George Marshall (director)

George Marshall
Born	(1891-12-29)December 29, 1891 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	February 17, 1975(1975-02-17) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, United States
Other names	George E. Marshall
Occupation(s)	Actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director
Years active	1915–1975

Marshall (left) with Marlene Dietrich and producer Joe Pasternak on the set of the 1939 film Destry Rides Again

George E. Marshall (December 29, 1891 – February 17, 1975) was an American actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director, active through the first six decades of film history.

Relatively few of Marshall's films are well-known today, with Destry Rides Again, The Blue Dahlia, The Sheepman, and How the West Was Won being the biggest exceptions. Marshall co-directed How the West Was Won with John Ford and Henry Hathaway, handling the railroad segment, which featured a celebrated buffalo stampede sequence. While Marshall worked on almost all kinds of films imaginable, he started his career in the early silent period doing mostly Westerns, a genre he never completely abandoned.

In the 1930s, he established a reputation for comedy, directing Laurel and Hardy in three classic films, and also working on a variety of comedies for Fox (Many of his films at Fox were destroyed in a vault fire in 1937). Later in his career, he was particularly sought after for comedies. He did around half a dozen films each with Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis, and also worked with W. C. Fields, Jackie Gleason, and Will Rogers.

Lucille Ball chose George Marshall to direct eleven episodes of her Here's Lucy television series in 1969, having previously worked in several Marshall comedies herself.

Marshall is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Los Angeles.

For his contribution to the film industry, George Marshall has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7048 Hollywood Boulevard.

Biography

Marshall dropped out of the University of Chicago and worked a journalist and a mechanic. He went to Los Angeles in 1912 to visit his mother and decided to stay to work as an extra. He and another extra once pooled their money to buy a suit and get more work. He moved into stunt work.

He began directing Harry Carey Westerns such as The Committee on Credentials.

He served in France in World War One.

In the 1920s he worked with Tom Mix.

By the early 1940s he was best known as a director of Westerns.

In 1948 he quit Bonanza (which became Lust for Gold) with Glenn Ford and Ida Lupino after four days of filming due to disputes with producer S. Sylvan Simon.

In 1949 Paramount extended its contract with him for two more years.

In 1963 he celebrated his fiftieth year as a director.

By the late 1960s he was directing TV shows such as Daniel Boone.

He appeared as an actor in The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder.

His last professional job was an acting appearance in Police Woman. Three days before he died he was inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame.

Personal Life

Marshall married Germaine, who he met in France after World War One. They had two children, a son and a daughter.

