Joan Micklin Silver

Born on May 24, 1935 in Omaha (Nebraska), into a Jewish family, Joan Micklin –her maiden name– graduated in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, a prestigious New York institution. After her studies, she married Raphael D. Silver, a real estate businessman, with whom she was united until his death in 2013. 

In the 1960s, Joan Micklin Silver made her debut as a screenwriter with educational films for children. Around this time she sold to Universal she wrote the script for Mark Robson ‘s drama Waiting Loves , about wives of prisoners of war in Vietnam. She then was recruited to write and direct  Hester Street , a drama about the adventures of a Russian Jew who has immigrated to the United States. “I was an isolated case,” she recalled herself in an interview. “One executive told me bluntly that they didn’t hire female directors because feature films are expensive to shoot and distribute, and women directing were just another problem they didn’t need.” The protagonist of the film, Carol Kane, received an Oscar nomination.

When preparing the romantic comedy Crossing the Street , Warners did not want to give it the green light, because they thought the project was too ethnic, and would only interest Jewish audiences. But the leading lady, Amy Irving , was married at the time to Steven Spielberg , who supported the project and got the studio to finance it. Joan Micklin Silver  was also responsible for  Loverboy, A Fish in the Bathtub  , and several telefilms.