Andrew V. McLaglen

Andrew Victor McLaglen (28 July 1920 – 30 August 2014) was a film and television director, known for westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. He was born in London, but lived and worked in the United States for most of his life.

Andrew McLaglen was born in London, the son of British actor Victor McLaglen and 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. After working as an assistant director on a few smaller films, Ford gave him an assistant director job on the 1952 film The Quiet Man.

After a few more assistant director jobs, McLaglen directed his first film, Man in the Vault (1956), which was followed by Gun the Man Down (1956), a western B-movie with James Arness, Angie Dickinson and Harry Carey, Jr.. Both were produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions.

He went on to work extensively in television directing, prolifically directing episodes of Perry Mason (7), Gunslinger (5), Rawhide (6), and then 116 episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel, The Lieutenant (4), The Virginian (2), and 96 episodes of Gunsmoke.

He returned to films, directing Shenandoah (1965) and The Rare Breed (1966), both with James Stewart; The Devil's Brigade (1968), Mitchell (1975), The Wild Geese (1978), starring Richard Burton, North Sea Hijack (1979), and The Sea Wolves (1980). He did mostly westerns, but later specialized in war or action films, his last being Return from the River Kwai (1989). He also worked many times with John Wayne in such films as McLintock! (1963), Hellfighters (1968), The Undefeated (1969), Chisum (1970), and Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973). He also directed The Last Hard Men (1976) which starred Charlton Heston and James Coburn. McLaglen helmed Murder at the World Series, a 1977 TV movie that reteamed him with Chisum actress Lynda Day George.

McLaglen directed films in an assortment of categories, including crime, war, historical and comedy, but he was most frequently a director of Westerns, and would be among the last of the American film directors to specialize in the Western genre.

He later moved to Friday Harbor on 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).

McLaglen and his then wife, the American actress Veda Ann Borg, had one child, Andrew Victor McLaglen II (August 3, 1954–January 16, 2006).

His third marriage to Sally Pierce produced two children, Josh McLaglen, an assistant director, and Mary McLaglen, a production manager and producer.

He died on August 30, 2014 at the age of 94.

Films directed

• Gun the Man Down - Batjac film (1956)
• Man in the Vault - Batjac Film (1956)
• The Abductors (1957)
• Freckles (1960)
• McLintock! - With John Wayne (1963)
• Shenandoah (1965)
• The Rare Breed (1966)
• The Ballad of Josie (1967)
• Monkeys, Go Home! (1967)
• The Way West (1967)
• The Devil's Brigade (1968)
• Bandolero! (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 (1971)
• Something Big (1971)
• Cahill U.S. Marshal - With John Wayne (1973)
• Mitchell (1975)
• The Last Hard Men (1976)
• The Wild Geese (1978)
• North Sea Hijack (1979)
• Breakthrough (1979)
• The Sea Wolves (1980)
• The Shadow Riders - TV movie (1982)
• Sahara (1983)
• Travis McGee - TV movie (1983)
• Eye of the Widow (1989)
• Return from the River Kwai (1989)

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)
• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color - 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)

Misc.

• Bullfighter and the Lady - assistant director (1951)
• Dakota - production assistant (uncredited) (1945)
• Big Jim McLain - assistant director (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)
• The High and the Mighty - assistant director (1954)
• Track of the Cat - assistant director (1954)
• Blood Alley - assistant director (1955)
• This Is Your Life - episode - Ken Curtis - Himself (1972)
• 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)