Partial filmography

• And the Best Man Won (1915) (short) - story
• Across the Rio Grande (1916) (short) - writer, director - with Neal Hart
• The Committee on Credentials (1916) (short) - director - with Harry Carey
• Liberty (1916) (serial) - assistant director
• Love's Lariat (1916) - writer, director - with Harry Carey, Neal Hart
• A Woman's Eyes (1916) -writer, director - with Harry Carey
• The Devil's Own (1916) - director
• Won by Grit (1917) - director
• The Comeback (1917) (short) - director, producer
• They Were Four (1917) (short) - writer, director - with Joe Rickson
• Border Wolves (1917) (short) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Roped In (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• The Raid (1917) - writer, director - with Neal Hart
• The Desert Ghost (1917) - director
• Bill Brennan's Claim (1917) - director
• Casey's Border Raid (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• The Honor of Men (1917) - director
• Swede Hearts (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Meet My Wife (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Double Suspicion (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Right of Way Casey (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Squaring It (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• The Ninth Day (1917) - director
• The Man from Montana (1917) - story, director - with Neal Hart
• Quick Triggers (1918)(short) - director, writer - with Neal Hart
• The Midnight Flyer (1918)(short) - director - with Hoot Gibson
• Naked Fists (1918)(short) - director, writer - with Neal Hart
• Beating the Limited (1918)(short) - director, story - with Neal Hart
• When Paris Saw Green Red (1918)(short) - director
• The Fast Mail (1919) (short) - director
• The Husband Hunter (1919) - director
• The Gun Runners (1919) - director, story
• The Adventures of Ruth (1919) (serial) - director - with Ruth Roland
• Charlot! Charlot! (1919) - director
• Ruth of the Rockies (1920) (serial) - director - with Ruth Roland
• Prairie Trails (1920) - director -with Tom Mix
• Why Trust Your Husband (1921) - director, story
• Hands Off! (1921) - director - with Tom Mix
• A Ridin' Romeo (1921) - director, story - with Tom Mix
• After Your Own Heart (1921) - director - with Tom Mix
• The Lady from Longacre (1921) - director
• The Jolt (1921) - director, writer - with Edna Murphy
• Smiles Are Trumps (1922) - director
• West Is West (1922) (short) - director
• The Haunted Valley (1923) - director
• Don Quickshot of the Rio Grande (1923) - director
• Where Is This West (1923) - director
• Men in the Raw (1923) - director
• The Back Trail (1924) - director
• The Fight (1924) (short) - director
• The Hunt (1924) (short) - director
• The Race (1924) (short) - director
• Paul JOnes Jr (1924) (short) - director
• The Burglar (1924) (short) - director
• All Abroad (1925) (short) - producer
• A Spanish Romeo (1925) (short) - director
• The Big Game Hunter (1925) (short) - director
• The Sky Jumper (1925) (short) - director
• A Parisian Knight (1925) (short) - director
• Neptune's Stepdaughter (1925) (short) - supervisor
• Pawnshop Politics (1926) (short) - producer
• Matrimony Blues (1926) (short) - producer
• A Bankrupt Honeymoon (1926) (short) - supervisor
• From a Cabby's Seat (1926) (short) - director
• Moving Day (1926) (short) - supervisor
• The Steeplechaser (1926) (short) - producer
• King of the Kitchen (1926) (short) - producer
• A1 Society (1926) (short) - supervisor
• The Non-Stop Bride (1926) (short) - supervisor
• The Battling Kangaroo (1926) (short) - supervisor
• Golf Widows (1926) (short) - supervisor
• A Trip to Chinatown (1926) - production supervisor
• Girls (1927) (short) - director
• A Dog's Pal (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• The Kangaroo Detective (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• A Man About Town (1927) (short) - director, producer
• Wine, Women and Sauerkraut (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• Rumors for Rent (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• Suite Homes (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• The Gay Retreat (1927) (short) - production supervisor
• Gentlemen Prefer Scotch (1927) (short) - director
• Slippery Silks (1927) (short) - producer
• The Adventures of Ruth (1927) (short) - director
• Twenty Legs Under the Sea (1927) (short) - supervisor
• Captain Kidd's Kittens (1927 )(short) - supervisor
• The Elephant's Elbows (1928) (short) - supervisor
• Bear Knees (1928) (short) - supervisor
• No Picnic (1928) (short) - director
• No Sale Smitty (1928) (short) - director
• Camping Out (1928) (short) - director
• No Vacation (1929) (short) - director
• Circus Time (1929) (short) - director
• No Children (1929) (short) - director
• Watch My Smoke (1929) (short) - director
• Tomato Omlette (1929) (short) - director
• Puckered Success (1929) (short) - director
• Uncle's Visit (1929) (short) - director
• Hey Diddle Diddle (1930) (short) - director, writer - with Nick Basil
• He Loved Her Not (1931) (short) - director
• How I Play Golf (1931) - series of 12 shorts starring Bobby Jones - director
