Michael Audley
{{Short description|American actor (1913–1995)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Audley
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|06|20}}
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| birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|10|03|1913|06|20}}
| death_place = U.S.
| nationality = American
| education =
| occupation = Film and theatre director, actor and dialogue advisor
| spouse =
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Michael Audley (June 20, 1913 – October 3, 1995) was an American film and theatre director, actor, and dialogue advisor.
Life and career
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Audley began his career as a stage actor and director. In 1942, he directed Allan Kenward's Cry Havoc, a war drama in three acts, which premiered in Hollywood with a cast led by Victoria Faust and Anne Loos.{{cite journal|title=Legitimate: Plays Out of Town - CRY HAVOC|journal=Variety|volume=148|issue=7|date=October 21, 1942|page=59}} The play was well reviewed and earned him a contract to direct for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.{{cite journal|title=Pictures: Audley's 'Havoc' Lands Him M-G Director Deal|journal=Variety|volume=149|issue=1|date=December 16, 1942|page=21}}
Audley's first foray into directing for film was the 1945 short The All-Star Bond Rally, which was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in conjunction with Twentieth Century Fox.{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=&filmmaker=audley&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}} The film included many seminal entertainers of the era, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Betty Grable, June Haver, Linda Darnell, Vivian Blaine, Jeanne Crain, Faye Marlowe, Harpo Marx, Harry James and his band, and Jim Jordan and Marian Driscoll Jordan of Fibber McGee and Molly.{{cite magazine|title=Pictures: All-Star Bond Short, 'Springfield' Tolerance Pic Have Socko Appeal|author=Green, Abel|magazine=Variety|volume=158|issue=5|date=April 11, 1945|page= 20}} His most notable film as a director is The Mark of the Hawk (1957) which starred Eartha Kitt and Sidney Poitier.{{cite journal|title=Film Reviews: Mark of the Hawk|journal=Variety|volume=209|issue=11|date=February 12, 1958|page=6}} He also assisted on The Naked Maja (1958).
As a film actor Audley portrayed Major Davis in the 1966 James Bond spoof Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die.{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKxN1as8XOMC&dq=%22Michael+Audley%22+film+-secret&pg=PA130|title=Columbia Pictures Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Films, 1928-1982|chapter=Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die|pages=129–131|author=Michael R. Pitts|year=2010|publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=9780786457663 }} He also appeared in several films set in Louisiana, including French Quarter Undercover (1985, as Major Sullivan{{cite journal|title=MIFED '84: 'Undercover' in New Orleans attract attention as SEC gains worldwide|journal=Screen International|issue=469|date=October 27, 1984|page=82}}), and Shy People (1987, as Louie) with actresses Barbara Hershey, Jill Clayburgh, and Martha Plimpton.{{cite journal|title= SHY PEOPLE|author=Meisel, Myron|journal=The Film Journal|volume= 91|issue=1|date=January 1, 1988|pages=46–47}} On television he portrayed Uncle Jack Marshall in the 1987 CBS television film A Gathering of Old Men with Holly Hunter portraying his niece.{{cite journal|title=Television Reviews: A GATHERING OF OLD MEN|journal=Variety|volume=327|issue=3|date=May 13, 1987|pages=104, 114}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0041604}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090121180700/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/17489 Michael Audley] - BFI database entry.
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Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Film directors from Louisiana
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