
Joseph Santley
Personal Info
Known for
Directing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1890-01-10
Day of Death
1971-08-08 (81 years old)
Place of Birth
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Joseph Santley
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Mansfield Santley (born Joseph Ishmael Mansfield, January 10, 1890 – August 8, 1971) was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer of musical theatrical plays motion pictures and television shows. He adopted the stage name of his stepfather, actor Eugene Santley.
Joseph Santley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a boy, he and older brother Fred began performing in live theatre appearing in summer stock and touring with their parents. In 1906, at age seventeen, Joseph Santley co-wrote and starred on Broadway in the play, Billy the Kid. In 1907, he acted in film for the first time for Sidney Olcott at the Kalem Company in a silent Western film short called Pony Express.
In 1928, Santley directed his first motion picture, a short talkie for Paramount Pictures that featured singer Ruth Etting. The next year, Paramount had Santley direct three more films that were short singing productions, one with Etting, another with crooner Rudy Vallee, plus a third titled High Hat with Broadway singing star Alice Boulden. Also, he directed A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, a musical film featuring Eddie Cantor along with Eddie Elkins and his orchestra. In 1929, Joseph Santley co-directed, with Robert Florey, the first Marx Brothers feature film The Cocoanuts, a musical comedy for which he is most famous. Based on the George S. Kaufman play, and with music by Irving Berlin, the film was billed as "Paramount's All Talking-Singing Musical Comedy Hit." His other notable directorial efforts include 1935's Harmony Lane, a biographical musical on the life of composer Stephen Foster. In 1940, he directed Melody Ranch starring "singing cowboy" Gene Autry. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
During World War II, Joseph Santley worked for the war effort and in 1942 made the film Remember Pearl Harbor. In 1950, he made his last feature film but came back at age sixty-five to produce the 1954-55 television comedy The Mickey Rooney Show. In 1956, he put together two segments of Jazz Ball, a made-for-TV musical revue created from various filmed performances by jazz greats from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Joseph Santley died in 1971 in Los Angeles.
Crew
(1962)
The Hour of St. Francis
Director
(1950)
When You're Smiling
Director
(1949)
Make Believe Ballroom
Director
(1946)
Shadow of a Woman
Director
(1945)
Earl Carroll Vanities
Director
(1945)
Hitchhike to Happiness
Director
(1944)
Brazil
Director
(1944)
Rosie the Riveter
Director
(1944)
Jamboree
Director
(1944)
Goodnight, Sweetheart
Director
(1944)
Three Little Sisters
Director
(1943)
Thumbs Up
Director
(1943)
Here Comes Elmer
Director
(1943)
Shantytown
Director
(1943)
Chatterbox
Director
(1943)
Sleepy Lagoon
Director
(1942)
Joan of Ozark
Director
(1942)
Call of the Canyon
Director
(1942)
A Tragedy at Midnight
Director
(1942)
Remember Pearl Harbor
Director
(1942)
Yokel Boy
Director
(1941)
Down Mexico Way
Director
(1941)
Sis Hopkins
Director
(1941)
Ice-Capades
Director
(1941)
Puddin' Head
Director
(1941)
Rookies on Parade
Director
(1940)
Music in My Heart
Director
(1940)
Melody Ranch
Director
(1940)
Behind the News
Director
(1940)
Dancing on a Dime
Director
(1940)
Melody and Moonlight
Director
(1939)
The Spirit of Culver
Director
(1939)
The Family Next Door
Director
(1939)
Two Bright Boys
Director
(1938)
Blond Cheat
Director
(1938)
Always in Trouble
Director
(1938)
Swing, Sister, Swing
Director
(1938)
(1937)
She's Got Everything
Director
(1937)
There Goes the Groom
Director
(1937)
Meet the Missus
Director
(1936)
The Harvester
Director
(1936)
Smartest Girl in Town
Director
(1936)
We Went to College
Director
(1936)
Walking on Air
Director
(1936)
Dancing Feet
Director
(1936)
Her Master's Voice
Director
(1936)
Laughing Irish Eyes
Director
(1936)
Mad Holiday
Story
(1935)
Waterfront Lady
Director
(1935)
Harmony Lane
Screenplay, Director
(1935)
Frisco Waterfront
Director
(1935)
Beautiful Dreamer
Director
(1934)
I Like it That Way
Screenplay
(1934)
Young and Beautiful
Director, Story
(1934)
The Loudspeaker
Director
(1934)
Million Dollar Baby
Story, Screenplay, Director
(1933)
(1931)
Oh! Oh! Cleopatra
Director, Story
(1930)
Swing High
Director, Writer
(1930)
(1929)
The Cocoanuts
Director
(1929)
Ruth Etting in Favorite Melodies
Director
(1929)
A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic
Director
(1929)
Two Americans
Director
(1929)
His College Chums
Director
(1929)
All Americans
Director
(1929)
Radio Rhythm
Director