Joshua Logan

Director

About

Also Known As

Joshua Lockwood Logan Iii, Josh Logan

Birth Place

Texarkana, Texas, USA

Born

October 05, 1908

Died

July 12, 1988

Cause of Death

Supranuclear Palsy

Biography

Filmography

Paint Your Wagon (1969)

Photos & Videos

View All

Mister Roberts (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Disharmony Aboard This Ship

Mister Roberts (1955) -- (Movie Clip) Is That Your Battleship?

Family & Companions

Barbara O'Neil

Wife

Actor. Married June 18, 1940; divorced.

Nedda Harrigan

Wife

Actor. Born 1900; died 1989; daughter of vaudevillian Ned Harrigan.

Bibliography

"Movie Stars, Real People and Me"

Joshua Logan, Delacorte (1978)

"Josh, My Up and Down, In and Out Life"

Joshua Logan, Delacorte (1976)

Biography

Primarily a man of the theater, Joshua Logan fashioned a brilliant career as a writer, producer and director and was that uncommon phenomenon, the theatrical director whose success extended into films. He was also notable for his candor in discussing manic depression, a condition for which he required hospitalization on two occasions before discovering he could control it with the drug lithium carbonate. When discussing his illness, he made it quite clear that its manic phase contributed to his creativity: "Without my illness . . . I would have missed the sharpest, rarest and, yes, the sweetest moments of my existence."

Logan entered Princeton University in 1927 because of its Triangle Club that toured the country and became its president during his senior year. He co-wrote and acted in the annual university reviews from 1928-30 but did not graduate, leaving instead to study on scholarship with Stanislavsky and the Moscow Arts Theatre. During his collegiate days, he co-founded with Bretaigne Windust the University Players, a summer stock group (in Cape Cod) that would launch the careers of Henry Fonda, Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart.

On his return from Moscow, he joined the University Players for a repertory season in Baltimore, directing "Mary Rose" and "Lysistrata," and made his Broadway acting debut as Mart Strong in their disastrous "Carry Nation" (1932), which led to the company's disbanding. Beginning as a sixth assistant stage manager on Broadway's "She Loves Me Not" (1933), he rose rapidly to first assistant stage manager on various productions before making his Broadway directorial debut with "To See Ourselves" (1935). Following two separate stints as a Hollywood dialogue director sandwiched around a NYC performance in a revival of "What Price Glory?," he entered a period of prolific output that would lead to a nervous breakdown in 1940.

His first real recognition came in 1938 prior to his hospitalization for his direction of "On Borrowed Time" and "I Married an Angel," the latter beginning his association with Richard Rodgers. After serving as a public relations and intelligence officer in World War II, he directed "Annie Get Your Gun" (1946) and for the next fifteen years enjoyed his greatest success. "Mister Roberts" (1948) brought him two Tony awards for Best Play and Best Authors, which he shared with co-writer Thomas Heggen, and he garnered perhaps his greatest acclaim for "South Pacific" (1950), though the experience was not without its bitter moments. THE NEW YORK TIMES initially omitted him as co-author in their early rave reviews, and the Pulitzer Prize committee repeated the mistake by awarding the coveted prize for drama in 1950 to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II only before correcting their error.

In connection with "South Pacific," he also won the Tony for Best Director (1950) and shared both a New York Drama Critics Award for Best Musical (1948/49) and a Tony for Best Producers/Musical (1950). He received another Tony as Best Director of "Picnic" (1953) and a Golden Globe Award as Best Director (1955) for bringing the Inge play to life on screen. Though he coaxed the very best out of Marilyn Monroe in "Bus Stop" (1956), scored big with "Sayonara" (1957) and presented a good comedy in "Tall Story" (1960), he was less successful in his direction of movie musicals. "South Pacific" (1958), "Camelot" (1967) and "Paint Your Wagon" (1969), dismal, inert versions of great stage shows, are so depressing that they offer an oblique reminder that Logan was, at the other end of his mania, a famous depressive.

Filmography

Life Events

1916

Saw first professional play, "Everywoman", in Shreveport, LA; a case of "love at first sight" (date approximate)

1926

Saw first Broadway play, "What Price Glory?"

1927

Entered Princeton University; became president of Triangle Theatre Club in senior year

1928

With Bretaigne Windust, co-founded the University Players, an intercollegiate summer stock company (in Cape Cod) whose members included Henry Fonda, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart

1931

Won scholarship to study with Stanislavski at Moscow Arts Theatre

1931

Returned from Russia and joined University Players for repertory season in Baltimore; directed "Mary Rose" and "Lysistrata"

1932

Broadway debut as actor in role of Mart Strong in University Player's "Carry Nation" at Biltmore Theatre; a financial disaster, it led to company's disbandment

1933

Acted in Broadway production "I Was Waiting for You", directed by Windust

1933

Was sixth assistant stage manager on Broadway's "She Loves Me Not"; rapidly rose to first assistant stage manager on various productions

1935

Broadway debut as director, "To See Ourselves"

1936

Went to Hollywood as dialogue director under contract to David O Selznick

1936

Returned to New York and acted in revival of "What Price Glory?"

1936

Returned to Hollywood as dialogue director at the urging of Charles Boyer; signed to a contract by Walter Wanger

1937

Wanger contract not renewed

1937

Co-directed with Arthur Ripley the film "I Met My Love Again"

1938

Directed "On Borrowed Time" which ran for more than a year at Broadway's Longacre Theatre

1938

Followed initial Broadway success with direction of the Rodgers and Hart hit "I Married an Angel"

1939

Married actress Barbara O'Neil; divorced in 1940

1940

Suffered first nervous breakdown, hospitalized for nearly a year

1942

Drafted into Army and served as public relations and intelligence officer; provided "additional direction" for Irving Berlin's review "This is the Army"

1945

Married actress Nedda Harrigan

1946

Directed Irving Berlin's "Annie Get Your Gun" on Broadway

1948

Wrote (with Thomas Heggen) and directed "Mister Roberts"; production staged in London in 1950

1949

Was co-author, co-producer and director of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific"; won Pulitzer Prize

1952

Salvaged the musical "Wish You Were Here" which he had co-authored, co-produced and directed by writing 54 pages of new material after its undistinguished opening; by the ninth performance, it was a new show that would sell out and remain so for two years

1953

Second breakdown required hospitalization

1953

Directed Broadway production of William Inge's "Picnic"

1954

Co-authored, co-produced and directed "Fanny"

1955

Directed film version of "Picnic"

1956

Helmed featured adaptation of Inge's "Bus Stop"

1957

Directed "Sayonara"; film earned Oscars for co-stars Red Buttons and Miyoshi Umeki

1958

Helmed the feature version of the musical "South Pacific"

1960

Directed Jane Fonda in "Tall Story"

1961

Produced and directed film version of stage musical "Fanny"

1964

Directed and produced "Ensign Pulver", a sequel to "Mister Roberts"; also co-wrote screenplay with Peter S Feibleman

1967

Guided Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero in the screen version of the musical "Camelot"

1969

Final feature, "Paint Your Wagon"

1976

Published autobiography "Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life"

1978

Published "Movie Stars, Real People and Me", a collection of anecdotes about his life in the theater

Photo Collections

Fanny - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster from Fanny (1961), starring Leslie Caron. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.

Sayonara - Movie Poster

Here is the American One-Sheet movie poster for Sayonara (1957), starring Marlon Brando and Red Buttons. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.