Jack Smight

Smight was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Irish Catholic immigrants. He graduated from Cretin High School with future actor Peter Graves. They acted together in summer stock productions, and Graves played in a 15-piece band that Smight led.

He joined the Army Air Forces, flying missions in the Pacific during World War II, before graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1949. He then sought work as an actor. He worked as a radio actor and had a bit part in a stage production of Anna Lucasta in 1949.

Television

He became stage manager for TV's The Good Egg of the Week and then assistant director on The Colgate Comedy Hour and The Dennis Day Show. He said a big break was working on Visit to a Small Planet with Cyril Ritchard.

In 1959, he won an Emmy Award for his direction of the hour-long play Eddie, which starred Mickey Rooney. He directed episodes for The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

He directed the 1960 Broadway play The 49th Cousin.

Feature films

Smight's first feature film was I'd Rather Be Rich (1964), a remake of It Started with Eve (1941). Smight said "it was not a particularly good script but it opened up a whole new life for me."

Smight then signed a contract with Warners to make six films in one a year. He produced and directed The Third Day (1965) and then directed the Paul Newman vehicle Harper (1966). He followed that with the British action comedy, Kaleidoscope (1966) with Warren Beatty.

In 1966, he signed a three-picture deal with Mirisch Brothers and bought the rights to the book The Illustrated Man. In 1968, he directed the cult classic comedic thriller No Way to Treat a Lady, starring Rod Steiger and George Segal. Other notable films directed by Smight include Airport 1975 (1974) and Midway (1976), back-to-back box office hits.

In 1976, Smight was hired to direct the technically-complex Damnation Alley, expected to be another box office hit upon release. After the director's cut was delivered, and Smight moved on to other projects, studio meddling and re-editing resulted in a drastically altered film, which was released and failed at the box office.

Smight's last film, The Favorite (1989), also known as La Nuit du serail, was a co-production of the United States and Switzerland.

Smight was married to actress Joyce Cunning, and he had two sons, including editor/director Alec Smight.

Death

Smight died of cancer on September 1, 2003, in Los Angeles.

Film

Television

TV films, specials, and miniseries