Francis Thompson (film director)
Francis Thompson was an influential American film director, producer, and writer.
Thompson was born in 1908 in Titusville, Pennsylvania and commenced his career as a painter and art teacher before he directed his first film, Evolution of The Skyscraper.
He is best known for the films, N.Y., N.Y., To Be Alive! and the first IMAX film, To Fly.
He won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Documentary for To Be Alive!, which he co-directed with Alexander Hammid. He was a member of the Directors Guild of America, with a 50-year career in filmmaking, retiring in 1987.
Thompson died on December 26, 2003 in New York at the age of 95.
