Spencer Gordon Bennet
| Spencer Gordon Bennet | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 5, 1893 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | October 8, 1987 (aged 94) Santa Monica, California |
| Occupation | Film director and producer |
| Years active | 1921–1974 |
Spencer Gordon Bennet (January 5, 1893 – October 8, 1987) was an American film producer and director. Known as the "King of Serial Directors", he directed more film serials than any other director.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Bennet first entered show business as a stunt man, when he answered a newspaper ad to jump from the Palisades of the Hudson River while wearing a suit for the serial film Hurricane Hutch (1921). The gig at that time paid $1 per foot he had to fall.
He made his directorial debut in 1921's Behold the Man but made his serial directorial debut in 1925 with Sunken Silver. He would keep making serials, as well as B-Western features, until the very end of the genre, directing the very last two serials made in the United States, Blazing the Overland Trail (1956) and Perils of the Wilderness (1956). After the serials ended he directed a handful of features, his final directorial credit being 1965's The Bounty Killer, which was also the final film to feature pioneering cowboy star Broncho Billy Anderson. When he died in 1987, his tombstone was engraved "His Final Chapter".
Over his long career Bennet directed over 100 serials, including both Superman serials, The Adventures of Sir Galahad, Batman and Robin, The Tiger Woman, Captain Video, and numerous western serials. Among his western "B" features were his long-running Red Ryder series, featuring Wild Bill Elliott and Allan Rocky Lane.
The Academy Film Archive preserved two of Spencer Gordon Bennet's films, "Hawk of the Hills" and "Snowed In."
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