Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Albert Maysles, Documentary Filmmaker Who Made ‘Gimme Shelter,’ Dies at 88

Documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles, known for films such as “Grey Gardens” and “Gimme Shelter” that he made with his brother, has died at age 88, the operations manager at his film company said on Friday.

Maysles died late on Thursday in New York, said the manager, Edo Choi. He declined to give further details.

Maysles and his brother David, who died in 1987 at age 55, were among the most prominent figures in American documentary film.

Their 1970 movie “Gimme Shelter” followed rock band The Rolling Stones during their 1969 tour, including their performance at the Altamont concert, where they captured the stabbing death of an audience member on film.

The Maysles’ classic 1975 film “Grey Gardens” explored the shut-in lives of relatives to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who lived in a mansion that was falling apart.

The Maysles’ were nominated for an Oscar in 1974 for best documentary short subject for their film “Christo’s Valley Curtain.”

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version