He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Patton (1970), and is known for the films Planet of the Apes (1968), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Papillon (1973), and The Boys from Brazil (1978).

[3] He then studied law at Columbia University in New York City, but his education was interrupted by service with the U.S. Navy in World War II during which he served with amphibious forces in Europe and North Africa.

He became a director in the news and public affairs department of CBS television, where his jobs including covering sports, beauty pageants and public-service programs.

The following year Schaffner earned another Emmy for his work on the 1955 TV adaptation of the Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, shown on the anthology series Ford Star Jubilee.

[11] Schaffner became one of three regular directors on The Kaiser Aluminum Hour; the others were George Roy Hill and Fielder Cook.

[16] Schaffner's contributions in this production earned him a nomination in 1963 by the Directors Guild of America, for its award in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television.

[21] Instead Schaffner's first motion picture was The Stripper (1963), made at Fox from a play by William Inge, starring Richard Beymer and Joanne Woodward.

"[23] He announced various films for Columbia – The Day Lincoln Was Shot, The Whistle Blows for Victory and The Green Beret – but they were not made.

Schaffner followed it with Papillon (1973) a $14 million epic with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman that was a considerable financial success.

His later films included Sphinx (1981), a $10 million thriller about Egypt based on a novel by Robin Cook and produced by Stanley O'Toole, who had made Boys from Brazil with Schaffner.

Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for seven of his films: The Stripper, Planet of the Apes, Patton, Papillon, Islands in the Stream, The Boys from Brazil and Lionheart.

[31] Schaffner twice worked with actors Charlton Heston and Maurice Evans (The War Lord; Planet of the Apes), George C. Scott (Patton; Islands in the Stream) and Laurence Olivier (Nicholas and Alexandra; The Boys from Brazil).

Screenwriter William Goldman identified Schaffner in 1981 as being one of the three best directors (then living) at handling "scope" (a gift for screen epics) in films.

[3] Notable recipients include David Lynch, Amy Heckerling, Terrence Malick, Darren Aronofsky, Patty Jenkins and Paul Schrader, among others.