Introduction
Howard Alk (1930 – January 1982) was a Chicago-based filmmaker.
Career
Howard Alk enrolled in the University of Chicago at the age of 14. He was a member of the Compass Players cabaret troupe and one of the founders (along with fellow U of C graduates Bernard Sahlins and Paul Sills) of The Second City. Alk had previously worked with Sills at the Gate of Horn. According to Bernard Sahlins, Alk coined the group's name. He left the group in the early 1960s.
Alk was associated with The Film Group, a Chicago film production company, where he shot and edited several of the group's films, including American Revolution 2 (1969) and The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971).
Alk was a longtime friend and collaborator of Bob Dylan, whom he met in 1963. The two worked together on the films Eat the Document, Hard Rain, and Renaldo and Clara.
Alk also worked on Janis, Festival, Luxman Baul's Movie and other films.
Death
Alk was a heroin user.
In January 1982, Alk was found dead at Rundown Studios, Dylan's studio in Santa Monica, California. Although the coroner ruled his death an accidental heroin overdose, various sources report his death to be a suicide. Alk's first wife, Jones, and his second wife Joan, both believed he intentionally killed himself. But no evidence either way has ever been found.
He was survived by his parents Rozetta and Lou, his wife Joan and their young son Jesse.
Films
- Cry of Jazz (1959) -- editor
- And This is Free (1964) -- editor
- Dont Look Back (1967) -- assistant director
- Festival -- editor
- You Are What You Eat (1968) -- editor
- American Revolution 2 (1969) -- director
- The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) -- director
- Eat the Document (1972) -- cinematographer, editor
- Janis (1974) -- director
- Hard Rain (1976) -- cinematographer, editor
- Renaldo and Clara (1978) -- cinematographer, editor