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IMDbPro

George Marshall(1891-1975)

  • Director
  • Writer
  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
George Marshall
George Marshall was a versatile American director who came to Hollywood to visit his mother and "have a bit of fun". Expelled from Chicago University in 1912, he was an unsettled young man, drifting from job to job, variously employed as a mechanic, newspaper reporter and lumberjack with a logging outfit in Washington state. Trying his luck in the emerging film industry, he got his start at Universal and was put to work as an extra. His powerful, six-foot frame served him well for doing stunt work in westerns, earning him a dollar every time he fell off a horse.

He was first glimpsed on-screen in a bit as a laundry delivery man in Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle's The Waiters' Ball (1916). The acting gig wasn't to his taste, though, and, within a year he moved on to writing and directing. The majority of his early assignments were two-reel westerns and adventure serials, starring the popular Ruth Roland. A jack-of-all-trades, he was later prone to remark that in those days he often needed to double as cameraman and editor, too, often cutting his film with a pair of scissors and splicing it with cement. In the 1920's, Marshall worked with cowboy star Tom Mix and then became a comedy specialist for Mack Sennett, turning out as many as 60 one- or two-reelers per year. At Fox, he served as supervising director on all of the studio's comedic output between 1925 and 1930.

At the beginning of the sound era Marshall joined Hal Roach and directed comedies with Thelma Todd (Strictly Unreliable (1932)) and two of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's best shorts: Their First Mistake (1932) and Towed in a Hole (1932)). Always adept at visual comedy, Marshall directed (and also turned up to good effect in a cameo as a hard-boiled army cop in) Pack Up Your Troubles (1932). Economic conditions forced a downsizing at Roach, and Marshall returned to Fox in 1934, staying there for four years, then worked at Universal (1939-40) and Paramount (1942-50, and 1952-54). One of his biggest critical and financial successes was the classic western Destry Rides Again (1939), which re-invigorated the career of Marlene Dietrich and became Universal's top box-office hit for the year. He controlled the antics of W.C. Fields in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939); helped Betty Hutton on her way to stardom with the biopics Incendiary Blonde (1945) and The Perils of Pauline (1947); and directed Alan Ladd in the film noir classic The Blue Dahlia (1946). There was also a fruitful association with Bob Hope, beginning with The Ghost Breakers (1940).

Freelancing over the next two decades, Marshall turned out three superior vehicles for Glenn Ford: a western (The Sheepman (1958)) and two comedies (The Gazebo (1959) and Advance to the Rear (1964)). He was one of three directors (the other two were John Ford and Henry Hathaway) assigned individual segments of the blockbuster How the West Was Won (1962). Towards the end of his long career he helmed several episodes of the Daniel Boone (1964) and Here's Lucy (1968) TV series.

With at least 185 directing credits to his name (there may have been as many as 400, given his prolific output of shorts during the 1910's), George Marshall retired from making films in 1972 and died three years later at the age of 83. He has a star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard.
BornDecember 29, 1891
DiedFebruary 17, 1975(83)
BornDecember 29, 1891
DiedFebruary 17, 1975(83)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 2 wins & 2 nominations

Photos14

Bob Crane, George Marshall, and Elke Sommer in The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and George Marshall in Their First Mistake (1932)
Veronica Lake and George Marshall in The Blue Dahlia (1946)
William Holden, Lucille Ball, and George Marshall
George Marshall
Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, and George Marshall in Towed in a Hole (1932)
William Holden, Glenn Ford, George Marshall, and Claire Trevor in Texas (1941)
William Holden, Glenn Ford, George Marshall, and Claire Trevor in Texas (1941)
Marlene Dietrich, George Marshall, and Joe Pasternak in Destry Rides Again (1939)
Harry Carey, Olive Carey, William Gillis, Tom Grimes, Neal Hart, Pedro León, George Marshall, Bud Osborne, William Quinn, and Joe Rickson in Love's Lariat (1916)
C. Graham Baker and George Marshall in Valley of the Sun (1942)
Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, George Marshall, and H.C. Potter in The Goldwyn Follies (1938)

Known for

How the West Was Won (1962)
How the West Was Won
7.0
  • Director(segment The Railroad)
  • 1962
Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
Pack Up Your Troubles
7.2
  • Director
  • 1932
The Goldwyn Follies (1938)
The Goldwyn Follies
5.3
  • Director
  • 1938
Brian Donlevy, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Victor McLaglen in Battle of Broadway (1938)
Battle of Broadway
6.1
  • Director
  • 1938

