Mark Rydell

Mark Rydell (born March 23, 1935 , in New York City) is an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981). Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002). As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money. Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros). In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Works

Senior Entourage

Senior Entourage is a wild, wacky "Mockumentary" comedy featuring a zany, multi-racial cast ranging in age from 9 to 90. It's "Seinfeld for seniors" starring Ed Asner, Helen Reddy, Charlie Robinson, Marion Ross and Mark Rydell

Release Date:2021-05-03

Character:Mark

Vote Count:1

Chicanery

Darren Flare is an Emmy Award-winning, slightly dim newscaster, who is about to stumble on the story of the decade: the capture of the FBI's most wanted terrorist, the Imam Abdul Mohammed Zaleeka.

Release Date:2017-04-29

Character:Jack Sobel

Vote Count:2

Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond

A very special encounter between legendary American cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and young French director Pierre Filmon. A personal journey with the brightest shadowmaker and his friends.

Release Date:2016-05-13

Character:Self

Vote Count:5

A Coup in Camelot

A fresh look at the forensic 'fingerprints' surrounding the JFK assassination, with analysis from the top experts and researchers of today. From in-depth study of how the Secret Service left Kennedy a sitting duck, to analysis of the Zapruder film utilizing 6k digital scans and the application of modern day forensic science and wound ballistic technology. A powerful examination of the medical and autopsy evidence and records reveals disturbing alterations.

Release Date:2015-04-11

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Vote Count:1

And the Oscar Goes To...

The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.

Release Date:2014-02-01

Character:Self (archive footage)

Vote Count:52

Char·ac·ter

A raw and candid dialogue about the life and craft of acting between longtime colleagues and friends Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Mark Rydell, Harry Dean Stanton and Sydney Pollack. Drago Sumonja's document takes us into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of some of America's greatest storytellers.

Release Date:2012-11-30

Character:Self

Vote Count:1

Good Men

Two elderly Jewish friends get into an argument over the circumstances behind the terror attacks on September 11th.

Release Date:2011-09-23

Character:Marcus

Embracing Chaos: Making The African Queen

The epic story of how the film The African Queen (1951), directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, was shot on real African locations, barely overcoming all kinds of hardships and disasters.

Release Date:2010-03-23

Character:Self

Vote Count:11

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos

The artistry, triumph and lifelong friendship of the great cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond. With film school equipment, they shoot the Soviet crackdown of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. As refugees they struggle in Hollywood, finally breaking into the mainstream with their pivotal contribution to the "American New Wave."

Release Date:2009-01-11

Character:Self

Vote Count:10

Masters of Science Fiction

Masters of Science Fiction is an American television anthology series with each hour long episode taking the form of a separate short film adaptation of a story by a respected member of the science fiction community. The show is hosted by physicist Stephen Hawking.

Release Date:2007-08-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:44

Even Money

Gambling addiction bring the stories of three otherwise unconnected people together as it destroys each of their lives.

Release Date:2007-03-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:68

An Unfinished Life

Stoic and heartbroken, Einar Gilkyson quietly lives in the rugged Wyoming ranchlands alongside his only trusted friend, Mitch Bradley. One day, the woman he blames for the death of his only son arrives at his door broke, desperate and with a granddaughter he's never known. But even as buried anger and accusations resurface, the way is opened for unexpected connection, adventure and forgiveness.

Release Date:2005-09-09

Department:Production

Job:Executive Producer

Vote Count:635

James Dean: Sense Memories

Documentary exploring the last 18 months of James Dean's acting career.

Release Date:2005-05-11

Character:Self

Everwood

After the death of his wife, world-class neurosurgeon Dr. Andrew Brown leaves Manhattan and moves his family to the small town of Everwood, Colorado. There he becomes a small-town doctor and learns parenting on the fly as he raises his talented but resentful 15-year-old son Ephram and his 9-year-old daughter Delia.

Release Date:2002-09-16

Character:Jacob Hoffman

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:198

Hollywood Ending

Woody Allen stars as Val Waxman, a two-time Oscar winner turned washed-up, neurotic director in desperate need of a comeback. When it comes, Waxman finds himself backed into a corner: Work for his ex-wife Ellie or forfeit his last shot. Is Val blinded by love when he opts for the reconnect? Is love blind when it comes to Ellie's staunch support? Literally and figuratively, the proof is the picture.

Release Date:2002-05-03

Character:Al

Vote Count:502

James Dean

The man behind the legend and a knowing look at the 1950's Hollywood are revealed in this dynamic bioepic of the meteoric star whose troubled life echoed his gut-grabbing performances in East of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause and Giant.

Release Date:2001-08-04

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Jack Warner

Vote Count:107

A Man Is Mostly Water

The lives of two unambitious duplex neighbors, divorced father, hot-tempered, blues-obsessed documentarian Roper and wealthy golf-playing wastrel Andy, are compared. Both have loved ones who want them to do something with their lives.

Release Date:2000-10-12

Character:Distributor

Release Date:1990-12-11

Character:Meyer Lansky

Vote Count:150

Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret

A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Theatre. The Group Theatre, a cooperative theater ensemble, became a leading force in the theater world of the 30s. Meisner performed in many of the group’s most memorable productions.

Release Date:1990-08-27

Character:Self

Punchline

Lilah Krytsick is a mother and housewife who's always believed she could be a stand-up comedian. Steven Gold is an experienced stand-up seemingly on the cusp of success. When the two meet, they form an unlikely friendship, and Steven tries to help the untried Lilah develop her stage act. Despite the objections of her family and some very wobbly beginnings, Lilah improves, and soon she finds herself competing with Steven for a coveted television spot.

