Has directed 8 actors to Oscar nominations: Rupert Crosse, Sissy Spacek, Bette Midler, Frederic Forrest, Marsha Mason, Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda, & Katharine Hepburn. Fonda (Henry) and Hepburn won for their performances in On Golden Pond (1981).

I'm a hopeful person; I'm not a cynic. I believe that cynicism is a cancer for an artist. It's a way of insulating yourself from experience. If you're cynical about something, it becomes removed and can't invade you. If you believe that life has to do with an engagement of issues and personalities that make you young and vital, it's hard to be anything but hopeful.