Biographical Note
Don Taylor, a film actor of the 1940s and 1950s and director, was born
13 December 1920, in Freeport, Pa. Taylor studied law, then speech and drama at
Penn State University, where as a freshman he began taking part in college
stage productions. Hitchhiking to Hollywood in 1942 after graduation, the
youthful Taylor screen-tested at Warner Brothers but was rejected because of
his draft status. MGM, not as fussy, signed him to a seven-year contract and
immediately put him to work, assigning him the role of a soldier in director
Clarence Brown's sentimental slice of Americana,
The Human Comedy (1943). More minor roles followed before
Taylor enlisted in the army, but even there he continued to act:
Playwright/screenwriter Moss Hart chose him to play one of the leads in the
Army-Air Force production of Hart's play, "Winged Victory," reprising his role
in the film version. Returning to civilian life, Taylor resumed his work in
pictures with a top role in the crime drama
The Naked City (1948). He played Elizabeth Taylor's
bridegroom in
Father of the Bride, and appeared in numerous war movies.
In later years, 1957-1988, Taylor became a film and TV director. Taylor met his
wife Hazel Court when he directed her in a 1958 episode of "Alfred Hitchcock
Presents."
Taylor directed fifteen films including
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971),
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977),
Damien: Omen II (1978),
The Final Countdown (1980), and
Echoes of a Summer.
He directed more than 400 television dramas including two episodes of
the series,
Night Gallery (1971), "The Messiah on Mott Street" and
"They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" (his script was nominated for an Emmy),
and, among many others,
Heat of Anger (1972);
The Manhunter (1972);
Tom Sawyer (1973);
Honky Tonk (1974);
Night Games (1974);
The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976);
A Circle of Children (1977);
The Hemingway Play (1977);
The Gift (1979);
The Promise of Love (1980);
Red Flag: The Ultimate Game (1981);
Drop-Out Father (1982);
Ghost Dancing (1983);
September Gun (1983);
He's Not Your Son (1984);
My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985);
Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story (1985); and
Ghost of a Chance (1987). He produced and directed
Octavius and Me (1962),
Broken Promise (1981),
Listen to Your Heart (1983), and
Classified Love (1986).
Bruce Eder,
All Movie Guide, summed up Taylor's career: "Don Taylor
appeared in such movies as
Father of the Bride and
Stalag 17 before switching to directing in 1961 with the
juvenile comedy
Everything's Ducky. His second film,
Ride the Wild Surf (1964), was an above average teen
exploitation movie that was very successful. But Taylor hit his stride as a
serious filmmaker in 1968 with a jewel of a television feature called
Something for a Lonely Man, a drama starring Dan Blocker
and Susan Clark that became a favorite among critics. His next movie,
Five Man Army (1970), was a popular spaghetti western, and
his
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) secured good
reviews and assured the series' survival beyond its third installment.
Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) was a solid, handsomely
produced version of the H.G. Wells story, and a hit, as was Taylor's
Damien: Omen II (1979).
Final Countdown (1980) proved a success as well, perhaps
the last non-slasher/non-fantasy related science-fiction adventure to reach
audiences with low-tech special effects. Taylor's subsequent work was confined
to TV movies, where he was busy throughout the 1980s."
Taylor was married twice: to Phyllis Avery in 1944 (they divorced in
1955) with whom he had two daughters; and to actress/sculptor, Hazel Court, in
1964, with whom he had one son.
Don Taylor died of heart failure, 29 Dec. 1998, in Los Angeles,
Calif.
Sources: Internet Movie Database (IMDb), by Tom Weaver
[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0852279/bio] (accessed 7 February 2007);
All Movie Guide online; obituary,
New York Times, 2 January 1999.
Scope and Content
The collection contains shooting scripts for films and television
movies that Don Taylor produced and/or directed in his later years, 1967-1988,
and publicity and candid photographs from some of the films. In addition to the
screenplay (several with handwritten changes by Taylor) some of the folders
include staff, crew, and cast lists (some with salaries and social security
numbers); shooting schedules; publicity biographies; production notes; sketches
of sets; script breakdowns; action breakdowns scene-by-scene; location shots;
and sheet music.
Photographs consist of black-and-white publicity stills and
black-and-white and color candid on-set shots of Don Taylor and the cast during
production, plus a few title screen and credit shots. Credited photographers
are Roberto Biciocchi (
The Five Man Army ) and Piroska Mihalka (
Elena).
