Lee Robert Bobker was an American writer, film director and producer, primarily known for his documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

s. He won numerous awards and was nominated for three Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 and one Emmy

Emmy Award

An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

.

Biography

Bobker was born in Belle Harbor, in Queens, New York. He began to work as a director and producer of documentary films in the late 1950s. He made a film for the Peabody Coal Company that was "an apology for coal mining" and directed All the Way Home, a film written by Muriel Rukeyser

Muriel Rukeyser

Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism...

 about the community reaction when a white homeowner in an all-white area decides to sell his house to a black family. In 1958, he made the documentary, Psychiatric Nursing, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature

Academy Award for Documentary Feature

The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is among the most prestigious awards for documentary films.- Winners and nominees:Following the Academy's practice, films are listed below by the award year...

 in 1958.

In 1966, he made The Odds Against

The Odds Against

The Odds Against is a 1966 American short documentary film directed by Lee R. Bobker. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short....

about the correctional system with Helen Kristt Radin. It was nominated for an Oscar in 1966 for an Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject

Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject

This is a list of films by year that have received an Oscar together with the other nominations for best documentary short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year.-1940s:*1941...

. His film The Revolving Door

The Revolving Door

The Revolving Door is a 1968 short documentary film directed by Lee R. Bobker and produced by Vision Associates. The 28.5 minute film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short....

was nominated in 1968 for best documentary short film. Bobker's The First Amendment, produced for the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

, was about censorship

Censorship

thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...

.

Bobker's PBS television series I, Leonardo, which starred Frank Langella

Frank Langella

-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...

 as Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...

, was nominated for an Emmy award. Chandler Knowles and Radin were co-producers with Bobker on the 1983 series. In the early 1990s, Bobker began working in cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 and made the documentary Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern

Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...

, a Life, which was critically acclaimed. Bobker won acclaim at both national and international film festivals, collecting hundreds of awards.

Bobker wrote two textbooks about filmmaking and aesthetics and contributed to professional periodicals, as well as other publications.

He died in Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich, Connecticut

Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...

, where he lived. He was married and had three children.

Publications

• Lee R. Bobker, Elements of Film (1971)
• Lee R. Bobker, Making Movies: From Script to Screen (1973)