Wise Center namesake dies at 91 (October 7, 2005)

Not many people can say that they are four-time Oscar award winner, Robert E. Wise is one of the few who is. The Connersville graduate died September 14 in Los Angeles.
Wise, born in Winchester and a 1932 graduate of CHS, is responsible for many of the finest films captured. Before stepping into the role of director, Wise served as editor on such films such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Citizen Kane and the Magnificent Ambersons. Wise easily moved from genre to genre.
In a career that lasted an unbelievable six and a half decades, Wise mastered nearly every genre such as horror, science fiction, drama, musical and many others.
"I'd rather do my own thing, which has been to choose projects that take me into differant kinds of genres," Wise once told the Associated Press. "I don't have a favorite kind of film to make. I just look for the best material I can."
Because his style has never followed an identifiable pattern, he was not limited to any particular genre. Indeed, it is surprising for some filmgoers to discover that he has was the guiding creative force not only behind monster hits such as The Sound of Music and Star Trek-The Motion Picture. But regardless of the genre in which he worked, Wise's films were distinguished byt the craftsmanship he brought to each of his exlorations into the mysteries of the human condition.
Unlike many directors today, who leap from accepted screenplay to the canvas-backed chair, Wise learned his craft from the ground up. In fact, Wise belongs to the last generation of directors who were trained under the old Hollywood studio system.
As a young kid, Wise would always go at one of the three movie houses in Connersville. "One simmer I won some kind of a contest and got a free pass to all the movies the whole summer and I was in heaven," Wise told Harry Kreisler of Institute of International Studies in 1998.
In addition to the four Oscar awards Wise recieved, he was also honored with of of the most prestigous awards for filmmakers, the "Irving F. Thalberg Memorial Award" in 1996.