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Director

  • Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in The Odd Couple (1970)
    The Odd Couple
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1972
  • Hec Ramsey (1972)
    Hec Ramsey
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1972
  • Glenn Ford, Edgar Buchanan, Victor Campos, Sandra Ego, Peter Ford, and Taylor Lacher in Cade's County (1971)
    Cade's County
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1972
  • Fess Parker in Daniel Boone (1964)
    Daniel Boone
    • Director (episode "Tall Tale of Prater Beasely, A")
    • TV Series
    • 1964–1970
  • Here's Lucy (1968)
    Here's Lucy
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1969
  • Jerry Lewis and Peter Lawford in Hook, Line and Sinker (1969)
    Hook, Line and Sinker
    • Director
    • 1969
  • The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (1968)
    The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz
    • Director
    • 1968
  • Eight on the Lam (1967)
    Eight on the Lam
    • Director
    • 1967
  • Tarzan (1966)
    Tarzan
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1966
  • Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, and Elke Sommer in Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number! (1966)
    Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number!
    • Director
    • 1966
  • The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965)
    The Wackiest Ship in the Army
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1965
  • Valentine's Day (1964)
    Valentine's Day
    • Director
    • TV Series
    • 1964–1965
  • Jim Backus, Joan Blondell, Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens, and Melvyn Douglas in Advance to the Rear (1964)
    Advance to the Rear
    • Director
    • 1964
  • Dark Purpose (1964)
    Dark Purpose
    • Director
    • 1964
  • Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
    Papa's Delicate Condition
    • Director
    • 1963

Writer

  • Screen Directors Playhouse (1955)
    Screen Directors Playhouse
    • from a story by
    • TV Series
    • 1955
  • Don Ameche, John Carradine, Walter Catlett, and Loretta Young in Love Under Fire (1937)
    Love Under Fire
    • contributing writer (uncredited)
    • 1937
  • Helen Wood, Slim Summerville, and Jane Withers in Can This Be Dixie? (1936)
    Can This Be Dixie?
    • story
    • 1936
  • Pat Paterson and Charles Starrett in Call It Luck (1934)
    Call It Luck
    • story
    • 1934
  • El Brendel in Olsen's Big Moment (1933)
    Olsen's Big Moment
    • story
    • 1933
  • Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Towed in a Hole (1932)
    Towed in a Hole
    • idea (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1932
  • Big Dame Hunting
    • story
    • Short
    • 1932
  • Hey Diddle Diddle
    • Writer
    • Short
    • 1930
  • The Jolt
    • story (as George E. Marshall)
    • 1921
  • Rhea Mitchell and Tom Mix in A Ridin' Romeo (1921)
    A Ridin' Romeo
    • scenario
    • 1921
  • Eileen Percy in Why Trust Your Husband (1921)
    Why Trust Your Husband
    • story (as George E. Marshall)
    • 1921
  • The Gun Runners
    • story
    • Short
    • 1919
  • Beating the Limited
    • story
    • Short
    • 1918
  • Naked Fists
    • scenario
    • Short
    • 1918
  • Quick Triggers
    • screenplay
    • story
    • Short
    • 1918

Actor

  • Angie Dickinson in Police Woman (1974)
    Police Woman
    • Jonas Van Dyke Sr.
    • TV Series
    • 1975
  • The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder (1974)
    The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder
    • Corky
    • 1974
  • Here's Lucy (1968)
    Here's Lucy
    • Sheriff George
    • TV Series
    • 1969
  • Preston Foster in Cavalcade of America (1952)
    Cavalcade of America
    • TV Series
    • 1955
  • Gary Cooper, William Holden, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Burt Lancaster, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Ray Milland, Barbara Stanwyck, Paulette Goddard, Joan Caulfield, Cass Daley, Billy De Wolfe, Barry Fitzgerald, Mary Hatcher, Dorothy Lamour, Gail Russell, Olga San Juan, Lizabeth Scott, and Sonny Tufts in Variety Girl (1947)
    Variety Girl
    • George Marshall
    • 1947
  • Their First Mistake (1932)
    Their First Mistake
    • Neighbor (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1932
  • James C. Morton, Zasu Pitts, and Thelma Todd in The Soilers (1932)
    The Soilers
    • Helpful Bystander (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1932
  • Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel in Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
    Pack Up Your Troubles
    • Pierre (uncredited)
    • 1932
  • How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones, No. 2: 'Chip Shots' (1931)
    How I Play Golf by Bobby Jones No. 11: 'Practice Shots'
    • Mr. Marshall (uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1931
  • Beating the Limited
    • (as George E. Marshall)
    • Short
    • 1918
  • The Code of the Mounted
    • Jacques Baptiste (as George E. Marshall)
    • Short
    • 1916
  • Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle in The Waiters' Ball (1916)
    The Waiters' Ball
    • Laundry Delivery Man (unconfirmed, uncredited)
    • Short
    • 1916

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • George E. Marshall
  • Born
    • December 29, 1891
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Died
    • February 17, 1975
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(pneumonia)
  • Spouse
    • Germaine Desiree MinetApril 2, 1919 - February 17, 1975 (his death, 2 children)
  • Publicity listings
    • 8 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He enjoyed working with Stan Laurel and felt he learned a lot from him about the construction of gags.
  • Quotes
    [on listening] Formula for handling people: 1. Listen to other person's story; 2. Listen to other person's full story; 3. Listen to other person's story first.

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