• Big Dame Hunting (1932) (short) - director, story - with Ned Sparks
• Just a Pain in the Parlor (1932) (short) - director
• Strictly Unreliable (1932) (short) - director
• The Old Bull (1932) (short) - director
• Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) (short) - director, actor
• Allum and Eve (1932) (short) - director
• A Firehouse Honeymoon (1932) (short) - director
• The Soilers (1932) (short) - director
• Their First Mistake (1932) (short) - director - with Laurel and Hardy
• Towed in a Hole (1932) (short) - director, idea - with Laurel and Hardy
• Easy on the Eyes (1933) (short) - director
• Calienete Love (1933) (short) - director
• Sweet Cookie (1933) (short) - director
• Knock Out Kisses (1933) (short) - director
• Husbands' Reunion (1933) (short) - director
• The Big Fibber (1933) (short) - director
• How to Break 90 (1933) - a series of 6 shorts starring Bobby Jones - director
• Olsen's Big Moment (1933) - story
• 365 Nights in Hollywood (1934) - director - with Alice Faye
• She Learned About Sailors (1934) - director - with Alice Faye
• Wild Gold (1934) - director
• Call It Luck (1934) - story
• Ever Since Eve (1934) - director
• Life Begins at 40 (1935) - director
• In Old Kentucky (1935) - director
• Show Them No Mercy! (1935) - director
• Music is Magic (1935) - director
• $10 Raise (1935) - director
• A Message to Garcia (1936) - director
• The Crime of Dr. Forbes (1936) - director
• Love Under Fire (1937) - director
• Can This Be Dixie? (1937) - director, story
• Nancy Steele Is Missing! (1937) - director
• Hold That Co-ed (1938) - director
• Battle of Broadway (1938) - director
• The Goldwyn Follies (1938) - director
• You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) - director
• Destry Rides Again (1939) - director
• The Ghost Breakers (1940) - director
• When the Daltons Rode (1940) - director
• Pot o' Gold (1941) - director
• Texas (1941) - director
• Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) - director
• Valley of the Sun (1942) - director
• The Forest Rangers (1942) - director
• True to Life (1943) - director
• Riding High (1943) - director
• And the Angels Sing (1944) - director
• Murder, He Says (1945) - director
• Hold That Blonde (1945) - director
• Incendiary Blonde (1945) - director
• The Blue Dahlia (1946) - director
• Monsieur Beaucaire (1946) - director
• The Perils of Pauline (1947) - director
• Variety Girl (1947) - director, cameo
• Hazard (1948) - director
• Tap Roots (1948) - director
• Lust for Gold (1949) - directed for a few days before leaving film
• My Friend Irma (1949) - director
• Never a Dull Moment (1950) - director
• Fancy Pants (1950) - director
• Ace of Clubs (1951) (short) - director with Bobby Jones
• A Millionaire for Christy (1951) - director
• The Savage (1952) - director
• Off Limits (1952) - director
• Money from Home (1953) - director
• Scared Stiff (1953) - director
• Houdini (1953) - director
• Duel in the Jungle (1954) - director
• Red Garters (1954) - director
• Destry (1954) - director
• The Second Greatest Sex (1955) - director
• Screen Directors Playhouse (1955) (TV series) - director, story - 1 episode "The Silent Partner" with Buster Keaton
• Cavalcade of America (1955) (TV series) - actor episode "How to Raise a Boy"
• Beyond Mombasa (1956) - director
• Pillars of the Sky (1956) - director
• The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) - director
• The Sad Sack (1957) - director
• The Sheepman (1958) - director
• Imitation General (1958) - director
• The Mating Game (1959) - director
• It Started with a Kiss (1959) - director
• The Gazebo (1959) - director
• Cry for Happy (1961) - director
• The Happy Thieves (1961) - director
• How the West Was Won (1962) - director (the railroad scenes)
• Papa's Delicate Condition (1963) - director
• Advance to the Rear (1964) - director
• Dark Purpose (1964) - director
• Valentine's Day (1964-65) (TV series) - director 5 episodes
• The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1964) (TV series) - director 1 episode
• Daniel Boone (1964-70) (TV series) - director 10 episodes
• Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966) - director
• Tarzan (1966) (TV series) - director 1 episode
• Eight on the Lam (1967) - director
• The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968) - director
• Hook, Line & Sinker (1969) - director
• Here's Lucy (1969) (TV series) - director 10 episodes - actor in episode "Lucy Runs the Rapids"
• Cade's County (1972) (TV series) - director 1 episode
• Hec Ramsey (1972) (TV series) - director 1 episode
• The Odd Couple (1972) (TV series) - director 2 episodes
• The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974) - actor
• Police Woman (1975) (TV series) - actor n episode "Blast"

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Result	Category	Film
1964	Western Heritage Awards	Won	Theatrical Motion Picture	How the West Was Won (shared with John Ford, Henry Hathaway, and James R. Webb)
1967	Laurel Awards	Nominated	Director	-

External links

• George Marshall at IMDb
• George Marshall at the TCM Movie Database
• George Marshall at Find a Grave