Robert Kramer was an American film director, screenwriter, and actor who directed 19 films between 1965 and 1999, most of them political cinema made from a left-wing point of view. Born in New York and educated at Swarthmore College and Stanford University, Kramer was a founding member of the filmmaking collective The Newsreel, established in New York City in 1968. Kramer wrote, directed and starred in the 1970 thriller film Ice, and co-directed the 1975 film Milestones with John Douglas.