Daniel Petrie - Life and Career

Life and Career

Petrie was born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, the son of Mary Anne (née Campbell) and William Mark Petrie, a soft-drink manufacturer. He moved to the United States in 1945. One of his most famous credits was 1961's A Raisin in the Sun, which was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed Buster and Billie (1974), the Academy Award-nominated Resurrection (1980), Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981) and Cocoon: The Return (1988). He directed well-known television movies such as Sybil, Eleanor and Franklin, The Dollmaker and My Name is Bill W., and produced a 1999 remake of Inherit the Wind. His feature films were rarely box office successes, but they often feature large well-known casts (such as 1978's The Betsy, starring Laurence Olivier and Robert Duvall), and his films are among the earliest screen appearances by such stars as Winona Ryder (Square Dance) and Kiefer Sutherland (The Bay Boy). As a television director he was a winner of multiple Emmy and Directors Guild of America Awards.

Petrie died of cancer at the age of 83 in Los Angeles, California. He is survived by his sons, Daniel and Donald, who are both well-known writers/directors.