William Hale (July 11, 1931 – June 10, 2020)[1] was an American film and television director.[2] He is best known for such films and television series as The Virginian, Journey to Shiloh, SOS Titanic, The Murder of Mary Phagan and The Streets of San Francisco.[3]
William Hale | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 11, 1931 Rome, Georgia, US |
| Died | June 10, 2020 (aged 88) |
| Other names | Billy Hale |
| Occupation(s) | Film and television director |
| Years active | 1955–1990 |
| Spouse |
Trudy Dean (m. 1980) |
Early years
editWilliam Hale was born on July 11, 1931, in Rome, Georgia, to Alma and William Hale.[1] He attended local schools and moved to Atlanta after graduation to attend college. During his freshman year, he got a job working the night shift at a local television station. It was during those night shifts that Hale had the opportunity to watch movies being broadcast by the station and resolved to become a film director.[1]
Hollywood film and television career
editHale subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where he graduated from the USC Film School.[1] His senior year student film, The Towers[4] caught the eye of established Hollywood director George Stevens who hired Hale as Second Unit Director on Stevens' feature film The Greatest Story Ever Told. By the mid-1960s, Hale was directing feature films and made-for-TV movies, for Universal Studios. Over the course of his long career, Hale directed some of the best known A-List actors of his time. Among his credits were a Peabody Award and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series.[1]
Retirement
editAfter decades in California, in 2004 William and Trudy Hale sold their Topanga, California, ranch for an amount under $2 million, and moved to Nelson County, Virginia, where they bought a dilapidated farm house on three acres.[5] Naming the new home "Porches", the Hales renovated the rural home, accessible by way of a wooden bridge, and lands into a retreat for poets, novelists, and writers of every stripe. They housed as many as five guest artists at a time. Workshops were organized for the writers, where they could work directly with publishers and editors, to improve their manuscripts.[2]
Death
editWilliam (Billy) Hale died June 10, 2020, at the age of 88, in Woodland Hills, California.
Selected filmography
edit- The Towers (1957)[4]
- Grand Central Market (1963) [6]
- Gunfight in Abilene (1967)
- How I Spent My Summer Vacation (1967) [1]
- Journey to Shiloh (1968)
- Red Alert (1977)
- S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
- Murder in Texas (1981) - Made for TV
- The Demon Murder Case (1983) - Made for TV
- The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988)
- Liberace (1988) - Made for TV
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "William "Billy" Hale". Legacy.com. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
- ^ a b Smith, Rachael (November 26, 2015). "Norwood home serves as retreat for writers, artists". Nelson County Times.
- ^ Roberts, Jerry (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0810861381.
- ^ a b William Hale; distributed by Rembrandt Films (1957), The Towers, Internet Archive, [Los Angeles, Calif.] : Hale [producer] ; [New York] : Rembrandt [distributor], retrieved November 12, 2019
- ^ Ruth Ryon (July 11, 2004). "He goes the whole 9 yards". LA Times. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
- ^ "Grand Central Market (1963)" on YouTube
External links
edit- William Hale at IMDb