Perhaps one of most controversial and politically-charged directors of his generation, Oliver Stone has made some of the most seminal and enduring films of any time. With one foot consistently in the 1960s, Stone traveled back in time on numerous films to present his unflinching take on a turbulent time wrought with sex, drugs and an endless war. Though he directed his first film in 1974 and earned an Academy Award for screenwriting four years later, he would have to wait until “Platoon” (1986) in order to gain name recognition and grudging industry respect. But once he was on the map, Stone made a string of exceptional films that cemented his place as one of Hollywood’s most unique and compelling directors, thanks to “Wall Street” (1987), “Born on the Fourth of July” (1989) and “J.F.K.” (1991). Because of his anti-establishment bent – brought about by two tours in Vietnam and a short stint in prison on smuggling charges – many of Stone’s critics automatically dismissed a bulk of his films as being nothing more than the paranoid rantings of a conspiracy theory nut. Sober examination, however, revealed not paranoia, but a man uniquely concerned with the destructive actions of the country he loved. Though some of his films veered in focus – namely “Natural Born Killers” (1994), “U-Turn” (1997) and “Alexander” (2004) – there was no doubting Stone’s well earned place in cinematic history.Born Sept. 15, 1946 in New York, NY, Stone was the only son of Louis, a successful stockbroker in the 1950s and 1960s, and Jacqueline Goddet, a banker’s daughter. The couple met in post-World War II Paris while Louis served as a colonel on General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff. Though brought up in a well-to-do environment, Stone’s upbringing was anything but easy. A lonely child, Stone was educated at Trinity School before his parents shipped him off to The Hill School in Pottstown, PA. It was during this time that he learned about his father’s numerous affairs with the wives of family friends, resulting in his parents getting divorced when he was 15. When Stone turned 16, his father hired a prostitute for him so he could lose his virginity. After leaving The Hill School, Stone enrolled at Yale University in 1965, where he was classmates with future president and political adversary, George W. Bush. Afraid he was on a fast track to becoming just another business executive on Wall Street – and fueled by the adventurous life of Polish novelist Joseph Conrad – he dropped out of Yale to teach English in Saigon, Vietnam.
Despite uncertainty about his future, Stone knew he was digging the well from which he would later draw his creativity. Only then, he thought his main creative outlet would be writing novels. Nonetheless, Stone spent his time in Saigon carousing with all manner of miscreants – namely sailors and prostitutes. His soul quickly became restless again, however, so he soon joined the U.S. Merchant Marines, which led him down the coast from Oregon to Mexico. It was in Guadalajara, that he holed himself up in a hotel room, living off his life savings and writing a 1,400-page autobiographical novel based on his unusual relationship with his mother. He returned to Yale and began shopping his opus to a few publishers, all of whom rejected it. Torn by anger and grief, Stone threw part of the novel into the New York’s East River and burned the rest. With mad thoughts of killing somebody – including himself – Stone did the unthinkable: he enlisted in the Army to fight in Vietnam. Though he was offered Officer Candidate School, Stone insisted that he serve in the Infantry in order to see combat. In September 1967 – the day before his 21st birthday – Stone was on a plane back to Vietnam.
It took about a day of being in the bush for Stone to realize that he had made a huge mistake joining the war effort. He saw a majority of his combat during his first tour with the 25th Infantry, getting wounded twice and eventually transferring to an auxiliary military police unit in Saigon. Unsatisfied with being out of combat, Stone copped an attitude with his new sergeant and was reassigned to an armored cavalry, where he spent the remainder of his service. Stone left the service in November 1968 with two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for Valor. Ten days after being honorably discharged, he found himself in jail in San Diego, CA after getting caught bringing two ounces of pot across the border from Mexico. Facing 5-20 years on Federal smuggling charges, Stone made a call to his father, who summoned a lawyer to spring him from jail after a couple of weeks. His case was later dismissed. It was at this time that Stone went from flag-waving conservative to anti-establishment rebel after seeing first hand the waste and corruption inherent in both the Vietnam and U.S. legal system.
Full of an intense radical