Tay Garnett
Tay Garnett | |
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Born | William Taylor Garnett June 13, 1894 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | October 3, 1977 Sawtell, California, U.S. | (aged 83)
Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1920–1975 |
Spouses |
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Children | 2 |
William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director, writer, and producer. He made nearly 50 films in various genres during his 55-year career, The Postman Always Rings Twice and China Seas being two of the most commercially successful.[1][2] In his later years, he focused mainly on television.[3][4]
Early life
[edit]Born and raised in Los Angeles, Garnett graduated from Los Angeles High School.[3][1] He studied commercial art at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before returning to California to open an advertising agency. In 1917, he joined the U.S. Navy's Aviation Corps and trained soldiers to fly at California bases during World War I.[5][6][1]
Career
[edit]Early career
[edit]After the war, Garnett entered the film industry as a gagwriter, primarily for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach,[1][7] but also for Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, and Chester Conklin.[8] For Roach, Garnett wrote Don't Park There (1924);[9] for Billy Bevan,[citation needed] Galloping Bungalows (1924);[10] and for Sennett, Off His Trolley (1924)[citation needed] and The Plumber (1924).[11] He co-wrote Broken Chains (1922) for Sam Goldwyn;[12] The Hottentot (1922) for Thomas Ince;[citation needed] and That's My Baby (1926) for William Beaudine.[13]
Garnett directed some shorts, such as Fast Black (1924),[14] Riders of the Kitchen Range (1925), and All Wool (1925),[9] and wrote the comedy shorts Honeymoon Hardships (1925),[15] Hold Tight (1925), Three Wise Goofs (1925),[16] No Sleep on the Deep (1925), Salute (1925), On the Links (1925),[citation needed] Who's Your Friend (1925),[10][16] The Funnymooners (1926), Puppy Lovetime (1926), Smith's Visitor (1926), and A Beauty Parlor (1926). With Stan Laurel (in his pre-Laurel and Hardy days), he made the films A Mandarin Mixup (1924), Detained (1924),[citation needed] and West of Hot Dog (1924). They co-wrote Somewhere in Wrong (1925), Twins (1925), Pie-Eyed (1925), The Snow Hawk (1925), Navy Blue Days (1925), The Sleuth (1925), and Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925).[17][18]
He adapted a 1919 play for Up in Mabel's Room (1926), which starred Marie Prevost,[19] and co-wrote Frank Capra's The Strong Man (1926)[18] and Edward Sedgwick's There You Are! (1926).[20] For Cecil B. De Mille, he wrote The Cruise of the Jasper B (1926), Rubber Tires (1927), The Wise Wife (1927), Turkish Delight (1927),[10][11] and Skyscraper (1928). In 1927, he also wrote Getting Gertie's Garter,[1][21] Long Pants, White Gold,[21][18] and No Control.[16] Garnett joined Pathé around 1927[5] and wrote The Cop and Power in 1928.[22][10][21]
Directing
[edit]Garnett directed and wrote Celebrity (1928), his first feature as director;[23][5] The Spieler (1928), The Flying Fool (1929),[16] Bad Company (1931),[24][25] and Prestige (1931).[26] Pathé merged with RKO in 1928;[27] under the new name, Garnett directed Oh, Yeah! (1929), Her Man (1930) starring Helen Twelvetrees,[5] Officer O'Brien (1930),[10][16] and Panama Flo (1932).[28] With Universal Studios, Garnett worked on The Penalty of Fame (1932), S.O.S. Iceberg (1933),[29] and Destination Unknown (1933).[1][30] With Paramount Studios, he directed the successful One Way Passage (1932).[31] Garnett enjoyed further success in 1935 after moving to MGM and directing China Seas (1935). With Columbia Studios, he made She Couldn't Take It (1935).[16][2][32]
In 1935, Garnett announced the creation of his own production company and subsequently left on a year-long cruise on his yacht. The Athene carried a small number of people, including Garnett's friends Polly Ann Young and Regis Toomey, and his wife Helga. During his trip, he shot footage of the outdoors for his future productions.[33][5][34] He returned to Hollywood in October 1936[35][36] and signed with 20th Century Fox, where he made Professional Soldier (1936), Love Is News (1937), and Slave Ship (1937). He also worked on Stand-In (1937) for Walter Wanger.[37][5]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Tay_Garnett_and_Marlene_Dietrich%2C_1940.jpg/220px-Tay_Garnett_and_Marlene_Dietrich%2C_1940.jpg)
