Alcatraz has been featured in a number of films. Perhaps the most notable is Escape from Alcatraz (1969), starring Clint Eastwood. The drama is based on an actual escape in 1962. Also notable is The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), a biopic in which Burt Lancaster played Robert Stroud, a convicted killer who became known for his studies of birds. The prison and island are also the setting for The Rock (1996), an action thriller about the race to stop a gas attack. The movie starred Nicholas Cage and Sean Connery, and it was a box-office hit. In addition, Alcatraz was the subject of numerous documentaries, several of which focused on the 1962 escape.