George Marshall (director)
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.
For other people named George Marshall, see George Marshall (disambiguation).
George Marshall
February 17, 1975 (aged 83)
George E. Marshall
Actor, screenwriter, producer, film and television director
1915–1975
Germaine Desiree Minet (m. 1919)[1]
2
Relatively few of Marshall's films are well-known today, with Destry Rides Again (1939), The Ghost Breakers (1940), The Blue Dahlia (1946), The Sheepman (1958), and How the West Was Won (1962) being the biggest exceptions. John Houseman called him "one of the old maestros of Hollywood ... he had never become one of the giants but he held a solid and honorable position in the industry."[2]
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, though many of his films at Fox were destroyed in a vault fire in 1937.[3] 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.
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Marshall dropped out of the University of Chicago and worked a journalist and a mechanic. He was working as a logger in Washington when he decided to go to Los Angeles in 1912 to visit his mother. Marshall served as a combat cinematographer with the U.S. Army Signal Corps in France during World War I.
Marshall decided to return to Hollywood and work in the movies. He initially worked as an extra. He and another extra, future director Frank Lloyd, once pooled their money to buy a suit and get more work.[4] Marshall eventually moved into stunt work, then directing.[5]
Harry Carey and Neal Hart[edit]
Marshall's early directorial work most starred Harry Carey and Neal Hart. He said his first film was the Carey three reeler The Committee on Credentials (1916).[6] He also directed Love's Lariat (1916) and A Woman's Eyes (1917), all with Carey, and The Man from Montana (1917) with Hart. He worked with other actors too, such as Hoot Gibson in The Midnight Flyer (1918) and Ruth Roland in the serials The Adventures of Ruth (1919) and Ruth of the Rockies (1920).
Personal life[edit]
Marshall married Germaine, who he met in France after World War I. They had two children, a son and a daughter.[4]
Marshall died after a two-week illness.[4] He 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.[30]