Vincent Sherman (July 16, 1906 – June 18, 2006) was an American director, and actor, who worked in Hollywood. His movies include Mr. Skeffington (1944), Nora Prentiss (1947), and The Young Philadelphians (1959).He began his career as an actor on Broadway and later films. He directed B-movies for Warner Bros. before moving up to A-pictures. He was a good friend of actor Errol Flynn, whom he directed in Adventures of Don Juan (1949). He directed three Joan Crawford movies The Damned Don't Cry! (1950), Harriet Craig (1950), and Goodbye, My Fancy (1951).
[on working with Joan Crawford in The Damned Don't Cry (1950)] [Joan was] the most cooperative actress I ever worked with--and very knowledgeable about what worked and didn't work for her in the story and in her career. When we were preparing the picture, she looked back over her own life as raw material for the character. She had risen from Broadway chorus girl to silent-movie dancer to wealthy and influential star. Her entire past had been a toughening experience for her, and she used it brilliantly.
2
[on working with Joan Crawford] I had heard so many stories about her, and I thought she'd be very demanding, overpowering and overwhelming. But Joan was very much down to earth, very simple, unpretentious and very smart about filmmaking.
3
[on working with Joan Crawford] She phoned me almost every day to discuss some story point or she would come to the studio to talk about her wardrobe. I found her excellent to work with--intelligent, perceptive and she presented her thoughts in a way that was never high-handed. I had never worked with an actor who knew so much about filmmaking. She could have been imperious, but she never was. She always asked rather than told, and she listened. She appreciated being part of the process of working on the script, even though she had that power [in her contract].
4
The longer I'm away from the big studio system, the more I appreciate it. I'm just glad I was around at its height.
5
[on Joan Crawford and the book "Mommie Dearest"] Christina [Crawford's daughter, Christina Crawford] hurt her mother's image a lot, but at least not while Joan was still alive. Bette Davis wasn't so fortunate, or maybe I should say she was more fortunate. She had to endure the hurt, but anyway she was there to defend herself and to go on the offensive. I think I knew Joan as well as anyone ever did, but I honestly don't know how Joan would have handled "Mommie Dearest" if Christina had published it while she was still alive. She would have been heartbroken, but I don't think she would have just fallen apart. She was strong, but the Joan I knew was a very, very vulnerable person. I think it would have depended on her health, but because she cared so much about what her fans thought, she would have done something if she could.
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Fact
1
In 1933 he got his first acting role in William Wyler's Counsellor at Law (1933) with John Barrymore. He had one scene where he threatens a kid, played by Richard Quine. Because of Barrymore's alcoholism it took four days to film. Ironically, both Sherman and Quine went on to become successful directors.
2
He was "graylisted" during the 1950s and went four years without a film.
3
His first opportunity to direct came in the late 1920s at summer theaters in New York's Adirondack Mountain resort areas.
He became known as a "woman's director" (a title he hated), because he could evoke powerful performances from female stars. He would counter this by pointing out that he also directed Errol Flynn, Humphrey Bogart, Richard Burton and Paul Newman.
8
Romanced many of his famous actresses, and he wrote about them in his 1996 autobiography, "Studio Affairs." Though both were married at the time, he and Bette Davis had an affair that began during the filming of Old Acquaintance (1943) and continued through Mr. Skeffington (1944) which was released the following year. His dalliance with Joan Crawford lasted through three movies, and another with Rita Hayworth happened during Affair in Trinidad (1952) after she had divorced Prince Aly Khan.
9
He had begun his show-business career as an actor, appearing on Broadway and in a handful of films, among them the hit Counsellor at Law (1933) in which he had a small but memorable role as a young anarchist opposite John Barrymore. He also wrote several screenplays, including King of the Underworld (1939), which starred Humphrey Bogart. In the late 1940s Warner Bros. hired Sherman under an acting-writing-directing contract, and he was assigned to the studio's B-picture unit, adapting old movies into remakes. He broke out as a director in 1942 with the gripping melodrama The Hard Way (1943). Although he would go on to direct many important projects, he never rose to the level that would afford him consideration for an Academy Award.
10
Had a son, a daughter, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Actress Francine York was his companion the last nine years of his life.
11
During the early 1950s his thriving career foundered as he was dropped without explanation by Warner Bros., after a federal agent had told the studio Sherman was suspected of Communist ties. He said he wasn't a Communist, but he knew people like John Garfield who'd been blacklisted, and he stood beside them. His film career was seriously damaged by Hollywood's Communist "red scare," but he later rebounded as a successful director of such television series as 77 Sunset Strip (1958), "The Waltons" (1972)_, Doctors' Hospital (1975), Baretta (1975) and Trapper John, M.D. (1979).