Garnett's first film as a producer as well as a director was Joy of Living (1938) at RKO. He continued working with Wanger, producing and directing three of his films in the late 1930s: Trade Winds (1938), Eternally Yours (1939), and Slightly Honorable (1939).[38][5][39] He provided a story for Columbia Studios' Cafe Hostess (1940)[38] and directed Universal's Seven Sinners (1940), which starred Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne.[1][40] He produced but not direct RKO's Unexpected Uncle (1941) and Weekend for Three (1941),[16][41] and directed their 1942 film My Favorite Spy.[42] He also directed United Artists' Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)[43][44] and Columbia's The Boy from Stalingrad (1942).[citation needed]
At MGM, Garnett directed The Cross of Lorraine (1943) and Bataan (1943), followed by Since You Went Away (1944) and See Here, Private Hargrove (1944). He had some big hits with two Greer Garson films, Mrs. Parkington (1944) and The Valley of Decision (1945), then made his best-known film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), starring John Garfield and Lana Turner.[1][10] At Paramount, he made Wild Harvest (1947); A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), which starred Bing Crosby and Rhonda Fleming;[45][10] and the Mickey Rooney film The Fireball (1950), which he also co-wrote. He went back to MGM to direct one of Loretta Young's last theatrical films, Cause for Alarm!, in 1951, and the adventure film Soldiers Three (1951).[46][3] For RKO, then under the ownership of Howard Hughes, Garnett directed The Racket (1951)[47] and One Minute to Zero (1952). Garnett travelled to England and Spain to make The Black Knight (1954),[10][48] then worked on the documentary Seven Wonders of the World (1956). In 1960, he directed A Terrible Beauty in Ireland.[1] He directed a feature, Guns of Wyoming (1963), with Robert Taylor.[49] Garnett wrote, produced and directed The Delta Factor (1970). His last two films were Challenge to Be Free (1975) and Timber Tramps (1975).[50][51][10]
Television
[edit]Garnett started directing television shows in the late 1950s with He began working in TV with Four Star Theatre[52] and Main Street to Broadway (1953).[16] When he returned from the UK, he increasingly focused on television,[3][4] directing such shows as Screen Directors Playhouse, which he also co-wrote,[53][54] Alcoa Theatre, Goodyear Theatre, Overland Trail,[citation needed] The Loretta Young Show, and The Untouchables.[52] Other shows he worked on included The Deputy, Whispering Smith, 87th Precinct, The Tall Man, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, The Beachcomber, The Loner, The Legend of Jesse James,[55] and Riverboat,[56] He also directed Wagon Train, Naked City, Death Valley Days, Rawhide, Bonanza,[52] Laramie,[57] Frontier Circus, [citation needed] and Gunsmoke.[55][1][52]
Other work
[edit]While he primarily worked on films and television, Garnett occasionally worked in other areas of the art world. In 1930, he wrote a stage play called All That Glitters with Zelda Sears.[58] In 1942, he created the NBC Red comedy-detective radio program Three Sheets to the Wind (1942), which starred John Wayne as Dan O'Brien, an American private eye posing as a drunk on a luxury liner sailing from England in 1939, and Helga Moray, which ran for six months at 11:30pm Sunday nights.[59][60][61] The show was intended by Garnett to be the pilot for a film, though the film was never made. A demonstration episode of the radio show with Brian Donlevy in the leading role exists. Wayne, not Donlevy, played the role throughout the series run on NBC.[62] He published his autobiography, Light Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights, in 1973 and was writing a textbook at the time of his death.[2] During his career, he also did some government films.[49][6][63]
His star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was unveiled in February 1960.[3]
Personal life
[edit]Garnett married three actresses. First was Patsy Ruth Miller in Beverly Hills on 8 September 1929.[6][64] She filed for divorce which was granted 18 September 1933 on grounds of desertion[65][6] while she was in Vienna, Austria, and Garnett in London, England.[66] While in London,[citation needed] Garnett met British author and actress Helga Moray whom he married on his yacht, the Athene, in November 1934.[5][67][34][6] They had a second ceremony on 31 March 1935 in Yuma, Arizona, USA to safeguard her American citizenship.[68] Their son, William John "Bill" Garnett, was born in January 1942.[69] Six months later, Moray filed for divorce on grounds of cruelty.[70][71][6] Garnett then married 24-year-old Mari Aldon in London, England, on 13 August 1953. Their daughter Tiela Aldon Garnett was born in Los Angeles, USA on 25 October 1955.[72][6][73]
Garnett died of leukemia at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in Sawtelle, California, USA at the age of 83.[63][6] His ashes were scattered on his Paso Robles ranch.[citation needed]
Selected films
[edit]Works
[edit]- Garnett, Tay; Balling, Fredda Dudley (1973). Light Your Torches and Pull Up Your Tights. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House. OCLC 982192929.
