Robert Benton

Robert Benton, a screenwriter and director known for "Bonnie and Clyde," "Kramer vs. Kramer," and "Superman," died May 11, 2025, of natural causes at his home in New York City at the age of 92.?

Benton didn't launch his writing career with an eye for Hollywood, instead serving as an art director with Esquire magazine after doing a stint in the U.S. Army. But when he and Esquire editor David Newman funneled their love of old gangster films and the growing counterculture movement into a screenplay about real life criminals Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, they helped make movie history. Warren Beatty came on to star and produce. The result was "Bonnie and Clyde," a film that became a box office success and earned Benton his first of six Oscar nominations.

In 1977, Benton showcased his talents behind the camera when he wrote and directed "The Late Show," which earned him another Oscar nod. Two years later, he had what is arguably his biggest success when he wrote and directed the divorce drama "Kramer vs. Kramer." Starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, the film received nine Oscar nominations and won five, including two for Benton: one for Best Director and one for Best Screenplay. He brought another Oscar home for Best Original Screenplay in 1984 for "Places in the Heart" (for which he was also nominated for Best Director), and he was nominated a sixth time in 1994 for "Nobody's Fool." Benton also contributed screenwriting to the 1978 "Superman" movie.

New York Times critic Janet Maslin credited Benton with breaking new ground in Hollywood – more than once. "Goodbye to Robert Benton, beloved friend of many decades. And give him as much credit for 'Kramer vs. Kramer' as 'Bonnie and Clyde,'" she wrote on the social media platform X. "In its own way it was much more radical. Arriving not long after Roe and women's legal right to own credit cards, it had genuine shock value."

By Eric San Juan

(Image: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for TCM)