David Swift (director)

{{Infobox person

| name = David Swift

| image = David Swift 1964.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Swift in 1964

| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|7|27|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|12|31|1919|7|27|mf=y}}

| death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.

| other_names = {{unbulleted list|Bud Swift|Dave Swift }}

| education = Hollywood High School

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Screenwriter
director
producer
animator
actor}}

| years_active = 1937–1998

| spouse = Maggie McNamara (m. 1951–195?)
{{marriage|Micheline Swift |1957|2001}}

| children = 2

}}

David "Dave" Swift (July 27, 1919 – December 31, 2001) was an American screenwriter, animator, director, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing the 1967 film, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Swift began his career as an animator and filmmaker at The Walt Disney Studios where he adapted the story of Pollyanna for the screen and wrote and directed The Parent Trap (1961).

Life and career

Born in Minneapolis, Swift's father owned a factory that made sausage casings. After the depression, he dropped out of school at the age of 17 and boarded a freight train to California to pursue his goal of working for Walt Disney. After arriving in Los Angeles, Swift worked several odd jobs to earn money including working as an usher at the Warner Bros. theatre. In between work, he attended art school and also attended Hollywood High School at night.{{cite web|last=McLellan|first=Dennis|title=David Swift, 82; Director, Scriptwriter in TV, Film|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jan-05-me-20527-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 5, 2002}} He began his career at The Walt Disney Studio as an office boy and rose to be an assistant animator under Ward Kimball in 1938.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-swift-729644.html|title=David Swift: Obituary|date=January 7, 2002|publisher=independent.co.uk|access-date=January 1, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208004936/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/david-swift-729644.html|archive-date=February 8, 2009 }}

After serving with the 8th Air Force during World War II, Swift became a radio and television writer. He attracted acclaim as the creator of Mister Peepers. Swift re-joined Disney as the writer, director and producer of Pollyanna (1960), followed by The Parent Trap (1961). After making Love Is a Ball, Swift was then contracted to Columbia Pictures for The Interns, Under the Yum Yum Tree and Good Neighbor Sam, the latter two with Jack Lemmon. He also created the TV shows Grindl, Camp Runamuck, and Arnie. Swift returned to Disney to write Candleshoe in 1977.

During the 1980s, he worked as a writer and director for television. His final project was the screenplay for the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan, Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid.

Personal life

File:David Swift Com C13-052-002.jpg

In 1951, Swift married actress Maggie McNamara.{{cite news|title=Hedda Hopper|date=March 19, 1952|work=The Los Angeles Times|page=C8}} They later divorced.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JOYdAAAAIBAJ&pg=4549,4102207&dq=maggie+mcnamara+david+swift+divorce&hl=en|title=Maggie McNamara Dies|date=March 17, 1978|work=The Victoria Advocate|page=5A|access-date=January 1, 2013}} He married model Micheline Swift in 1957 to whom he remained married until his death. The couple had two daughters, Michelle and Wendon.

Death

On December 31, 2001, Swift died of heart failure at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 82.

References

External links

{{IMDb name|842582|David Swift}}
[https://aspace.lib.uiowa.edu/repositories/2/resources/125 The Papers of David Swift] at the Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa

Category:1919 births

Category:2001 deaths

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American screenwriters

Category:American animated film directors

Category:American animated film producers

Category:American comedy film directors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male screenwriters

Category:American male television actors

Category:American television directors