“Mark Rydell, the director or [sic] my first film, The Rose, died this morning. He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did; he taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys,” writes Midler “Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor’s whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed.”
Born in New York City in 1929, Rydell originally pursued an interest in music before looking into acting. His prolific career began in the 1950s, breaking through on early TV shows like Omnibus, The Philco Television Playhouse, and Kraft Mystery Theatre. He occasionally acted in movies like The Long Goodbye and Hollywood Ending. By the early 1960s, Rydell began shifting his focus to directing TV shows, including The Virginian, The Fugitive, and Gunsmoke. By the end of the decade, he made his feature film debut, the 1967 lesbian drama based on a D.H. Lawrence novella, The Fox.
Rydell steadily directed films through the 1970s and 1980s, including On Golden Pond, his critically acclaimed work with Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda and his real-life daughter, Jane. The movie won three Oscars: Best Actor for Henry Fonda, Best Actress for Katharine Hepburn, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Rydell directed a number of Hollywood heavyweights throughout his career including Midler, the Fondas, Hepburn, Diane Keaton, Elliot Gould, Michael Caine, Carole Kane, Sissy Spacek, Mel Gibson, James Caan, and Steve McQueen. Rydell ended his career where he started it: In television, where he last directed an episode of Masters Of Science Fiction in 2007.
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