Laslo Benedek, Movie Director, Writer
NEW YORK - Laslo Benedek, a cameraman, screenwriter and director whose directing credits included "Death of a Salesman" and "The Wild One," died Wednesday at age 87.
A native of Budapest, Hungary, Mr. Benedek turned to film after studying psychiatry in Vienna. He began with a Berlin studio as a cameraman, later working as an assistant to producer and fellow Hungarian Joe Pasternak.
He was a film editor in France and screenwriter in Mexico before settling in the United States as an editor for Metro Goldwyn Mayer.
Mr. Benedek's first directing credit was in 1948 for "The Kissing Bandit," a Frank Sinatra musical. He is best known for "Death of a Salesman" (1951), the film adaptation of Arthur Miller's play, and "The Wild One," starring Marlon Brando as a brooding motorcyclist.
He also directed for the 1950s- and '60s-era television shows "Four Star Playhouse," "DuPont Theater," "Perry Mason" and "Naked
City."