Benton was born in Dallas in 1932, struggling with dyslexia through his schooling but ultimately studying art at the University of Texas. A longtime movie lover, he shifted focus to screenwriting after being fired from Esquire magazine (per The Guardian). Alongside his Esquire colleague David Newman, Benton wrote the screenplay for Bonnie And Clyde, the critically acclaimed film ultimately directed by Arthur Penn. The 1967 thriller starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway was a commercial success and earned nine Oscars, including for Best Original Screenplay. The duo went on to collaborate on the Westerns There Was A Crooked Man… and Bad Company (Benton’s directorial debut), as well as working on the screenplays for screwball rom-com What’s Up, Doc? and Superman starring Christopher Reeve.
Benton found even more success as a solo act: In 1980, he won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Kramer Vs. Kramer, the divorce drama starring Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. Both actors won Oscars for their performance in the film, which also won Best Picture. In an A.V. Club retrospective in 2020, Tom Breihan noted that even despite some dated elements, the film holds up 40 years later “because it’s extremely well-made. When you’re watching it, it doesn’t feel like some proto-Men’s Rights polemic. Writer/director Robert Benton, previously best-known for co-writing Bonnie And Clyde, keeps the pacing brisk and propulsive, allowing for small moments but never wallowing too much in the misery of the situations.”
Benton continued to write and direct, becoming a particular favorite of the actors with whom he worked, like Sally Field, who won an Oscar for Places In The Heart, and Paul Newman, who starred in Twilight. “He allows things to develop. He just eavesdrops,” Newman said of Benton (via The New York Times). “I’ve been so fortunate to work with so many really, really great directors. Great directors. Robert Benton being one of my favorites,” Margo Martindale told The A.V. Club in 2020, citing another Paul Newman-led film: “Nobody’s Fool, kind of a perfect movie.”
Benton’s final film, Feast Of Love, debuted in 2007. According to the Times, the Hollywood veteran was working on a memoir when he died. He is survived by a son, John Benton.
