Robert Frederick Day (11 September 1922 – 17 March 2017) was an English

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

. He directed more than 40 films between 1956 and 1991.

Biography

Day was born in

Sheen Sheen may refer to: Places * Sheen or West Sheen, an alternative name for Richmond, London, England ** East Sheen ** North Sheen ** Sheen Priory * Sheen, Staffordshire, a village and civil parish in the Staffordshire Moorlands, England * Sheenb ...

, England. He worked his way up from

clapper boy Clapper or Clappers may refer to: Miscellaneous *Clapper, part of a bell *Clapper (musical instrument), consisting of two pieces of wood struck together *Clapper bridge, an ancient form of bridge * Clapper Post, urban postal service of Vienna (XV ...

camera operator A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmaking ...

then

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

while in his native country, and began directing in the mid-1950s. His first film as director, the black comedy '' The Green Man'' (1956) for the writer-producer team of

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, ...

and

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. He was the son of George Gilliat, editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1928 to 1933. Sidney was born in the district of Edgeley in Stoc ...

, gained good reviews. Using this as a starting point, Day went on to become one of the industry's busiest directors including directing several

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

films. He relocated to Hollywood in the 1960s and directed many TV episodes and made-for-TV movies. He occasionally had small parts in his own productions, including ''

The Haunted Strangler ''The Haunted Strangler'' (also known as ''Grip of the Strangler'' and originally titled ''The Judas Hole'') is a 1958 British horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold", a story which screenwriter Jan Read had writte ...

'' (1958), ''

Two-Way Stretch ''Two-Way Stretch'', is a 1960 British comedy film, about a group of prisoners who plan to break out of jail, commit a robbery, and then break back into jail again, thus giving them the perfect alibi – that they were behind bars when the ro ...

'' (1960), and the TV mini-series '' Peter and Paul'' (1981). In the 1970s and 1980s, Day would direct episodes of numerous American television shows, including ''

Barnaby Jones ''Barnaby Jones'' is an American detective television series starring Buddy Ebsen as a formerly retired investigator and Lee Meriwether as his widowed daughter-in-law, who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles, California. The show was or ...

'', ''

The F.B.I. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

'', ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', ''

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

'', and '' Matlock''.

Personal life

Day was married to Eileen Day and then, following their divorce, to actress

Dorothy Provine Dorothy Michelle Provine (January 20, 1935 – April 25, 2010) was an American singer, dancer and actress. Born in 1935 in Deadwood, South Dakota, she grew up in Seattle, Washington, and was hired in 1958 by Warner Bros., after which she first ...

until her death in 2010. He was the brother of cinematographer

Ernest Day Ernest Day, B.S.C. (15 April 1927 - 16 November 2006) was a British cinematographer and director of film and television, known for his collaborations with David Lean and Lewis Gilbert. He spent the majority of his career as a camera operator, ...

. Day died at the age of 94 on

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 23,025 at the 2010 census and an estimated 25,298 in 2019, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. ...

near

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

on 17 March 2017.

Selected filmography

*'' The Green Man'' (1956) *''

'' (1958) *''

Corridors of Blood ''Corridors of Blood'' (aka ''Doctor from Seven Dials'')Tom Weaver, ''The Horror Hits of Richard Gordon'', Bear Manor Media 2011 p 80-95 is a 1958 British-American period drama film directed by Robert Day and starring Boris Karloff and Christo ...

'' (1958) *''

First Man into Space ''First Man into Space'' (working title: ''Satellite of Blood'') is a 1959 independently made British-American black-and-white science fiction- horror film. It was produced by John Croydon, Charles F. Vetter, and Richard Gordon for Amalgamat ...

'' (1959) *''

Life in Emergency Ward 10 ''Life in Emergency Ward 10'' is a 1959 film directed by Robert Day. It stars Michael Craig and Wilfrid Hyde-White. It was based on the television series ''Emergency – Ward 10''. Cast * Michael Craig as Dr. Stephen Russell *Wilfrid Hyde-Whit ...

'' (1959) *''

'' (1960) *''

Tarzan the Magnificent ''Tarzan the Magnificent'' is a 1960 British Eastmancolor film, the follow-up to ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' (1959). Its plot bears no relation to that of the 1939 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name. The film was directed by R ...

'' (1960) *'' The Rebel'' (1961) *''

Operation Snatch ''Operation Snatch'' is a 1962 British comedy film starring Terry-Thomas and George Sanders and directed by Robert Day. Plot The story takes place in Gibraltar, and is based on a local legend: if the resident Barbary apes were ever to le ...

'' (1962) *''

Tarzan's Three Challenges ''Tarzan's Three Challenges'' is a 1963 British-American adventure film filmed in Metrocolor. It is a follow-up to 1962's '' Tarzan Goes to India''. The film was Jock Mahoney's second and final turn as the apeman, was produced by Sy Weintraub, ...

'' (1963) *''

She She most commonly refers to: *She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English. She or S.H.E. may also refer to: Literature and films *'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...

'' (1965) *''

Tarzan and the Valley of Gold ''Tarzan and the Valley of Gold'' is a 1966 Eastmancolor adventure film starring Mike Henry in his debut as Tarzan. The Panavision film, produced by Sy Weintraub, written by Clair Huffaker, and directed by Robert Day, is remembered for its v ...

'' (1966) *''

Tarzan and the Great River ''Tarzan and the Great River'' is a 1967 adventure film starring Mike Henry in his second of three film appearances as Tarzan. The film was produced by Sy Weintraub and Steve Shagan, written by Bob Barbash (from a story by Barbash and Lewis Ree ...

'' (1967) *'' The Reluctant Heroes'' (TV film, 1971) *''

The Initiation of Sarah ''The Initiation of Sarah'' is a 1978 American made-for-television supernatural horror film directed by Robert Day. It first aired on ABC on February 6, 1978, and starred Kay Lenz as a shy, withdrawn young woman who discovers that she has psychi ...

'' (1978) *''

The Man with Bogart's Face ''The Man with Bogart's Face'' (also called ''Sam Marlowe, Private Eye'') is a 1980 American comedy film, released by 20th Century Fox and based on a novel of the same name. Andrew J. Fenady, author of the novel, produced the film and wrote the s ...

'' (1980) *'' Peter and Paul'' (1981) *'' The Lady from Yesterday'' (1985) *'' Celebration Family'' (1987) *'' The Quick and the Dead'' (1987)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Robert 1922 births 2017 deaths English film directors

Biography

Personal life

Selected filmography

References

Further reading

External links