Jack Arnold (director)
| Jack Arnold | |
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Jack Arnold, 1975
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| Born |
Jack Arnold Waks October 14, 1916 New Haven, Connecticut, United States |
| Died | March 17, 1992 (aged 75) Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor, director |
| Known for | Science fiction films, documentaries |
| Spouse(s) | Betty Arnold (c. 1945–1992, his death) |
| Children | Two, including producer Susan Arnold |
Jack Arnold (October 14, 1916 – March 17, 1992) was an American actor and film and television director, best known as one of the leading filmmakers of 1950s science fiction films. His most notable films are It Came from Outer Space (1953), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Tarantula (1955), and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
Jack Arnold was born on a kitchen table in New Haven, Connecticut, to Russian immigrant parents. As a child he read a lot of science fiction, which laid the foundations for his genre films of the 1950s.
He hoped to become a professional actor and in his late teens he enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Hume Cronyn, Betty Field and Garson Kanin. After graduating he worked as a vaudeville dancer and in 1935 began getting roles in Broadway plays. He was acting in My Sister Eileen when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and he immediately enlisted as a cadet for pilot training.
While Arnold intended to become a pilot, a shortage of planes meant he was temporarily placed in the Signal Corps, where he took a crash course in cinematography. He then became a cameraman and learned the techniques of filmmaking by assisting Robert Flaherty on various military films. After eight months with Flaherty he became a pilot in the Air Corps. While stationed at Truax Airfield at New Rochelle, New York, he met Betty, who would later become his wife.
At the war's end and Arnold's term of service ended, he formed a partnership with an air squadron buddy Lee Goodman to form a film production company. Their new company, called Promotional Films Company, made fundraising films for various non-profit organizations. He also continued acting on stage during this period, in plays including a revival of The Front Page, and played opposite Bela Lugosi and Elaine Stritch in Three Indelicate Ladies.
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