- Garnett, Tay (1981). Portraits de Cineastes. Un Siecle de Cinema raconte par 42 metteurs en scene (in French). Paris: 5 Continents-Hatier.[4]
- Garnett, Tay; Slide, Anthony (1996). Directing: Learn from the Masters. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810830462. OCLC 925180539.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Barson, Michael. Tay Garnett. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fernandez, Rick (1978). "Tay Garnett Speaking". The Velvet Light Trap. 18. Madison, Wisconsin, USA: 15–18. ProQuest 1306635998.
- ^ a b c d e "Tay Garnett". Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c Ziolkowski, Fabrice (1982). "Director Studies". Film Quarterly. 35 (4): 53–55. doi:10.2307/1212123. JSTOR 1212123.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Lawrence, Lowell (November 7, 1937). "Hollywood Gains Maturity as Movie-Making Is Taken Seriously". Kansas City Journal. Kansas City, Missouri, USA. p. 25. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Shepard, Richard F. (October 19, 1977). "Tay Garnett, Film Director for Half Century, Dies: Made 'A Connecticut Yankee'". The New York Times. p. B2.
- ^ Kahn, Alexander (January 4, 1938). "Hollywood Film Shop". Troy Daily News. Troy, Ohio, USA. p. 3. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tay Garnett". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Vogel, Michelle (March 24, 2010). Olive Borden: The Life and Films of Hollywood's "Joy Girl". McFarland. pp. 162–163. ISBN 9780786458363.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az "Tay Garnett Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Halbout, Grégoire (January 13, 2022). Hollywood Screwball Comedy 1934-1945: Sex, Love, and Democratic Ideals. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. PT65.
- ^ a b Fleming, E.J. (March 23, 2009). Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow. McFarland & Company. p. 65, 71.
- ^ a b "That's My Baby". Progressive Era. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Index to Pictures Listed According to Companies" (PDF). Motion Picture News. Vol. XXX, VII, no. 17. October 25, 1924.
- ^ "Honeymoon Hardships". Progressive Silent Film. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Tay Garnett". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Okuda, Ted; Neibaur, James L. (August 7, 2012). Stan Without Ollie: The Stan Laurel Solo Films, 1917-1927. McFarland. pp. 138–139, 143, 145, 147, 151, 153, 155, 158, 162. ISBN 9780786489879.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Screenwriter". Mubi. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Roberts, Jerry (2003). The Great American playwrights on the screen. Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. ISBN 1-55783-512-8.
- ^ "There You Are". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thomas, Kevin (October 10, 1979). "'Skyscraper' at the Silent Movie". Los Angeles Times. p. g11.
- ^ a b "Comedy Drama "Power" with William Boyd at Imperial Is Thrilling Story". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. November 10, 1928. p. 27. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Kingsley, Grace (May 16, 1928). "WRITER IS CHOSEN DIRECTOR: De Mille Appoints Tay Garnett to Handle "Celebrity;"". Los Angeles Times. p. A10.
- ^ a b Bernfeld, Herman J. (August 30, 1931). "Plans Disclosed". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. p. 53. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "'Bad Company' will be shown at the Dunkin". The Cushing Daily Citizen. Cushing, Oklahoma, USA. November 21, 1931. p. 8. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Hall, Mordaunt (February 5, 1932). "Ann Harding in a Melodramatic Story of Life in a Small French Penal Colony". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.". Brittanica. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b "Panama Flo". AV Club. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Bush, Alex (2019). "Moving Mountains: Glacial Contingency and Modernity in the Bergfilm". Journal of Cinema and Media Studies. 59 (1): 2. JSTOR 26844131.
- ^ a b "Destination Unknown. 1932". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Schallert, Edwin (August 17, 1932). "MAN-HUNT TALE REAL THRILLER". Los Angeles Times. p. 7.
- ^ a b Sennwald, Andre (November 7, 1935). "'She Couldn't Take It,' a Comedy of the Idle Rich, at the Center -- 'The Melody Lingers On.'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Tay Garnett's Yawl Sails on World Cruise". Los Angeles Times. November 25, 1935. p. A1.
- ^ a b Shaffer, Rosalind (September 8, 1935). "Movie yacht to gird globe". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois, USA. p. 99. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "FILM DIRECTOR RETURNS: FILM TROUPE BACK FROM TRIP Tay Garnett Brings Much Background Film". Los Angeles Times. October 13, 1936. p. A1.
- ^ "NEW SCREEN UNIT FORMED: Tay Garnett, Director, Plans Production of Features in Orient Settings". Los Angeles Times. September 3, 1935. p. A3.
