Martha CoolidgeFilmography

Born:: August 17, 1946 in New Haven, CT
Occupation:: Director
Biography:: After studying at the Rhode Island School of Design and N.Y.U., filmmaker Martha Coolidge worked in Canadian television while making short films and documentaries. In 1975, she wrote, directed, and produced her first feature film, Not a Pretty Picture, focusing on the issue of high school date...Read More

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Tribute

Crew: Director

Actors: Brittany Murphy, Jason Lewis

Synopsis: Tribute is one of four made-for-TV movies adapted from Nora Roberts' romance novels for the Lifetime channel in 2009 (along with Northern Lights, High Noon, and Midnight Bayou). Brittany Murphy stars as Cilla McGowan, a former child star rebuilding a Virginia farmhouse owned by her actress Read More

2009
An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong

Crew: Director, Executive Producer

Synopsis: It's always tough to move to a brand new school, especially when the year is already half over. This is exactly the spot Chrissa is in after finding herself the newest kid in the fourth grade and a prime target for the popular girls known as the "Mean Bees". When the biggest, meanest bully of the Read More

2008
Material Girls

Crew: Director

Actors: Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff, Anjelica Huston, Lukas Haas, Maria Conchita Alonso

Synopsis: Stripped of their wealth and forced to fend for themselves when the multi-million-dollar cosmetics company inherited from their father suffers due to controversy, two sisters who have never known the simple life must finally find out how the other half lives in a high-fashion comedy about hard Read More

8/18/06
The Prince & Me

Crew: Director

Actors: Julia Stiles, Luke Mably, Ben Miller, James Fox, Miranda Richardson

Synopsis: For the second time in her career, Julia Stiles plays a character romancing the Crown Prince of Denmark in The Prince & Me, a romantic wish-fulfillment fantasy from director Martha Coolidge. Far from her role as Ophelia in 2000's Hamlet, however, Stiles plays Paige, a plucky, determined college Read More

4/2/04
Infidelity

Crew: Executive Producer

Synopsis: The daughter of a philandering father (whose own father likewise "played the field"), successful New Orleans therapist Danielle Montet (Kim Delaney) is nonetheless secure in her happy marriage to her husband Jim (Kyle Secor). In fact, she is so content in her matrimonial state that she can't help Read More

2004
The 12 Days of Christmas Eve

Crew: Director

Actors: Steven Weber, Molly Shannon

Synopsis: A money-minded modern day Scrooge with no time for family is given twelve days to discover the true meaning of Christmas in this holiday comedy from director Martha Coolidge. Calvin Carter (Steven Weber) is strictly business. The owner of a popular discount store chain whose lowbrow business Read More

2004
Sex and the City: I Heart NY

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Upon arriving at Big's (Chris Noth) apartment one fine evening, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is greeted by the unexpected sight of packing boxes. When she asks him what gives, Big (Chris Noth) tells her that he's moving to Napa, where he's bought a vineyard. Uncertain about how she feels but Read More

2002
The Flamingo Rising

Crew: Director

Actors: William Hurt, Elizabeth McGovern, Brian Benben

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Larry Baker, this bittersweet comedy-drama focuses on Hubert T. Lee (Brian Benben), an eccentric man with big dreams, who, along with his wife Edna (Elizabeth McGovern) and adopted children Louise Janine (Olivia Oguma) and Abraham Jacob (Christopher Larkin), relocates to Read More

2001
The Ponder Heart

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Martha Coolidge (Real Genius, Out to Sea) directed this light PBS drama about a rich eccentric who is overly generous with his fortune. Ally McBeal's Peter MacNicol stars as Daniel Ponder, the wealthy man in question, who finds himself charged with murder after his young bride is found dead. Read More

2001
Leap Years [TV Series]

Crew: Director

Actors: Bruno Campos, Garret Dillahunt, Nina Garbiras, David Julian Hirsh, Michelle Hurd

2001
If These Walls Could Talk 2

Crew: Director

Actors: Vanessa Redgrave, Marian Seldes, Michelle Williams, Natasha Lyonne, Sharon Stone, Ellen DeGeneres

