Born in New York, 1924, Rogosin was influenced early by the film All Quiet on the Western Front, and a few years later by the films of Flaherty and De Sica. Graduating from Yale, with a degree in chemical engineering, he volunteered to serve in the Navy during World War II. In 1954 he resigned from a successful business career to begin his first film, On The Bowery .
From the beginning, Rogosin's style as an independent filmmaker was straightforward and compassionate. His films, made "from the inside" showed the subjects he chose in their normal surroundings and allowed them to speak in their own words. By choosing ordinary people caught up in universal problems - homelessness, racial discrimination, war and peace, labor relations, and poverty-Rogosin made his point poignantly.
Sources: http://www.lionelrogosin.org/AboutLR.html / http://www.ifccenter.com/films/on-the-bowery/
