In his service to the Directors Guild as in his filmmaking, John Frankenheimer left a legacy of personal integrity, commitment to social justice and passion for the art and craft of directing. His remarkable life encompassed 72 years, 33 films and 77 television productions. He was honored with 16 Emmy nominations for best director and best show, including four Emmys for best director. Through his own words, those of his friends and colleagues and his films, a saddened theatre gathered at the DGA on July 29 to remember and celebrate a man, a life and a career.

"In 1957, John Frankenheimer, 27 years old, arrived in Hollywood, and after that, nothing was ever the same," Frank Pierson, President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, recalled. "John and I had our differences, mostly involving that love-hate marriage that separates and joins writers and directors. And he was a hard man in a fight, but never personal. In the grammar of life, John was a declarative sentence — clear, straight and to the point."

Frankenheimer joined the Guild in 1960. He served on the DGA Western Directors Council from 1977 to 1983; the DGA National Board as Third Vice President from 1997 to 1999; and as Fifth Vice President from 1999 until his passing. He was also co-chairman of the Creative Rights Committee, which he joined in 1994.

Colin Callender, HBO Films President, remarked, "As an executive who was cajoled, who was threatened, who was intimidated, who was seduced, and who was finally inspired into letting John have his way, I am forever grateful for the chance of having worked with him. We're proud that his final movie was made for us. We're only sorry that it was, indeed, his final 'movie that he made for us."'

"There were times when John lived in caverns dark and deep, beyond and outside the public eye," MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti said. "But the gift of dramatic narrative kept shining inside of him, a gift without which no creative artist can lay claim to greatness. He survived and rose again and achieved again."

Clancy Imislund was a friend who helped Frankenheimer recover from the disease of alcoholism. "John had been sober awhile now, but no one was offering him a movie at all," Imislund recalled. "And he called one day and said, 'I was just offered a TV movie.' I said, 'Gee, John, that's great.' He said, 'No, it isn't great. I'm a feature director. I used to direct television when I was in my 20s. I want a feature.' And I replied (sarcastically), 'OK. Don't do it. Just sit by the telephone and watch it until the cobwebs climb over it and someday explain what happened to you this time.' And John said, 'Well, damn it, I'll do it then.'

"And then about a month later he called me and said, 'Great news. United Artists offered me a feature!' And I said, 'Well, you can't do it. You've just agreed to do this television show.' He replied, 'Well, you don't understand show business, Clancy.' And I said, 'You don't understand being sober, John!'

"Well, he grumbled and whined and complained ... but he did it. And that was Against the Wall, his first television Emmy. And he was so pleased. And he did another television movie. He got another Emmy. And another television movie, and another Emmy. Another television movie, another Emmy. And Path to War, I trust, will be Emmy number five."

Doris Kearns Goodwin read a message from her husband, Richard Goodwin, with whom Frankenheimer traveled while filming Robert Kennedy's campaign. "On June 4, 1968, I drove out to Frankenheimer's Malibu house to talk with Robert Kennedy, who was a guest of John and his beloved Evans. John was buoyant, as was I. It was Election Day in California and we were going to win. Later that day, Kennedy drove with John to his death at the Ambassador Hotel and together John and I saw the '60s come to an end. I next saw John Frankenheimer standing on the sidewalk outside the church as people left Robert Kennedy's funeral. He waived to me. He did not smile, nor did I. We were not to smile again for a long time.

"But [in the end] nothing could extinguish John Frankenheimer's ennobling quality, a light force that struggled against the dark, against the silence, against inner rebellion, and emerged, if broken by life, finally stronger in the broken places."