Synopsis: This three-part drama, produced for HBO, examines the changing tides of the lives of lesbians in America, both politically and personally, as we eavesdrop on three stories taking place in the same house over a span of five decades. In 1961, the house is home to Edith (Vanessa Redgrave) and Abby (Marian Seldes Read More

2000
Rip Girls [TV Series]

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Camilla Belle, Dwier Brown, Stacie Hess, Brian Christopher Stark, Jeanne Mori

Synopsis: Long estranged from her father, Ben (Dwier Brown), Chicago-bred teenager Sydney Miller (Camilla Belle) travels to Hawaii for a reunion. Not that there's any affection involved: it seems that Sydney has inherited several acres of valuable beachfront property from her late mother, who died years Read More

2000
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

Crew: Director

Actors: Halle Berry, Brent Spiner, Obba Babatunde, Loretta Devine, Cynda Williams

Synopsis: Dorothy Dandridge was a singer, nightclub entertainer, and actress who became the first African-American woman to receive an Academy award nomination as Best Actress (for her standout performance in 1954's Carmen Jones; she lost to Grace Kelly). However, despite her striking beauty and obvious Read More

1999
Out To Sea

Crew: Director

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Dyan Cannon, Gloria de Haven, Brent Spiner

Synopsis: A pair of grumpy old men hit the high seas in this comedy. Small-time con man Charlie (Walter Matthau) fast-talks his considerably more straight-laced friend Herb (Jack Lemmon) into joining him for a luxury cruise on an ocean liner headed to the Bahamas. Charlie tells Herb that the trip is free Read More

1997
Three Wishes

Crew: Director

Actors: Patrick Swayze, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Joseph Mazzello, Seth Mumy, David Marshall Grant

Synopsis: In this offbeat comedy set in the 1950s, Patrick Swayze plays Jack McCloud, a drifter and beatnik who enters the conservative suburban life of the Holman family after Jeanne Holman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) accidentally hits him with her car. Jeanne takes Jack into her home while he recovers Read More

1995
Angie

Crew: Director

Actors: Geena Davis, Stephen Rea, James Gandolfini, Aida Turturro, Philip Bosco, Jenny O'Hara

Synopsis: Angie is the study of a believable Italian-American woman who takes an honest look at herself and sees she's on a predictable path that will soon include an altar and a baby carriage. "There's gotta' be more!" she feels, and she's one gal with courage enough to find the answer. Geena Davis stars Read More

1994
Beverly Hills Cop III

Actors: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, Hector Elizondo, Timothy Carhart, John Saxon, Stephen McHattie

Synopsis: The third entry in the popular Beverly Hills Cop series finds Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) returning yet again to Southern California, this time on the trail of two car thieves turned murderers. As he teams up again with L.A. cop Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold), Foley's investigation Read More

1994
Lost in Yonkers

Crew: Director

Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Mercedes Ruehl, Irene Worth, Brad Stoll, Mike Damus, David Strathairn

Synopsis: An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning, semi-autobiographical stage play by popular dramatist Neil Simon, this comedy-drama focuses on the difficulties faced by two young brothers forced to live with a group of eccentric relatives. Arty (Mike Damus) and Jay (Brad Stoll) are young teenagers Read More

1993
Crazy in Love

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Set amidst the glorious greens and blues of one of the many islands of Washington's Puget Sound, this made-for-cable television family drama centers on three generations of women and their lovers. The main story centers on one insecure bride who though madly in love with her spouse, still cannot Read More

1992
Rambling Rose

Crew: Director

Actors: Laura Dern, Robert Duvall, Diane Ladd, Lukas Haas, John Heard

Synopsis: Rambling Rose is the most part a flashback, related by grown-up Southerner Buddy Hillyer (John Heard). The bulk of the film takes place in 1935, when rambunctious backwoods housekeeper Rose (Laura Dern) virtually invades the Hillyer household. Daddy Hillyer (Robert Duvall), a bed-rock Southern Read More

