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Jack Smight

Highest Rated: 95% Harper (1966)

Lowest Rated: 30% Airport 1975 (1974)

Birthday: Mar 9, 1925

Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Prolific director Jack Smight moved nimbly between film and television productions with a passion for quirky, even macabre, fare. Nevertheless, he achieved greater fame for his action films of the 1970s. Smight enrolled in the Army as soon as he reached legal age, becoming a navigator and flying missions in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, he studied drama at college in his home state of Minnesota, taking to the stage with a friend, Peter Graves (later of "Mission: Impossible" fame), with whom he later moved to Hollywood. Smight worked his way up to the director's chair on televised plays, winning an Emmy for his direction of Mickey Rooney in "Eddie" in 1958. He directed numerous TV episodes, including several for both "The Twilight Zone" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." He broke into features in 1964 with "I'd Rather Be Rich," the remake of the 1941 comedy "It Started With Eve." This led to a string of further films, including "Harper," with Paul Newman in the title role, and "The Illustrated Man," featuring Rod Steiger in an adaptation of the Ray Bradbury story. Smight would float between film and television, including a two-part, highly revered retelling of the Mary Shelley novel, "Frankenstein: The True Story." In his very productive 1970s period, he directed back-to-back action successes: "Airport 1975," a sequel to the disaster film "Airport," and "Midway," the tale of the famous World War II battle.

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Highest rated movies

95% 73% Harper
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89% 75% No Way to Treat a Lady
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45% 34% Damnation Alley
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41% 71% Midway
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40% 44% The Secret War of Harry Frigg
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40% 39% The Illustrated Man
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30% 38% Airport 1975
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Partners in Crime
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Linda
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21% Loving Couples
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet 40% The Favorite Director - 1989
No Score Yet 18% Number One With a Bullet Director - 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Remembrance of Love Director - 1982
No Score Yet 21% Loving Couples Director - 1980
No Score Yet 56% Fast Break Dibber (Character),
Director
- 1979
No Score Yet 48% Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Director - 1978
45% 34% Damnation Alley Director - 1977
41% 71% Midway Director - 1976
30% 38% Airport 1975 Director - 1974
No Score Yet 67% Frankenstein: The True Story Director - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Double Indemnity Director - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Linda Director - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Partners in Crime Director - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Detour to Nowhere Director - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Longest Night Director - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Screaming Woman Director - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Traveling Executioner Director,
Producer
- 1970
No Score Yet 12% Rabbit, Run Director - 1970
40% 39% The Illustrated Man Director - 1969
No Score Yet No Score Yet Strategy of Terror Director - 1969
89% 75% No Way to Treat a Lady Director - 1968
40% 44% The Secret War of Harry Frigg Director - 1968
95% 73% Harper Director - 1966
No Score Yet 58% Kaleidoscope Director - 1966
No Score Yet 22% The Third Day Director,
Producer
- 1965
No Score Yet 67% I'd Rather Be Rich Director - 1964

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Banacek Director 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet McCloud Director 1971-1972
No Score Yet 80% Columbo Director 1971
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dr. Kildare Director 1963-1964
No Score Yet No Score Yet East Side/West Side Director 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Alfred Hitchcock Hour Director 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Route 66 Director 1961
92% 96% The Twilight Zone Director 1959-1961
No Score Yet No Score Yet Climax! Director 1956