Jonathan Kaplan Career Summary
My Oscar Book:
Kaplan (November 25, 1947 – August 1, 2025) was an American film producer and director, known for making The Accused (1988), which earned Jodie her first Oscar for Best Actress.
His film Love Field (1992) earned actress Michelle Pfeiffer an Oscar nomination for Best Actress and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin Film Festi.
Kaplan received five Emmy nominations for directing and producing the popular TV series “ER.”
Occupational Inheritance
Born in Paris, Kaplan was the son of film composer Sol Kaplan and actress Frances Heflin, the nephew of actor Van Heflin, and the brother of actresses Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan. His cousin was actress Marta Heflin.
He lived in Hollywood until 1954, when his father had to move to New York City after being blacklisted.
Kaplan started his career as a child actor in the Broadway production of
“The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,” directed by Elia Kazan.
He was in a 1964 off-Broadway production “Rumplestiltskin,”
directed by Elaine May.
He earned a BA degree at the University of Chicago before studying film at New York University, where he was tutored by Scorsese and made an award-winning short film, “Stanley” (1965).
Working for Roger Corman
Kaplan was working at the Fillmore East on the Lower East Side, doing editing on the side, when Roger Corman offered him the opportunity to direct Night Call Nurses (1972), based on Scorsese’s recommendation. Kaplan made the movie and returned to New York City. It was a hit, and Corman offered him another film, The Student Teachers (1973), which he also co-wrote and co-edited.
After making The Slams (1973) for Corman’s brother Gene, he directed Truck Turner (1974), which was another success and got Kaplan an offer to direct White Line Fever (1975) for Columbia Pictures, a major Hollywood studio.
The movie was an even larger success but then Kaplan made what he describes as “the biggest failure of my career,” Mr. Billion (1977), an attempt to launch Terence Hill to American audiences.
He then made the critically acclaimed Over the Edge (1979), which failed to reach large audiences, but over the year went in to become a more popular (even cult) picture, due to Matt Dillon’s charismatic presence.
Typecast as Director
Kaplan said thar the only films he was being offered were ones with plots like “boy meets truck boy gets truck, boy loses truck and boy gets truck again.” As a result, he directed a series of TV movies.
“I’m a director, I want to direct movies. I don’t want to sit around and have fantasies or let a project go down the tubes when we can’t get some star to read the script.”
During the early 1980s, Kaplan directed some movies for TV and music videos, including several for John Cougar Mellencamp, and Rod Stewart’s “Infatuation” in 1984.
Kaplan also directed the 1983 drag racing biopic Heart Like a Wheel and the 1987 science fiction-thriller Project X.
His feature film career was revived in 1988, when The Accused (1988) earned Jodie Foster her first Best Actress Oscar.
High profile features followed, including Immediate Family (1989) and Unlawful Entry (1992).
His direction of Michelle Pfeiffer in the melodrama Love Field (1992) garnered her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
His final feature film was Brokedown Palace (1999), age 52.
Beginning in the 1990s, Kaplan primarily worked as a TV director.
Kaplan had one daughter, Molly.
He died from liver cancer at his home in Los Angeles, on August 1, 2025, at the age of 77.
Career Span: 1972-1999 (27 years)
Career Output: 15 features
Selected Filmography
Night Call Nurses (1972)
The Student Teachers (1973)
The Slams (1973)
Truck Turner (1974)
White Line Fever (1975)
Mr. Billion (1977)
Over the Edge (1979)
Heart Like a Wheel (1983)
Project X (1987)
The Accused (1988)
Immediate Family (1989)
Unlawful Entry (1992)
Love Field (1992)
Bad Girls (1994)
Brokedown Palace (1999)
TV Films
11th Victim (1979)
The Gentleman Bandit (1981)
Girls of the White Orchid (1983)
Rebel Highway: Reform School Girl (1994)
TV series
Fallen Angels (1993)
Picture Windows (1995)
In Cold Blood (1996)
ER (1997)
Crossing Jordan (2005)
Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2005–2012)
Without a Trace (2006–2009)
Brothers and Sisters (2010)
