Archie Mayo
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Competent technician who began his career in 1916 as a gagman and director of comedy shorts before making his first feature a decade later. A versatile director without a definitive style or stamp, Mayo flourished as a house director at Warner Bros. during the 1930s, where his finer works included "Svengali" (1931), "Ever in My Heart" (1933) and "The Petrified Forest" (1936). His freelance career through the 1940s was characterized by conventional, uninspired efforts for 20th Century-Fox and other studios; Mayo's better films from this period include "Charley's Aunt" (1941) and "Crash Dive" (1943).
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (Short)
Life Events
1915
First film experience as extra
1916
Gagman for Stern Brothers Productions and L-Ko Motion Pictures
1917
Film directing debut (for L-Ko), "The Nurse of an Aching Heart"
1917
Directed 19 shorts; no features
1923
First and only films as co-writer (also director), "The Imperfect Lover" and "A Man's Position"
1927
Began making films for Warner Bros.
1937
Association with Warner Bros. Ended
1946
Last films directed included "A Night in Casablanca" and "Angel on My Shoulder"
1958
Produced a feature, "The Beast of Budapest", directed by Harmon Jones