American director Robert Benton died at the age of 93, The New York Times reported, citing his manager Marissa Forzano.
Benton died on May 11. The cause of death was not reported. It is specified that he was working on memoirs.
He was born on September 29, 1932 in Waxahachie, Texas. He is the son of Dorothy (née Spaulding) and Ellery Douglas Benton, a telephone company employee. He studied at the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University.
In 1959, he co-authored the book “The IN and OUT Book“ with Harvey Schmidt. Art director for Esquire in the early 1960s.
Benton won three Academy Awards - for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Best Original Screenplay for Places in the Heart (1984).
Benton has three other Academy Award nominations - for Best Original Screenplay for Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Late Show (1977), and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for No Balls (1994).
He directed Twilight (1998) and "Love's Feast" (2007) and co-wrote the screenplays for "Superman: The Movie" (1978) and "Ice Harvest" (2005).
In 2006, he appeared in the documentary "Wanderlust".