Overview (4)
| Born | in Sacramento, California, USA |
| Died | in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (heart attack) |
| Birth Name | Henri Leopold de Fiennes |
| Nickname | Hank |
Mini Bio (1)
Henry Hathaway, son of a stage actress and manager, started his career as a child actor in westerns directed by Allan Dwan. His movie career was interrupted by World War I. After his discharge he briefly tried a career in finance but returned to Hollywood to work as an assistant director under such directors as Frank Lloyd, Paul Bern, Josef von Sternberg and Victor Fleming, whom Hathaway credited for his eventual success. In 1932 he directed his first picture, Heritage of the Desert (1932), a western. His approach has been described as uncomplicated and straightforward, while at the same time noted for their striking visual effects and unusual locations. He had a reputation as being difficult on actors, but stars such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe benefited under his direction. Although Hathaway was a highly successful and reliable director working within the Hollywood studio system, his work has received little attention from critics.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Amy Harper <lookitup1@aol.com>
Family (1)
| Spouse |
Blanche (Skip) Gonzalez
(12 March 1932 -
11 February 1985) (his death)
(1 child)
Elvira Weil (1 July 1919 - 1931) (divorced) |
Trivia (11)
Hathaway inherited the title of Marquis from his grandfather who was commissioned by the King of Belgium to acquire the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), with no success.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 441-446. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1987).
He was shooting a scene on location on Wall Street in New York City. Many of the windows in the adjoining buildings were filled with office workers leaning out to watch the filming going on below them. Hathaway got so frustrated with all the attendant noise that he finally leaped out of his director's chair, looked upwards at the crowds and shouted, "God damn it, I don't look over your shoulders when you work!".
Directed two actors to Oscar nominations: Richard Widmark (Best Supporting Actor, Kiss of Death (1947)), and John Wayne (Best Actor, True Grit (1969)). Wayne won an Oscar for his performance.
Directed John Wayne in six movies: True Grit (1969), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Circus World (1964), How the West Was Won (1962), North to Alaska (1960) and Legend of the Lost (1957).
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1638 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
Henry Hathaway passed away on February 11, 1985, one month away from what would have been his 87th birthday on March 13.
Following his death, he was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
At 14 he joined Universal Studios as a property boy but quit to work in juvenile roles. In WWI he was a gunnery instructor in the army. At 21 he returned to Hollywood again as a property man. When an assistant director became ill he got the chance to take over. Later he directed Westerns for Paramount who gave him his first non Western feature with 'Come on Marines' His ability to stage action films and a knowledge of India, acquired during a 9 month visit gave him the opportunity to direct 'Lives of a Bengal Lancer'. He became one of the top directors.
He has directed one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: How the West Was Won (1962).
Personal Quotes (12)
Being educated is making the pictures themselves, if you make it your business to pay attention.
To be a good director, you've got to be a bastard. I'm a bastard and I know it.
You don't have to hold an inquest to find out who killed Marilyn Monroe. Those bastards in the big executive chairs killed her.
When I went to work in Universal Studios in 1914, there were five women directors. Lois Weber made the biggest pictures. John Ford and I alternated as prop men for this great director. If women haven't got a good directing job now, it's their own fault.
There's lots of nice guys walking around Hollywood but they're not eating.
[1970 comment on Kim Novak] I worked one day with her and I quit.
[on Gary Cooper] Gary Cooper was the first actor to believe you didn't have to mug to act, if you thought of what you were doing, it showed--and he proved he was right.
[on Seven Thieves (1960) Christ, it was supposed to be a fun film, and [Rod Steiger] is far, far from having a sense of humor.
[on Dana Andrews] [He] had a quality. I'll tell you one thing he had like nobody I've ever seen in my life. Drunk or sober, he comes in in the morning and they're making him up and he would say, "What do I do today?" And you say, "Do this." And he would look at the script and he goes out and he's a district attorney and he pleads the case to the jury and he never misses a word. Pages of it.
[on Lloyd Nolan] I liked Lloyd. He was a natural actor. He appeared just like any other guy. He wasn't good looking, wasn't a big star, wasn't impressive in his size. Just another guy, and that's what I liked about him.
[1971, on Richard Burton] [He] was always very professional. None of the behavior I was warned about. He was sober throughout, and always early on the set.
With [Victor Fleming] I did The Virginian (1929). I did all those early Westerns, all those Zane Greys, the ones I did over again. I mostly learned from them how to handle people. I would take a script home and think, "Now what would I tell these people to do to make the scene, how would I start it, where would be the climax, how I could get out of it, how do I get rid of the people, where would I do it"--in front of the fire or on the couch, what would I do? And I'd make up my mind, and I'd make a lot of notes and then I'd see what they did. Entirely different! But you would learn!
