Robert Stevenson (director)

Robert Stevenson
Born (1905-03-31)31 March 1905
Buxton, Derbyshire, England
Died 30 April 1986(1986-04-30) (aged 81)
Santa Barbara, California, US
Occupation Director, screenwriter and actor
Years active 1928–1985
Spouse(s) Cecilie L Leslie (1929–1934) (divorced)
Anna Lee (1934–1944) (divorced)
Frances Holyoke Howard (1944) (divorced)
Ursula Henderson (1963–1986) (his death)
Children Venetia Stevenson, Caroline Stevenson, Hugh Howard Stevenson

Robert Stevenson (31 March 1905 – 30 April 1986) was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society.

After directing a number of British films, including King Solomon's Mines (1937), he was given a contract by David O. Selznick and moved to Hollywood in the 1940s. He ended up directing 19 films for the Walt Disney Company in the 1960s and 1970s. Stevenson is best remembered for directing the Julie Andrews musical Mary Poppins, for which Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress and Stevenson was nominated for Best Director.[1] With Disney, he also directed the first two Herbie films, The Love Bug (1968) and Herbie Rides Again (1974), as well as Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). Three of his films featured English actor David Tomlinson.

Stevenson divorced his first wife Cecilie and married English actress Anna Lee in 1934. They lived on London's Bankside for five years, moving to Hollywood in 1939, where he remained for many years. They had two daughters, Venetia and Caroline, before divorcing in March 1944.

He married Frances Holyoke Howard on 8 October 1944; they later divorced. They had one son, Hugh Howard Stevenson. Robert Stevenson's widow, Ursula Henderson, appeared as herself in the documentary Locked in the Tower: The Men behind Jane Eyre in 2007.

Filmography

Year Film Notes
1932 Happy Ever After Directorial debut for Stevenson.
The only German film he directed.
1933 Falling For You His directorial debut in the United Kingdom
1934 The Camels Are Coming (uncredited)
1936 Tudor Rose
The Man Who Changed His Mind
Jack of All Trades
1937 King Solomon's Mines
Non-Stop New York
1938 Owd Bob
The Ware Case
1939 Young Man's Fancy
1940 Return to Yesterday Stevenson's last United Kingdom film.
Tom Brown's School Days Stevenson's USA Directorial debut.
1941 Back Street Remake of the 1932 Universal Pictures film of the same name, Stevenson's only film for Universal Pictures.
1942 Joan of Paris Nominated for the Academy Award for original music score, Stevenson's first film for RKO Radio Pictures
1943 Forever and a Day The only film from RKO with a record breaking 22 directors, writers, and producers. Last film for RKO.
1944 Jane Eyre His only film he directed for 20th Century Fox
Know Your Ally: Britain Documentary Short (uncredited), Produced for the United States War Department and the United States Signal Corps.
1946 American Creed Short
1947 Dishonored Lady Stevenson's only film for United Artists.
1948 To the Ends of the Earth Stevenson's only film for Columbia Pictures.
1949 I Married a Communist (aka, The Woman on Pier 13 Stevenson's first film for RKO since 1943
1950 Walk Softly, Stranger Filming completed in 1948 but not released until 1950.
1951 My Forbidden Past
1952 The Las Vegas Story
Macao (uncredited), Stevenson's final film for RKO.
The Ford Television Theatre TV series (3 episodes: 1952–1953), Stevenson's Television Directorial debut, sponsored by Ford.
1953 Cavalcade of America TV series (8 episodes: 1953–1955)
General Electric Theater TV series (2 episodes: 1953–1956), Sponsored by General Electric.
1955 Atomic Energy as a Force for Good (short)
The Star and the Story TV series (3 episodes: 1955–1956)
The 20th Century-Fox Hour TV series (2 episodes: 1955–1956)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV series (7 episodes: 1955–1959)
Gunsmoke TV series (6 episodes)
1957 The Christophers TV series (1 episode: "Sentence Deferred")
Johnny Tremain This marks the return of Robert Stevenson as director in movies since 1952 and his first of in a series of Disney Movies from 1957 to 1976. Based on the award winning novel from 1944 by Esther Forbes
Old Yeller One of Stevenson's most successfully directed films which led to a sequel, Savage Sam (1963). Based on the award winning book by Fred Gipson.
Disneyland TV series (26 episodes: 1957–1982)
Zorro TV series (3 episodes); his final TV series he directed.
1959 Darby O'Gill and the Little People
1960 Kidnapped
1961 The Absent-Minded Professor Nominated – DGA Award – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures,Colorized in 1986 for home video release, one of the few Disney black and white films made after 1941.
Was remade as a 1988 television series and a 1997 remake, Flubber.
Was released in widescreen and was restored to Black and white for the 2003 DVD release, and then released on a two disc DVD set with its sequel film, Son of Flubber, in 2008.
1962 In Search of the Castaways
1963 Son of Flubber Originally filmed in Black and white, and was one of the last few black and white Disney films made after 1941. However, it was colorised for the 1997 VHS release, but was restored for its 2008 two disc DVD release, along with the original 1961 film, The Absent-Minded Professor.
1964 The Misadventures of Merlin Jones Followed by the 1965 sequel, The Monkey's Uncle
Mary Poppins Nominated – Academy Award for Best Director
Blue Ribbon Award – Best Foreign Film
Nominated – DGA Award – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
1965 The Monkey's Uncle Sequel to 1964's The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
That Darn Cat! Led to a 1997 remake, That Darn Cat
1967 The Gnome-Mobile
1968 Blackbeard's Ghost Was released in Japan in 1976 and Australia in 1980.
The Love Bug One of two Love Bug films directed by Stevenson.
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks Sant Jordi – Best Children's Film
1974 Herbie Rides Again The first film to use the name, "Herbie", for the Herbie the Love Bug franchise.
The Island at the Top of the World
1975 One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
1976 The Shaggy D.A. Sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog.
Was Stevenson's final film for Disney, and his final film in general.
1985 The Walt Disney Comedy and Magic Revue (video short) (archive footage)

References

  1. John Wakeman, World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890–1945. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, (1987), pp1057-1063.
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