Joseph Santley | |
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| Born | Joseph Ishmael Mansfield (1890-01-10)January 10, 1890 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1971(1971-08-08) (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Ivy Sawyer; 3 children |
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Joseph Mansfield Santley (bornJoseph Ishmael Mansfield, January 10, 1890 – August 8, 1971) was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer ofmusicaltheatrical playsmotion pictures and television shows.[1] He adopted thestage name of his stepfather, actor Eugene Santley.
Joseph Santley was born inSalt Lake City,Utah. His mother,Laurene Santley, was an actress.[2] As a boy, he and older brotherFred began performing in live theatre appearing insummer stock and touring with their parents. In 1906, at age seventeen, Joseph Santley co-wrote and starred onBroadway in the play,Billy the Kid. In 1907, he acted in film for the first time forSidney Olcott at theKalem Company in asilentWestern film short calledThe Pony Express.
Santley continued to work almost exclusively inmusical comedy plays, returning to Broadway five more times as well as touring nationally. A gifted dancer and choreographer, Santley created the "Santley Tango" and the "Hawaiian Butterfly". He choreographed and starred in the 1913 Broadway musicalWhen Dreams Come True bySilvio Hein andPhilip Bartholomae; a piece written specifically for him.[3]
After he married actress/singer andcabaret dancerIvy Sawyer, beginning in 1916 the two danced as a team, performing together in a number of Broadway musicals beginning withBetty andOh, My Dear! and eventually other productions at major venues across the United States such as theNational Theatre inWashington, D.C. Their final collective Broadway presentation was in 1927'sJust Fancy, which Santley co-wrote, produced, and directed.
He and Ivy Sawyer had a son Joseph born in 1916 and a daughter Betty born in 1928.
In 1928, Santley directed his first motion picture, a shorttalkie forParamount Pictures that featured singerRuth Etting. The next year, Paramount had Santley direct three more films that were short singing productions, one with Etting, another withcroonerRudy Vallee, plus a third titledHigh Hat with Broadway singing star Alice Boulden. He also directedA Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, a musical film featuringEddie Cantor along withEddie Elkins and his orchestra.
In 1929, Joseph Santley co-directed withRobert Florey the firstMarx Brothers feature film,The Cocoanuts, amusical comedy for which he is most famous. Based on theGeorge S. Kaufman play, and with music byIrving Berlin, the film was billed as "Paramount's All Talking-Singing Musical Comedy Hit." Santley also directed the musical short film,All Americans which featured song and dance numbers relating tonativism that arose in the 1920s.
His other notable directorial efforts include 1935'sHarmony Lane, a biographical musical on the life of composerStephen Foster. In 1940, he directedMelody Ranch starring "singing cowboy"Gene Autry. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by theLibrary of Congress and selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registry.
DuringWorld War II, Joseph Santley worked for the war effort and in 1942 made the filmRemember Pearl Harbor. In 1950, he made his last feature film but came back at age sixty-five to produce the 1954-55 television comedyThe Mickey Rooney Show. In 1956, he put together two segments ofJazz Ball, a made-for-TV musical revue created from various filmed performances byjazz greats from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Joseph Santley died in 1971 in Los Angeles.
Media related toJoseph Santley at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutJoseph Santley atWikisource
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