Raymond Nicholas Kienzle (real name Nicholas Ray; Wisconsin, 1911-New York, 1979) entered the cinema by starring Elia Kazan in Human Ties (1944). His first work as a director was Viven de noche (1948), then he filmed some twenty-five films until El fabuloso mundo del circo (1964), after which his career would be unexpectedly interrupted. During his later years he acted in Wim Wenders' The American Friend and taught film directing and acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute and New York University, even after learning he had cancer in late 1977. In early 1978, he did a small part in Milos Forman's Hair, and in March 1979 he began filming with Wim Wenders on a joint project that would become known as Lightning on Water. Production stopped in early May and he died on June 6, 1979.