Topic: Arthur Penn

Arthur Hiller Penn (born September 27, 1922) is an American film director and producer with a hefty background as a theatre director as well. Although probably best-known as the director of Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Penn amassed a critically acclaimed body of work though the 1960s and 1970s.

Penn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Sonia (née Greenberg), a nurse, and Harry Penn, a watchmaker. In 1955 he married Peggy Maurer; they had two children, a son and a daughter.

After making a name for himself as a director of quality television dramas, Penn made his feature debut with a Western, The Left Handed Gun (1958). A re-telling of the Billy the Kid legend, it was notable for its sharp portrayal of the outlaw (played by Paul Newman) as a psychologically troubled youth (the role was originally intended for the archetypal troubled teen James Dean).