Oscar Rudolph

Oscar Rudolph (April 2, 1911 – February 1, 1991) was an American film and television director, producer and actor. He is the father of film director, screenwriter and producer Alan Rudolph.

Life and career

Rudolph started his Hollywood entertainment career as a bit actor at the age of 14 after he moved from Cleveland, Ohio, where he was born, to Southern California with his family in 1924 and began his Hollywood career as a child actor. His first film was Little Annie Rooney (1925), which starred legendary silent film actress Mary Pickford; he would appear in a total of 36 films, in mostly uncredited or bit roles, from 1925–47, when he appeared in his last role in the film Easy Come, Easy Go, which co-starred Diana Lynn and Sonny Tufts and Barry Fitzgerald.

Rudolph's directorial career spanned four decades, from the early 1940s to the mid 1970s. He began as an assistant director on a number of films throughout the 1940s before transitioning over to the burgeoning genre of television in the 1950s. He directed episodes of more than 500 television shows, including which included such popular series as The Donna Reed Show, The Lone Ranger, McHale's Navy, The Phyllis Diller Show, My Favorite Martian. Batman and The Brady Bunch.

His film credits as director included Rocket Man (1954), Twist Around the Clock (1961) and Don't Knock the Twist (1962).

Death

Rudolph died at Encino Hospital Medical Center in Encino, California of complications following a stroke. He was survived by his wife of 53 years, Sylvia, his son Alan, and a daughter.