Jesse John Hibbs (January 11, 1906 – February 4, 1985) was an American film and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

and

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player. He played college football at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC), where he was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n tackle for the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

in 1927 and 1928.

Football career

Born in

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...

, Hibbs graduated from the select

Lake Forest Academy Lake Forest Academy (also known as LFA) is a co-educational college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9 through 12. The school is located on the North Shore in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States, about 30 miles north o ...

and subsequently enrolled at the

(USC), where he was the captain of USC's first

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

team, in 1928. Among his 1926 teammates was Marion Morrison, later known as John Wayne. Hibbs played professionally in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) with the Chicago Bears in 1931.

Hollywood

Like several other USC players of the 1920s and 1930s, including Wayne, Ward Bond, Cotton Warburton and Aaron Rosenberg, Hibbs entered the film industry and became an assistant director. He got his first opportunity to direct in 1953, on the

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

football drama '' The All American''. He went on to work primarily in

westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

; seven of his eleven features were within the genre, along with much of his television work. He also worked regularly with

Audie Murphy Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...

– on the westerns ''

Ride Clear of Diablo ''Ride Clear of Diablo'' is a 1954 American Technicolor Western film directed by Jesse Hibbs starring Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Susan Cabot and Abbe Lane. made for Universal Pictures. Cabot and Murphy had appeared in two films together previousl ...

'', ''

Walk the Proud Land ''Walk the Proud Land'' is a 1956 CinemaScope Technicolor Western film directed by Jesse Hibbs and starring Audie Murphy and future Academy Award winner Anne Bancroft. Filmed at Old Tucson Studios, it recounts the first successful introduc ...

'', and '' Ride a Crooked Trail'', as well as the film version of Murphy's life story '' To Hell and Back'', the boxing film '' World in My Corner'', ''

Shining Victory ''Shining Victory'' is a 1941 American drama film based on the 1940 play '' Jupiter Laughs,'' by A. J. Cronin. It stars James Stephenson, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Donald Crisp, and Barbara O'Neil. It is the first film directed by Irving Rapper. ...

'', and ''

Joe Butterfly ''Joe Butterfly'' is a 1957 American comedy film directed by Jesse Hibbs starring Audie Murphy, George Nader and Keenan Wynn, with Burgess Meredith in the title role as a Japanese man. The movie was action star Murphy's only outright comedy, and ...

''. In later years Hibbs switched worked mainly in television, directing 43 episodes of ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'', 28 episodes of ''

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 ...

'', 20 episodes of '' Gunsmoke'' as well as multiple episodes of several other TV series.

Death and honors

Hibbs died at age 79 in Ojai, California. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbs, Jesse 1906 births 1985 deaths American football tackles American television directors Chicago Bears players USC Trojans football players All-American college football players Lake Forest Academy alumni People from Normal, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Film directors from Illinois