John Badham
American
Yale University (MFA)
- Film director
- producer
- screenwriter
1969–present
1
Mary Badham (sister)
Early life and education[edit]
Badham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the son of U.S. Army General Henry Lee Badham Jr., and English-born actress Mary Iola Badham (née Hewitt).[2]Henry, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, moved his family back to the U.S. when John was two years old. John's parents and paternal grandparents are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Henry was an aviator in both World Wars, and was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007. After retirement from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general, Henry became a businessman and helped develop the Ensley and Bessemer regions near Birmingham. This same line of business had brought his own father, John's grandfather, into association with Walker Percy, grandfather of writer Walker Percy.[3]
After World War II, Badham's family settled in Mountain Brook, an affluent suburb of Birmingham. He attended Indian Springs School, at that time a brand-new, liberal boys' school located a short distance south of Birmingham in Shelby County near the rural post office of Helena. He later went to college at Yale University, earning a Masters of Fine Arts.
Personal life[edit]
Badham's sister, Mary Badham, was nominated for an Oscar for her role as "Scout" Finch in the film To Kill a Mockingbird. They worked together on one project, William Castle's Let's Kill Uncle, released in 1966, Badham was Castle's casting director, and Mary played one of the leads.[23]
Badham's former wife is retired model Jan Speck of The New Treasure Hunt. She had assorted cameo roles in many of his projects, starting in the 1980s.[24]