Andrew V. McLaglen

Andrew V. McLaglen
Born	Andrew Victor McLaglen (1920-07-28)July 28, 1920 London, England, UK
Died	August 30, 2014(2014-08-30) (aged 94) Friday Harbor, Washington, U.S.
Citizenship	United Kingdom, United States
Occupation	Film director
Spouse(s)	Margarita Harrison (m. 1943; div. 194?) Veda Ann Borg ​ ​ (m. 1946; div. 1958)​ Sally Pierce ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1977)​ Sheila Greenan ​ ​ (m. 1987; died 2005)​
Children	4

Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart.

Early Life and Career

McLaglen was born in London, the son of British-American actor Victor McLaglen and his wife, Enid Lamont, who moved to Hollywood in the early 1920s, shortly after his birth. He was from a film family that included eight uncles and an aunt, and he grew up on movie sets with his parents as well as John Wayne and John Ford. He attended Black Fox Military and The Carl Curtis School then the Cates School in Santa Barbara and the University of Virginia.

During Wold War Two McLaglen was ruled 4F due to his height and went to work at Lockheed for four years.

Assistant Director

When the war ended he wrote to Republic Pictures asking for a job and was made an assistant on Love, Honor and Goodbye (1945). He worked for two years as a general clerk at Republic on movies such as Dakota (1945) then became a second assistant director.

He was an assistant on two Budd Boetticher films, Killer Shark (1950) and Bullfighter and the Lady (1951); on the latter he was promoted for first assistant director. He was 2nd AD on The Quiet Man (1952) with his father, and 1st AD on Wild Stallion (1952), Here Come the Marines (1952), Big Jim McLain (1952) with John Wayne, Hellgate (1952), Kansas Pacific (1953), and Fort Vengeance (1953).

He was assistant director on a series of films for John Wayne's company Batjac: Plunder of the Sun (1953), Island in the Sky (1954), The High and the Mighty (1954), Track of the Cat (1954) and Blood Alley (1954).

Director

Debut Features

After several more assistant director jobs, McLaglen directed his first film, Man in the Vault (1956), written by Burt Kennedy.

It was which was followed by Gun the Man Down (1956), a western B movie with James Arness, who McLaglen got to know making Big Jim McLain; it also sttarred Angie Dickinson and Harry Carey Jr.. He was going to direct Seven Men from Now (1956) but the job went to Boetticher; McLaglen was credited as a producer. McLaglen had impressed James Arness who arranged for the director to start helming episodes of Gunsmoke. McLglen directed The Abductors (1957) starring his father Victor.

Television and Low Budget Features

In the late 1950s and early 1960s McLaglen focused on television directing, prolifically directing episodes of The Lineup, Hotel de Paree, Perry Mason (7), Gunslinger (5), Everglades!, Rawhide (6), 116 episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel with Richard Boone, The Lieutenant (4), The Virginian (2), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Wagon Train, and 96 episodes of Gunsmoke.

During this time he directed two low budget children's films for Robert Lippert released through 20th Century Fox, Freckles (1960) and The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1960).

Focus on Feature Films

His first big budget feature film as director was McLintock! (1963) starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. McLaglen later said " that put me in the big time."

The movie was a big success and led to McLaglen being offered another studio feature, Shenandoah (1965), starring James Stewart It was another success.

McLaglen followed it with The Rare Breed (1966), again with James Stewart; Monkeys, Go Home! (1967), a Disney movie; The Way West (1967) an epic Western with Kirk Douglas; The Ballad of Josie (1967), a comic Western with Doris Day; the war story The Devil's Brigade (1968) with William Holden; and the western Bandolero! co-starring Stewart, Raquel Welch, and Dean Martin.

McLaglen made three films in a row with John Wayne: Hellfighters (1969), a biopic of Red Adair; The Undefeated (1969), a Western with Rock Hudson; and Chisum (1970), a Western about John Chisum.

McLaglen continued to specialise in Westerns: One More Train to Rob (1971) with George Peppard; Fools' Parade (1971) with James Stewart and George Kennedy, which McLaglen said was his favourite film; Something Big starring Martin; and Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973) with Wayne and Kennedy.

Return to Television

McLaglen says "Then I had a little bit of a lapse" in his career. He returned to television doing episodes of Banacek with Peppard, Hec Ramsey with Richard Boone and Amy Prentiss. He made some TV movies The Log of the Black Pearl (1975) and Stowaway to the Moon (1975) then returned to features with Mitchell (1975) with Joe Don Baker and The Last Hard Men (1976) with James Coburn and Charlton Heston.

McLaglen made some more TV movies, Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free (1976), Royce (1976), Murder at the World Series (1977), and Trail of Danger (1978). He also directed episodes of Code R, The Fantastic Journey, and Nashville 99,

Adventure Films

McLaglen was hired to make a adventure films, The Wild Geese (1978), with Richard Burton, Richard Harris and Roger Moore. McLaglen said the film " was a whole new start for my career". It was a huge success, and McLaglen then made Breakthrough (1979), a war film with Burton; North Sea Hijack (1979), an action film with Moore; The Sea Wolves (1980), a war movie from the producer of The Sea Wolves, with Moore and Gregory Peck.