12
Born Abraham Orovitz to one of the only two Jewish families in Vienna, GA, Sherman learned at an early age to defend himself against the taunts of his schoolmates. After graduating from Oglethorpe University, he sought an acting career in New York, joining the left-wing Group Theater. Since ethnic names for actors were unfashionable, he changed his to Vincent Sherman.
13
Graduate of Oglethorpe University.
14
During the 1950s he was targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, due to his support of the WPA theater project in New York.
At the age of 96, this legendary director appeared at the Hollywood Collectors Show in North Hollywood, California. There he greeted well-wishers and signed vintage stills, in which he was pictured with legends such as Joan Crawford, Errol Flynn, John Barrymore and others. [October 2002]
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Waltons
1972-1973
TV Series 4 episodes
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
TV Series 1 episode
Green Acres
1971
TV Series 1 episode
The Bold Ones: The Lawyers
1969
TV Series 1 episode
Young Rebel
1967
The Long, Hot Summer
1965-1966
TV Series 7 episodes
Vacation Playhouse
1965
TV Series 1 episode
Sally and Sam
1965
TV Short
The Second Time Around
1961
A Fever in the Blood
1961
Ice Palace
1960
The Young Philadelphians
1959
77 Sunset Strip
1959
TV Series 1 episode
The Hanging Tree
1959
only on 30 July 1958, uncredited
The Naked Earth
1958
The Garment Jungle
1957
Defend My Love
1956
uncredited
Affair in Trinidad
1952
Lone Star
1952
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
Harriet Craig
1950
The Damned Don't Cry
1950
Backfire
1950
The Hasty Heart
1949
Adventures of Don Juan
1948
The Unfaithful
1947
Nora Prentiss
1947
Janie Gets Married
1946
Pillow to Post
1945
Mr. Skeffington
1944
In Our Time
1944
The Present with a Future
1943
Short
Old Acquaintance
1943
The Hard Way
1943
Across the Pacific
1942
final scenes, uncredited
All Through the Night
1942
Underground
1941
Flight from Destiny
1941
The Man Who Talked Too Much
1940
Saturday's Children
1940
The Return of Doctor X
1939
Trapper John, M.D.
1981-1983
TV Series 3 episodes
Savage in the Orient
1983
TV Movie
Trouble in High Timber Country
1980
TV Movie
Hagen
1980
TV Series 1 episode
Bogie
1980
TV Movie
The Dream Merchants
1980
TV Series 2 episodes
Women at West Point
1979
TV Movie
Lady of the House
1978
TV Movie
The Last Hurrah
1977
TV Movie
Westside Medical
1977
TV Series 1 episode
Baretta
1976
TV Series 4 episodes
Executive Suite
1976
TV Series 3 episodes
Medical Center
1969-1976
TV Series 25 episodes
Doctors' Hospital
1975
TV Series 1 episode
The Family Holvak
1975
TV Series
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Girl in Danger
1934
Willie Tolini
Midnight Alibi
1934
Black Mike
Hell Bent for Love
1934
Johnny Frank
One Is Guilty
1934
William Malcolm
The Crime of Helen Stanley
1934
Karl Williams
Speed Wings
1934
Mickey
Counsellor at Law
1933
Harry Becker
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pride of the Blue Grass
1939
original screen play / story "Gantry the Great"
The Adventures of Jane Arden
1939
screen play
King of the Underworld
1939
screen play
Heart of the North
1938
screenplay
My Bill
1938
screen play
Crime School
1938
screen play
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Complicated Women
2003
TV Movie documentary additional consultant
Defend My Love
1956
supervisor
King of the Underworld
1939
dialogue director
My Bill
1938
dialogue director
Crime School
1938
dialogue director
Accidents Will Happen
1938
dialogue director
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Vacation Playhouse
1965
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Sally and Sam
1965
TV Short producer
Affair in Trinidad
1952
producer
The Hasty Heart
1949
producer
Assistant Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Sergeant York
1941
additional director - uncredited
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn
2007
TV Movie documentary in memory: [1906-2006]
City Confidential
2007
TV Series documentary special thanks - 1 episode
Mr. Skeffington: A Picture of Strength
2005
Video documentary short special thanks
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
2005
Video documentary short special thanks
Biography
1996
TV Series documentary acknowledgment - 1 episode
Errol Flynn: Portrait of a Swashbuckler
1983
Video documentary acknowledgment: film and stills courtesy of
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Sodankylä ikuisesti
2010
TV Series documentary
Himself
Tasmanian Devil: The Fast and Furious Life of Errol Flynn
2007
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Film Director and Friend
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Mr. Skeffington: A Picture of Strength
2005
Video documentary short
Himself
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
2005
Video documentary short
Himself - Director
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
2005
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Director
Männer im Trenchcoat, Frauen im Pelz
2004
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust
2004
Documentary
Himself
Rita
2003
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There
$300,000