Release Date:1988-10-07

Character:Romeo

Vote Count:133

The lives of the middle-class Lawrence family in Pasadena, California.

Release Date:1976-03-09

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:14

Cinderella Liberty

A lonely Navy sailor falls in love with a Seattle hooker and becomes a surrogate father figure for her son during an extended liberty due to his service records being lost.

Release Date:1973-12-18

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Character:Gutteral Mischief (as Marty Augustine)

Vote Count:28

The Long Goodbye

In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.

Release Date:1973-03-08

Character:Marty Augustine

Vote Count:650

The Cowboys

When his cattlemen abandon him for the gold fields, rancher Wil Andersen is forced to take on a collection of young boys as his cowboys in order to get his herd to market in time to avoid financial disaster. The boys learn to do a man's job under Andersen's tutelage, however, neither he nor the boys know that a gang of cattle thieves is stalking them.

Release Date:1972-01-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:245

The Breaking of Boys and the Making of Men in 'The Cowboys'

Featurette on the "The Cowboys" (1972)

Release Date:1972-01-13

The Reivers

In turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.

Release Date:1969-12-20

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:45

The Fox

Jill Banford and Ellen March have built a good life together on a hardscrabble Canadian farm. Then handsome Paul Grenfell enters their isolated world, and sets friend against friend. But is Paul the real trouble between Jill and Ellen? Or has his presence merely awakened the unspoken, unexplored sexual tension that always existed between the women?

Release Date:1967-12-13

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Vote Count:19

The Wild Wild West

The Wild Wild West is an American television series. Developed at a time when the television western was losing ground to the spy genre, this show was conceived by its creator, Michael Garrison, as "James Bond on horseback." Set during the administration of President Ulysses Grant, the series followed Secret Service agents James West and Artemus Gordon as they solved crimes, protected the President, and foiled the plans of megalomaniacal villains to take over all or part of the United States. The show also featured a number of fantasy elements, such as the technologically advanced devices used by the agents and their adversaries. The combination of the Victorian era time-frame and the use of Verne-esque style technology have inspired some to give the show credit for the origins of the steam punk subculture.

Release Date:1965-09-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:72

The Long, Hot Summer

The Long, Hot Summer is an American drama series that was broadcast on ABC-TV for one season from 1965-1966. Created by Dean Riesner, The Long, Hot Summer was based on the novel The Hamlet by William Faulkner, the short story "Barn Burning", and the 1958 film of the same name.

Release Date:1965-09-16

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:1

I Spy

A pair of intelligence agents posing as a tennis pro and his coach go on secret missions around the world.

Release Date:1965-09-15

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:3

Vote Count:28

Reporter

The Reporter is an American drama series that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1964. The series was created by Jerome Weidman and developed by executive producers Keefe Brasselle and John Simon.

Release Date:1964-09-25

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:1

Slattery's People

Slattery's People is a 1964-1965 American television series about local politics starring Richard Crenna as title character James Slattery, a state legislator, co-starring Ed Asner and Tol Avery, and featuring Carroll O'Connor and Warren Oates in a couple of episodes each. James E. Moser was executive producer. The program, telecast on CBS, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Slattery's People is mainly notable for having been one of the few American television series spotlighting the travails of local politicians, a topic that other programs of the period mainly avoided. Many television critics highly praised the series. Many politicians also approved of the program. U.S. Representative James C. Corman said in a Congressional Record statement on September 30, 1964, “I am pleased that they have taken the high road to show a legislator’s life, and have not pandered to sensationalism or unreality to stimulate an audience following.” Moser's script for the pilot was printed as an appendix in Teleplay; an introduction to television writing by Coles Trapnell. Television composer Nathan Scott wrote the theme music for Slattery's People.

Release Date:1964-09-21

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:2

Vote Count:1

Mr. Novak

Mr. Novak is an American dramatic series starring James Franciscus in the title role, which aired on NBC for two seasons, from 1963 to 1965.

Release Date:1963-09-24

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:2

The Fugitive

Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.

Release Date:1963-09-17

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:56

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Release Date:1962-10-01

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:71

The Mike Douglas Show

The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

Release Date:1961-12-11

Character:Self

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:7

Ben Casey

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph Ransohoff was a medical consultant for the show and may have influenced the personality of the title character.

Release Date:1961-10-02

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:9

Vote Count:14

Naked City

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.

Release Date:1958-09-30

Character:Ralph Harris

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:11

Wanted: Dead or Alive

Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.

Release Date:1958-09-06

Character:Tom Adams

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:32

Crime in the Streets

A social worker tries to end juvenile crime by getting involved with a street gang.

Release Date:1956-06-10

Character:Lou Macklin

Vote Count:24

Navy Log

Navy Log is an American drama anthology series that initially aired for one season on CBS. It relates the greatest survival war stories in the history of the United States Navy. This series premiered on September 20, 1955, but the following year, it was moved to ABC, where it aired until September 25, 1958. The program aired for a total of three seasons and 102 episodes.

Release Date:1955-09-20

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:4

Gunsmoke

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

Release Date:1955-09-10

Department:Directing

Job:Director

Episode Count:10

Vote Count:101

The Philco Television Playhouse

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

Release Date:1948-10-03

Episode Count:1

Vote Count:6