McLaglen returned to television to make The Shadow Riders (1982) with Tom Selleck; The Blue and the Gray, an elaborate mini series about the Civil War; and Travis McGee (1983) starring Sam Elliott as Travis McGee, a pilot for a proposed series.

He directed Brooke Shields in Sahara (1983), then did two works for TV: The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission (1985) and On Wings of Eagles (1986).

His last feature films were Return from the River Kwai (1989) and Eye of the Widow (1991). McLaglen then retired and moved to San Juan Island, where he irected for the San Juan Island Community Theater.

Later years

McLaglen later moved to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington State, directing plays for San Juan Island Community Theater.

Personal life

McLaglen and his first wife, Margarita Harrison, had one child: Sharon McLaglen Lannan (born 1944). He and his second wife, actress Veda Ann Borg, had one child: Andrew Victor McLaglen II (August 3, 1954 – January 16, 2006). He and his third wife, Sally Pierce, had two children, Josh and Mary McLaglen.

Death

Andrew V. McLaglen died August 30, 2014, age 94, in Friday Harbor, Washington.

Films directed

• Gun the Man Down — Batjac film (1956)
• Man in the Vault — Batjac Film (1956)
• The Abductors (1957)
• Freckles (1960)
• The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1961)
• McLintock! — With John Wayne (1963)
• Shenandoah With James Stewart (1965)
• The Rare Breed With James Stewart (1966)
• Monkeys, Go Home! (1967)
• The Way West (1967)
• The Ballad of Josie (1967)
• The Devil's Brigade (1968)
• Bandolero! With James Stewart (1968)
• Hellfighters — With John Wayne (1968)
• The Undefeated — With John Wayne (1969)
• Chisum — With John Wayne (1970)
• One More Train to Rob (1971)
• Fools' Parade With James Stewart (1971)
• Something Big (1971)
• Cahill U.S. Marshal — With John Wayne (1973)
• The Log of the Black Pearl — TV movie (1975)
• Stowaway to the Moon — TV movie (1975)
• Mitchell (1975)
• The Last Hard Men (1976)
• Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free (1976)
• Royce — TV movie (1976)
• Murder at the World Series — TV movie (1977)
• Trail of Danger — TV movie (1978)
• The Wild Geese (1978)
• North Sea Hijack (1979)
• Breakthrough (1979)
• The Sea Wolves (1980)
• The Shadow Riders — TV movie (1982)
• Sahara (1983)
• Travis McGee (film) — TV movie (1983)
• The Dirty Dozen: Next Mission — TV movie (1985)
• On Wings of Eagles — TV miniseries (1986)
• Return from the River Kwai (1989)
• Eye of the Widow (1991)

Television directed

• Gunsmoke — 96 episodes (1956–1965)
• Have Gun – Will Travel — 116 episodes (1957–1963)
• Perry Mason — 7 episodes — (1958–1960)
• Rawhide — 6 episodes (1959–1962)
• Gunslinger — 5 episodes (1961)
• The Virginian — episode — Smile of a Dragon (1964)
• Wagon Train — episode — The Silver Lady (1965)
• The Wonderful World of Disney — 5 episodes (1970–1978)
• Banacek — episode — The Three Million Dollar Piracy (1973)
• Amy Prentiss — episode — The Desperate World of Jane Doe (1974)
• Hec Ramsey — episode — Scar Tissue (1974)
• Banacek — episode — Rocket to Oblivion (1974)
• The Blue and the Gray — episodes — Chapter One Parts 1–3 (1982)

Miscellaneous contributions

• Dakota — production assistant (uncredited) (1945)
• Bullfighter and the Lady — assistant director (1951)
• Big Jim McLain — assistant director (1952)
• The Quiet Man — 2nd Assistant Director (uncredited) (1952)
• Hondo — unit production manager (1953)
• Plunder of the Sun — assistant director (1953)
• This Is Your Life — episode — Victor McLaglen — himself (1953)
• Island in the Sky — assistant director (1953)
• Kansas Pacific — assistant director (1953)
• The High and the Mighty — assistant director (1954)
• Track of the Cat — assistant director (1954)
• Blood Alley — assistant director (1955)
• Seven Men From Now — Producer (1956)
• This Is Your Life — episode — Ken Curtis — himself (1972)
• The Hollywood Greats — episode — John Wayne — himself (1984)
• The Making of "The Quiet Man" — Video documentary short — himself (1992)
• The Quiet Man: The Joy of Ireland — Video Documentary Short — himself (2002)
• American Masters — episode — John Ford/John Wayne: The Filmmaker and the Legend — himself (2006)
• 100 Years of John Wayne — TV Movie documentary short — himself (2007)

Further reading

• Armstrong, Stephen B. Andrew V. McLaglen: The Life and Hollywood Career. McFarland & Co. 2011. ISBN 0-7864-4977-2.

External links

• Andrew V. McLaglen at IMDb
• Andrew V. McLaglen at the TCM Movie Database
• Dixon, Wheeler Winston. "Andrew V. McLaglen: Last of the Hollywood Professionals". Senses of Cinema, issue 50. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2017.