9/20/91
Bare Essentials

Crew: Director

Actors: Gregory Harrison, Mark Linn-Baker, Lisa Hartman, Charlotte Lewis, Manu Tupou

Synopsis: A yuppie couple find themselves marooned on a desert isle with only the company of two others--a native girl and her American boyfriend. Stripped of their accustomed world of gadgetry as well as most of their clothes, they find the situation prompts them toward a more introspective mode, and they Read More

1991
Trenchcoat in Paradise

Crew: Director

Synopsis: In this detective yarn, a very traditional investigator from New Jersey moves to Hawaii and begins looking into the death of a prominent real-estate developer. Unfortunately, few locals welcome the detective's arrival. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

1989
Plain Clothes

Crew: Director

Actors: Arliss Howard, Suzy Amis, George Wendt, Diane Ladd, Seymour Cassel

Synopsis: Arliss Howard plays a baby-faced undercover cop, posing as a high school student. Howard is investigating the murder of a teacher, a task made difficult when his own brother (Loren Dean) becomes the primary suspect. Meanwhile, the ersatz student falls in love with Alexandre Powers, the daughter of Read More

4/15/88
Glory Days

Crew: Director

Synopsis: Glory Days might have easily been titled "A Glorified Robert Conrad Home Movie." Actor Robert Conrad both produced and directed, while his co-star was his son Shane Conrad. The plot concerns a 50-year-old family man who feels that life has passed him by. Determined to fulfill a long-standing Read More

1988
50 Years of Action!

Actors: Stanley Ackerman, Woody Allen, John A. Alonzo, Warren Beatty

Synopsis: One of the few documentaries to shine a spotlight on directors in Hollywood, this informative film sketches out the 50-year history of the Directors Guild of America. Formed at a time when people were still fighting for unions in the United States, the guild also had its problems when the studios Read More

1986
Real Genius

Crew: Director

Actors: Val Kilmer, Gabe Jarret, Michelle Meyrink, William Atherton, Jon Gries, Patti D'Arbanville

Synopsis: Martha Coolidge directed this comedy taking place at fictional Pacific Tech, concerning incoming freshman Mitch (Gabe Jarret), a high school student whose Science Fair project made important inroads into laser beam technology. Mitch has been recruited by famed physics professor Hathaway (William Read More

1985
Joy of Sex

Crew: Director

Actors: Cameron Dye, Michelle Meyrink, Lisa Langlois, Colleen Camp

Synopsis: The abysmal teen comedy Joy of Sex is stripped down to just sex in every line and in every joke except where other bodily functions come into play. Alan (Cameron Dye) lusts after Leslie (Michelle Meyrink), whose father is a phys ed instructor with the heart of an army drill sargent and no Read More

1984
The City Girl

Crew: Director, Producer, Screen Story

Actors: Laura Harrington, Joe Mastroianni, Carole McGill, Peter Riegert, James Carrington

Synopsis: In this contemporary comedy/drama, Anne (Laura Harrington) is a struggling photographer who decides to break up with her boyfriend Joey (Joe Mastroianni) to pursue other romantic opportunities. However, Anne's new-found freedom doesn't work out very well for her, and a new photographic project Read More

1984
Valley Girl

Crew: Director

Actors: Nicolas Cage, Deborah Foreman, Elizabeth Daily, Michael Bowen, Cameron Dye, Colleen Camp

Synopsis: A satiric romantic comedy, Martha Coolidge's Valley Girl is a testimony to the short-lived Southern California '80s craze. Julie (Deborah Foreman) is a good-natured teenager following a swarm of pastel pink valley girls, who utter "gag me" at every opportunity. To her friends' dismay , Julie Read More

1983
Not a Pretty Picture

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

1976
Old Fashioned Woman

Crew: Director, Editor, Producer

Synopsis: This filmed record (it is not exactly a documentary) is an extraordinary homage to the filmmaker's roots, as personified by her 85-year-old grandmother, Mabel Tilton Coolidge. The grand old dame, born around 1889, is allowed to ramble, tell stories, sing, and just generally be herself. She is also Read More

1974