The 'Hester Street' and 'Crossing Delancey' filmmaker, who broke barriers for women in Hollywood, has passed away at the age of 85 in her house in Manhattan, New York.
- January 3, 2021
AceShowbiz - Director Joan Micklin Silver has died aged 85.
Silver, who helmed films such as "Hester Street" and "Crossing Delancey" and is credited for breaking numerous barriers for female filmmakers, passed away on Thursday (31Dec20) at her home in Manhattan, New York.
Her daughter Claudia told the New York Times that her mother had died after losing her battle with vascular dementia.
Silver first made a name for herself with 1975's "Hester Street", which she made on a $370,000 (£264,000) budget in just 34 days after being turned down by various studios because the tale of an immigrant Jewish couple in Manhattan in the 1890s was deemed "too ethic."
The black and white film, in Yiddish with English subtitles, was backed by her real estate developer husband Raphael D. Silver and went on to earn $5 million (£3.6 million) and actress Carol Kane a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
Silver went on to make "Crossing Delancey" in the 1980s, with the film grossing more than $116 million (£83 million) worldwide.
Her last project was "Hunger Point" in 2003.
She's survived by daughters Claudia, Dina, and Marisa, sister Renee, and five grandchildren.
In a 2005 interview with the Directors Guild of America, Joan Micklin Silver said, "I came of age for film at a time when sexism was pretty strong. And although I could get work as a writer, I couldn't get work as a director at all. And I had the experience of watching young men who had made shorts as I had, prize-winning shorts as I had, moving on to directing films and I couldn't do it."