- ^ a b c d e Higham, Charles (October 16, 1977). "Toy Garnett, a Noble Film Pioneer". Los Angeles Times. p. t42.
- ^ a b c d e f "Mr. Garnett Sees The World". The New York Times. May 1, 1938. p. 154.
- ^ a b "Sunday and Monday". The Fulton County News. Fulton, Kentucky, USA. May 27, 1938. p. 27. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Cleary, Sarah (February 10, 2021). "Marlene Dietrich in the 1940s: the changing face of transgressive Hollywood". British Film Institute. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ Jewell, Richard B. (2012). RKO Radio Pictures: A Titan Is Born. University of California Press. p. 230.
- ^ a b "My Favorite Spy". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b "Director tells how "Bishop" picture made". Lincoln Journal Star. Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. January 13, 1941. p. 9. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Cinema: New Picture, Feb. 3, 1941". Time Magazine. February 3, 1941. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b c "LIBERTY FILMS BUY NOVEL BY BELDEN: George Stevens Will Produce 'Give Us This Night,' Story of Australian War Bride Of Local Origin". The New York Times. June 13, 1946. p. 24.
- ^ a b "Drama: 'African Queen' Bought by Horizon; Tay Garnett Directs Loretta Young". Los Angeles Times. March 31, 1950. p. 23.
- ^ a b "The Racket (1951)". Classic Film Noir. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "'The Black Knight' Wins His Spurs at Globe". The New York Times. October 29, 1954. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ a b "Tay Garnett Slates Story Conference". Los Angeles Times. July 4, 1963. p. D9.
- ^ a b c d Jones, Jack (October 5, 1977). "Film Director and Writer Tay Garnett Dies at 83". Los Angeles Times. p. a3.
- ^ a b Martin, Betty (June 4, 1969). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Spillane Film for Yvette". Los Angeles Times. p. d16.
- ^ a b c d Brown, Les (1982). Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television (PDF) (2 ed.). p. 172.
- ^ Leichter, Jerry, ed. (July 1956). "Ross Reports on Television Including The Television Index" (PDF). p. 7. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "The Show-Makers". Motion Picture Daily. Vol. 80, no. 1. July 2, 1956. p. 7.
- ^ a b c Ryon, Art (November 18, 1962). "Director Tay Garnett Finds Lessons in TV". Los Angeles Times. p. L16.
- ^ "Riverboat Cast & Crew". Mubi. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Laramie". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
- ^ "Tay Garnett Turns to Stage Writing". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario, Canada. January 25, 1930. p. 11. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Britton, Wesley Alan (2005). Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780275985561.
- ^ Dunning, John (May 7, 1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199770786.
- ^ "Tay Garnett, for years one of the..." (PDF). The Davie Record. Vol. XLIII, no. 33. Mocksville, North Carolina, USA. March 4, 1942.
- ^ "The New Frontier: John Wayne's Forgotten Radio Show". December 9, 2011.
- ^ a b Jones, Jack (October 6, 1977). "Film Director and Writer Tay Garnett Dies At 83". The Los Angeles Times. p. 35. Retrieved December 30, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Patsy Ruth Miller weds Tay Garnett". The Akron eacon Journal. Akron, Ohio, USA. September 9, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Movie marriage ends in court". The Belleville News-Democrat. Belleville, Illinois, USA. September 19, 1933. p. 5. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Patsy and Tay are out of it; they're really divorced". Rutland Daily Herald. Rutland, Vermont, USA. September 19, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Newcomer to the panel". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool, England. August 16, 1955. p. 6. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Film couple marry again". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California, USA. April 1, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hollywood Party Line". The Jackson Sun. ackson, Tennessee, USA. January 13, 1942. p. 4. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tay Garnett divorced". The St. Louis Star and Times. St. Louis, Missouri, USA. July 8, 1942. p. 8. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Garnett wanted repasts after 4 a.m. swims, wife complains". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California, USA. July 8, 1942. p. 28. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tay Garnett, Wife Welcome Arrival". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. October 26, 1955. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Although she was born in Toronto, Canada..." Daily News. New York, New York, USA. February 13, 1955. p. 582. Retrieved May 4, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Tay Garnett at IMDb
- Family Photo Album – Tiela Aldon Garnett Daniels
- 1894 births
- 1977 deaths
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American screenwriters
- American male screenwriters
- American military personnel of World War I
- American television directors
- Deaths from leukemia in California
- Film directors from Los Angeles
- Military personnel from California
- Screenwriters from California
- United States Naval Aviators
- United States Navy personnel of World War I
- Writers from Los Angeles
- Los Angeles High School alumni
- MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni