Don Taylor (American filmmaker)

For the English TV writer and director, see Don Taylor (English director and playwright).

For other people named Don Taylor, see Don Taylor (disambiguation).

Donald Ritchie Taylor (December 13, 1920 – December 29, 1998) was an American actor and film director.^[1] He co-starred in 1940s and 1950s classics, including the 1948 film noir The Naked City, Battleground, Father of the Bride, Father's Little Dividend and Stalag 17. He later turned to directing films such as Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Tom Sawyer (1973), Echoes of a Summer (1976), and Damien - Omen II (1978).

Don Taylor
Don Taylor in Father's Little Dividend (1951)
Born	Donald Ritchie Taylor (1920-12-13)December 13, 1920 Freeport, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 29, 1998(1998-12-29) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor and film director
Years active	1943–88
Spouses	Phyllis Avery ​ ​ (m. 1944; div. 1955)​ Hazel Court ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	4

Biography

Early life and work

The son of Mr. and Mrs. D. E. Taylor, Donald Ritchie Taylor^[2][3] was born in Freeport, Pennsylvania on December 13, 1920.^[4] (Another source says that he was born "in Pittsburgh and raised in Freeport, Pa.")^[2] He studied speech and drama at Penn State University and hitchhiked to Hollywood in 1942. He was signed as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appeared in small roles. Drafted into the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) during World War II, he appeared in the Air Forces's Winged Victory Broadway play^[5] and movie (1944), credited as "Cpl. Don Taylor."

Acting career

After discharge from the AAF, Taylor was cast in a lead role as the young detective, Jimmy Halloran, working alongside veteran homicide detective Dan Muldoon (Barry Fitzgerald) in Universal's 1948 screen version of The Naked City, which was notable for being filmed entirely on location in New York. Taylor was later part of the ensemble cast in MGM's classic World War II drama Battleground (1949). He then appeared as the husband of Elizabeth Taylor in the comedies Father of the Bride (1950) and its sequel Father's Little Dividend (1951), starring Spencer Tracy. Another memorable role was Vern "Cowboy" Blithe in Flying Leathernecks (1951). In 1952, Taylor played a soldier bringing his Japanese war-bride back to small-town America in Japanese War Bride. In 1953, Taylor had a key role as the escaping prisoner Lt. Dunbar in Billy Wilder's Stalag 17. His last major film role came in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955).

Directorial career

From the late 1950s through the 1980s, Taylor turned to directing movies and TV shows, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the short-lived Steve Canyon, starring Dean Fredericks, and Rod Serling's Night Gallery. One of his memorable efforts, in 1973, was the musical film Tom Sawyer,^[6] which boasted a Sherman Brothers song score. Other films that Taylor directed are Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Echoes of a Summer (1976), The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (also 1976), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) starring Burt Lancaster, Damien - Omen II (1978) with William Holden, and The Final Countdown (1980) with Kirk Douglas.

Taylor occasionally performed both acting and directing roles simultaneously, as he did for episodes of the TV detective series Burke's Law.

Writing career

Taylor "wrote one-act plays, radio dramas, short stories, and the 1985 TV movie My Wicked, Wicked Ways ... The Legend of Errol Flynn."^[2]

Personal life

 

Don Taylor with Phyllis Avery, 1946

Taylor was married twice.

• His first wife was Phyllis Avery, whom he married in 1944; they divorced in 1955,^[2] but not before the births of their daughters Anne and Avery.
• His second wife was Hazel Court,^[6] whom he married in 1964 and stayed with until his death; they had a son, Jonathan, and a daughter, Courtney.^[7]

Death

Taylor died on December 29, 1998, at the University of California Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, of heart failure.^[2]

Awards

• Nominee, Best Director – Saturn Awards (The Island of Dr. Moreau) (1977)^{[citation needed]}
• Nominee, Best Director-Comedy – Emmy Awards (The Farmer's Daughter) (1963)^[8]

Selected filmography as director

In addition to his Hollywood credits, Taylor directed 27 television movies and episodes for 53 television series including Cannon, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Mod Squad, It Takes a Thief, The Big Valley, The Flying Nun, Vacation Playhouse, The Tammy Grimes Show, The Wild Wild West, Burke's Law, The Rogues, The Farmer's Daughter, The Lloyd Bridges Show, The Dick Powell Theatre, Dr. Kildare, Checkmate, 87th Precinct, Zane Grey Theater, The Rifleman, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Honky Tonk, and others.

• Everything's Ducky (1961)
• Ride the Wild Surf (1964)
• Jack of Diamonds (1967)
• The Five Man Army (1969)
• Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
• Tom Sawyer (1973)
• Echoes of a Summer (1976)
• The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976)
• The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
• Damien - Omen II (1978)
• The Final Countdown (1980)
• The Diamond Trap (1988)

Selected filmography as actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1943	The Human Comedy	Soldier	Uncredited
	Salute to the Marines	Brooks - Marine at Bridge	Uncredited
	Swing Shift Maisie	Young Pilot	Uncredited
	Thousands Cheer	Soldier at Train Station	Uncredited
	Girl Crazy	Student	Uncredited
1944	Winged Victory	Danny 'Pinkie' Scariano
1947	Song of the Thin Man	Buddy Hollis
1948	The Naked City	Detective Jimmy Halloran
	For the Love of Mary	David Paxton
1949	Battleground	Standiferd
1950	Ambush	Lieutenant Linus Delaney
	Father of the Bride	Buckley Dunstan
1951	Submarine Command	Lieutenant Peter Morris
	Father's Little Dividend	Buckley Dunstan
	The Flying Leathernecks	Lieutenant Vern 'Cowboy' Blithe
	The Blue Veil	Dr. Robert Palfrey
	Submarine Command	Lieutenant Commander Peter Morris
1952	Japanese War Bride	Captain Jim Sterling
1953	Destination Gobi	Jenkins
	The Girls of Pleasure Island	Lieutenant Jimmy Gilmartin
	Stalag 17	Lieutenant James Schuyler Dunbar
1954	Johnny Dark	Duke Benson
	The Men of Sherwood Forest	Robin Hood
1955	I'll Cry Tomorrow	Wallie
1956	The Bold and the Brave	Sergeant Ewald 'Preacher' Wollaston
	Ride the High Iron	Sergeant Hugo Danielchik
1957	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Professor Donald Mason	Season 3 Episode 5: "Silent Witness"
	Love Slaves of the Amazons	Dr. Peter Masters
1961	Savage Guns	Mike Summers
1969	The Five Man Army	Poker Player	Uncredited, (final film role)

References

1. Roberts, Jerry (5 June 2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 584. ISBN 978-0-8108-6378-1.
2. . Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale. Los Angeles Times. January 4, 1999. Archived from the original on 2016-04-08. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
3. Monush, Barry (2003). Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the silent era to 1965. Vol. 1. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 720. ISBN 978-1-5578-3551-2. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
4. "Don Taylor Expected To Visit in Freeport". Simpson's Leader-Times. Kittanning, Pennsylvania. July 10, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. 
5. "Don Taylor". Playbill. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
6. Kleiner, Dick (September 27, 1972). ""Tom Sawyer" family film even on set". Columbus Telegram. p. 34. Retrieved March 24, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
7. Weiskind, Ron (January 1, 1999). "Longtime Hollywood actor, director raised in Freeport". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B-7. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
8. . Television Academy. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Don Taylor (actor).

• Don Taylor at IMDb
• at the TCM Movie Database
• Don Taylor at the Internet Broadway Database
• Don Taylor at Find a Grave