Awards winner director, screenwriter & producer whose acumen and unique style made his films won many laurels.

Some men, they say, are passionate about women. Others have lust & greed for money, Interestingly, Oliver Stone lusted for winning Oscars.

In fact, he persuaded rather inculcated a sense of dedication & commitment into the minds of his stars to be worthy of winning an Oscar. After dropping out of Yale University, Oliver Stone became a soldier in the Vietnam War .After his return from the war he concentrated on films relating to the War. Stone won his first Oscar for “Midnight Express” (1978) featuring Brad Davis, Irene Miracle & Bo Hopkins, directed by Alan Parker and screenplay written by Oliver Stone himself. The story in short is about Billy Hayes, an American college student, who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

However, his big hit was the Vietnam war film “Platoon” (1986) starring Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, and Francesco Quinn. Berenger and Dafoe received Oscar nominations for their roles as the polar opposite sergeants who each influence the tour of duty of Chris Taylor (Sheen). Stone won his first Oscar for directing this film, which won Best Picture and was a hit at the box office. After “Platoon” (1986), Stone followed up with the critically acclaimed “Wall Street” (1987). The movie, starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas, focuses on the business world of tycoons and stock brokers. The film was well received and won an Oscar for Douglas’ portrayal of the villainous Gordon Gekko.

Stone directed Tom Cruise into an Oscar-nominated role in “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989).The movie talked about the return of an embittered, crippled Vietnam soldier from the war. Although it failed to win Best Picture or Best Actor, Oliver Stone won an Academy Award for Directing, his third win to date.

Stone directed two films in 1991 Val Kilmer starred as the legendary and controversial Jim Morrison in Stone’s psychedelic film “The Doors” (1991) It , however, was overshadowed by Stone’s colossal film “JFK” (1991), relating to the events that lead to the death of President Kennedy .The film featured Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee, John Candy & Walter Matthau. Stone considers this as the best of his films. “JFK” (1991), as with ‘Platoon’ (1986) and ‘Born on the Fourth of July’ (1989), earned eight Oscar nominations and was one of Stone’s most successful films. However, he failed to win a third Oscar for Best Director. However, after each failure he returned with a bang and created history. “Nixon”( 1995) was another of Stone’s much acclaimed film focusing on the life of President Richard Nixon, played by Anthony Hopkins & Joan Allen in the role of Nixon’s wife. Both went on to receive Oscar nominations, while Stone received his sixth Oscar nomination for Screenwriting.

“Seizure” (1974), “Salvador” (1986), “Heaven & Earth” (1993) & “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” (2010) were his other films. Married thrice, Stone’s current better-half is Sun Jung (1996-present) and he has a son named Sean Stone.

It would be injustice with the cinema giant if we did not mention “South of the Border” ( 2009), a documentary exploring the social and political movements as well as the mainstream media’s misperception of South America while interviewing seven of its elected presidents.

Married thrice to Najwa Sarkis, Elizabeth Burkit Cox & Sun-Jung Jung (1996) Oliver Stone is considered as the legendary film maker in the world known for his unbridled lust & passion for his work with his his current net worth estimated to be about US$ 70 million. Turns 77 today.