Photography and art were the launching pads for director Irvin Kershner’s career; he studied both extensively as well as tackled documentaries in the 1950s before making his feature debut with “Stakeout on Dope Street” (1958), a gritty crime drama for producer Roger Corman, which in turn led to numerous jobs on episodic television and in more independent features. Kershner’s feature work was distinguished by his ability to mine realistic and intimate human drama from his stories, and for finding idiosyncratic takes on nearly every genre – from comedies like “A Fine Madness” (1966) and intimate
Worked as documentary filmmaker for US Information Service in Middle East on the films "Malaria", "Childbirth", "Locust Plague" and "Road of One Hundred Days"
Director and cameraman on documentary segments of TV series, "Confidential File"
1958
Directed first feature films, "The Young Captives" and "Stakeout on Dope Street"; also co-wrote the screenplay for the latter
Directed episodes of the ABC crime drama series, "The Naked City", and the ABC medical drama, "Ben Casey" in the early 1960s
1964
First international film credit, the US-Canadian production, "The Luck of Ginger Coffey"
