Louis Clyde Stoumen

Louis Clyde Stoumen (July 15, 1917 – September 20, 1991) was an American film director and producer. He won two Academy Awards; the first in 1957 for Best Documentary Short Subject (The True Story of the Civil War), and the second in 1963 for Best Documentary Feature (Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler).

He was born in Springtown, Pennsylvania and died in Sonoma County, California.

Stouman married Lini De Vries in 1943; the couple divorced in 1949.

Stoumen also taught at UCLA Film School. He spoke of his innovation in The True Story of the Civil War. He invented a track for the camera to move back and forth over historic photos and paintings. It also tracked up and down (in and out). The technique is often referred to today as "The Ken Burns Effect."

Stoumen also received Colin Higgins' Masters Thesis, a screenplay called Harold and Maude. Stoumen spoke of his enjoyment of the writing, but doubted it would ever be produced. He wasn't unhappy when proven wrong by the film's success.

After his death in 1991, the Stoumen Estate gifted the entire archive of Stoumen's work, including copyright, to the Museum of Photographic Arts. MOPA created a special exhibition and catalog entitled Seduced by Life: The Art of Lou Stoumen in celebration of acquiring the Stoumen Archive. Copyright for Stoumen's work is currently administered by the Museum of Photographic Arts.

Selected filmography

• The Naked Eye (1956)
• The True Story of the Civil War (1956)
• Operation Dames (1959)
• Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler (1962)

External links

• Louis Clyde Stoumen at the Internet Movie Database
• Louis Clyde Stoumen at AllMovie