Robert Benton, the director of the film “Kramer vs. Kramer,” has died

Robert Benton, the acclaimed director and screenwriter who won three Oscars, passed away at the age of 92 in New York. His son, John Benton, confirmed that his father died from “natural causes” on Sunday, May 11, at their Manhattan residence. Benton received an Oscar for both directing and screenwriting the 1979 film “Kramer vs. Kramer,” and another for the screenplay of “A Place in the Heart” in 1985, a film which he also directed.

Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, and studied Fine Arts at the University of Texas, later pursuing postgraduate studies at Columbia with aspirations of becoming a painter. At the same time, he worked as a cartoonist and found his first major success as an assistant art director at Esquire magazine, eventually rising to the position of art director from 1958 to 1964.

Throughout his career, Benton collaborated with numerous actors, many of whom received Oscars for their performances in his films. Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep each won Oscars for their roles in “Kramer vs. Kramer,” while Sally Field took home an award for her performance in “A Place in the Heart.”

He also worked alongside David Newman on the Oscar-nominated screenplay for “Bonnie and Clyde,” a film that significantly impacted American cinema in the 1960s. Their collaboration began while Benton was an art director at Esquire, where Newman had previously been employed.