Director and screenwriter of The Last Picture Show, which earned him Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. He also directed other classic movies like Paper Moon. In 2014, he directed the Owen Wilson movie She's Funny That Way.
He studied acting with Stella Adler in the 1950s.
He was an American film historian and a member of the New Hollywood wave of directors who came to prominence between the late 1960s and early 1980s. He also acted, appearing in many episodes of the HBO series The Sopranos.
He married Polly Platt in 1962 and Louise Stratten in 1988. Between his two marriages, he was the partner of Cybill Shepherd.
He was a close friend of Orson Welles.
