Biography for
Henry Hathaway

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Date of Birth

13 March 1898, Sacramento, California, USA

Date of Death

11 February 1985, Hollywood, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Marquis Henri Leonard de Fiennes

Apodo

Hank

Mini Biography

Henry Hathaway, a son of a stage actress and manager, started his career as a child actor in westerns directed by Allan Dwan. His movie career was interrupted by World War I. After his discharge, he briefly tried a career in finance but then returned to Hollywood to work as an assistant director under such directors as Frank Lloyd, Paul Bern, Josef von Sternberg and Victor Fleming, whom Hathaway credited for his eventual success. In 1932 Hathaway directed his first picture, Heritage of the Desert (1932), a western. His approach has been described as uncomplicated and straightforward, while at the same time many of his films are noted for their striking visual effects and unusual locations. He had a reputation as being difficult on actors, but some stars such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe benefited under his direction. Although Hathaway was a highly successful and reliable director working within the Hollywood studio system, his work has received little attention from critics.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Amy Harper

Esposo/a

Elvira

(1922 - ?)

Trivialidades

Hathaway's grandfather was commissioned to acquire the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) by the King of Belgians, hence Hathaway inherited the title Marquis.

Son of actress Jean Hathaway and actor Rhody Hathaway.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 441-446. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Hathaways was shooting a scene on location on Wall Street in New York City. Many of the windows in the adjoining buildings were filled with office workers leaning out to watch the filming going on below them. Hathaway got so frustrated with all the attendant noise that he finally leaped out of his director's chair, looked upwards at the crowds and yelled, "God damn it, I don't look over your shoulders when you work!".

Personal Quotes

Being educated is making the pictures themselves, if you make it your business to pay attention.

To be a good director you've got to be a bastard. I'm a bastard and I know it.

You don't have to hold an inquest to find out who killed Marilyn Monroe. Those bastards in the big executive chairs killed her.

When I went to work in Universal Studios in 1914, there were five women directors. Lois Weber made the biggest pictures. John Ford and I alternated as prop men for this great director. If women haven't got a good directing job now, it's their own fault.

There's lots of nice guys walking around Hollywood but they're not eating.

[1970 comment on Kim Novak] I worked one day with her and I quit.

[on Gary Cooper] Gary Cooper was the first actor to believe you didn't have to mug to act, if you thought of what you were doing, it showed -- and he proved he was right.

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