Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Richard Compton(1938-2007)

  • Director
  • Producer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Writer/director/producer Richard Compton was born on March 2, 1938, in Philadelphia, PA. He began his career in the early 1960s making government propaganda movies for the United States Information Agency. His debut feature "The French Way", was never released in America. Compton followed this film with the nifty biker flick Angels Die Hard (1970), which was the first movie to be released by Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Compton then did the excellent and unjustly overlooked psycho Vietnam veterans exploitation winner Welcome Home Soldier Boys (1971). He scored his biggest hit with the outstanding cult classic Macon County Line (1974); the unexpected enormous box-office success of this movie begot a handful of similar Southern-fried "don't go down to Dixie" drive-in pictures, which include Jackson County Jail (1976), A Small Town in Texas (1976), and Nightmare in Badham County (1976). Both the tepid semi-sequel Return to Macon County (1975) starring then-unknowns Nick Nolte and Don Johnson and the strictly so-so post-nuke sci-fi survivalist opus Ravagers (1979) were regrettably mediocre, although Assault in Paradise (1977) was a solid and gripping thriller. In the early 1980s Compton began directing more and more for television; he's done several made-for-TV pictures and numerous episodes of such TV shows as Peacemakers (2003), JAG (1995), The Lone Gunmen (2001), Charmed (1998), Sliders (1995), Profiler (1996), Babylon 5 (1993), L.A. Law (1986), The Commish (1991), Home Improvement (1991), Baywatch (1989), Miami Vice (1984), Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), The Equalizer (1985), Hill Street Blues (1981), Hotel (1983) and T.J. Hooker (1982).

Compton also did some acting in the 1960s and '70s; his acting credits include guest spots on two episodes of the original Star Trek (1966) TV show and the enjoyably trashy The Sadistic Hypnotist (1969). He was married to actress Veronica Cartwright. He died at age 69 on August 11, 2007.
BornMarch 2, 1938
DiedAugust 11, 2007(69)
BornMarch 2, 1938
DiedAugust 11, 2007(69)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Add or change photo on IMDbPro
  • Awards

Known for

Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Jerry Doyle, and Andreas Katsulas in Babylon 5 (1993)
Babylon 5
8.4
TV Series
  • Director
The Gun Runner (1969)
The Gun Runner
3.7
  • Director(as R.B. Compton)
  • 1969
Angels Die Hard (1970)
Angels Die Hard
5.0
  • Director
  • 1970
Macon County Line (1974)
Macon County Line
6.6
  • Director(directed by)
  • 1974

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Director

  • Sean Young, Perry King, and Joey Roche in Home for the Holidays (2005)
    Home for the Holidays
    • (directed by)
  • Catherine Bell and David James Elliott in JAG (1995)
    JAG
  • Tom Berenger in Peacemakers (2003)
    Peacemakers
  • The Division (2001)
    The Division
  • Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, and Bruce Harwood in The Lone Gunmen (2001)
    The Lone Gunmen
  • Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny in The X-Files (1993)
    The X-Files
  • The Fugitive (2000)
    The Fugitive
  • The District (2000)
    The District
  • Robert Davi and Ally Walker in Profiler (1996)
    Profiler
  • Debrah Farentino, Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Eric Christian Olsen, Christina Pickles, and Jon Tenney in Get Real (1999)
    Get Real
  • Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs, and Shannen Doherty in Charmed (1998)
    Charmed
  • Sabrina Lloyd, Jerry O'Connell, Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies in Sliders (1995)
    Sliders
  • Kevin Sorbo in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1995)
    Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
  • Richard Burgi in The Sentinel (1996)
    The Sentinel
  • Dennis Rodman, Tim Abell, Melinda Clarke, David Eigenberg, and Brad Johnson in Soldier of Fortune, Inc. (1997)
    Soldier of Fortune, Inc.

Producer

  • Sabrina Lloyd, Jerry O'Connell, Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies in Sliders (1995)
    Sliders
  • Bruce Boxleitner, Mira Furlan, Richard Biggs, Jerry Doyle, and Andreas Katsulas in Babylon 5 (1993)
    Babylon 5
  • House of Zodiac
  • Like Mother Like Daughter (1969)
    Like Mother Like Daughter
    • (as R.B. Compton)

Actor

  • Kojak: Fatal Flaw (1989)
    Kojak: Fatal Flaw
  • Bury Me an Angel (1971)
    Bury Me an Angel
  • Angels Die Hard (1970)
    Angels Die Hard
    • (uncredited)
  • Diamond Stud (1970)
    Diamond Stud
  • Dr. Sex (1964)
    The Sadistic Hypnotist
    • (as Dick Dangerfield)
  • The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago (1969)
    The Fabulous Bastard from Chicago
    • (uncredited)
  • Run, Angel, Run! (1969)
    Run, Angel, Run!
  • Walter Koenig, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek (1966)
    Star Trek
  • The Felony Squad (1966)
    The Felony Squad

Personal details

Edit
    • March 2, 1938
    • Akron, Ohio, USA
    • August 11, 2007
    • Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Veronica CartwrightOctober 16, 1982 - August 11, 2007 (his death, 1 child)

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Brother-in-law of Angela Cartwright and Steve Gullion.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.