Joseph Sargent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente (1925-07-22)July 22, 1925 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | December 22, 2014(2014-12-22) (aged 89) Malibu, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Joseph Daniel Sargent |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1951–2009 |
| Known for | White Lightning MacArthur Nightmares Jaws: The Revenge The Taking of Pelham One Two Three |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingLia Sargent |
Joseph Sargent (bornGiuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American director, producer, and actor of film and television. His directing career spanned nearly 50 years, between 1959 and 2008, and over 90 productions. He was a four-timePrimetime Emmy Award andDirectors Guild of America Award recipient.
Sargent's directing credits included the science-fiction filmColossus: The Forbin Project (1970), theBurt Reynolds action filmWhite Lightning (1973), the thrillerThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), the biopicMacArthur (1977) starringGregory Peck, and the horror anthologyNightmares (1983). On television, he was known as a prolific director oftelefilms and miniseries, winning the Emmy Award forOutstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie three times.
He was the father of voice actressLia Sargent.
Sargent was bornGiuseppe Danielle Sorgente inJersey City, New Jersey, the son ofItalian parents Maria (née Noviello) and Domenico Sorgente.[1][2] Sargent served in theU.S. Army duringWorld War II, where he fought in theBattle of the Bulge.[3][4][5][6]
Sargent began his career as an actor, appearing in numerous films and television programs.
He appeared in an uncredited role as a soldier in the filmFrom Here to Eternity (1953) where he also met his first wifeMary Carver on the set. In the mid 1950s Sargent switched to directing; over the next 15 years his directing credits would include episodes of television seriesLassie,The Invaders (four episodes),The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and theStar Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver".
He appeared in the Western seriesGunsmoke, once in 1957 as a man, turned drunk, who lost his drive to live, in the episode "Skid Row" (S2E22); then again as a drunk cowboy who gets killed in The Longbranch Saloon in the 1959 episode "There Never Was A Horse" (S4E35).
In 1969, he directed his first feature, the science fiction thrillerColossus: The Forbin Project. In 1971, he was hired to directBuck and the Preacher but, after a few days of shooting, was replaced bySidney Poitier, who cited creative differences.[7] The next year, however, he directedThe Man, starringJames Earl Jones, which was begun as a television movie.
He alternated between television movies and feature films during the 1970s. Sargent's directorial work from this period includesThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the TV moviesHustling withLee Remick andJill Clayburgh,Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring withSally Field, andTribes withJan-Michael Vincent andDarren McGavin, as well as international award-winning ABC filmThe Night That Panicked America. In 1974, he won his firstDirectors Guild of America Award forThe Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), which was the TV movie pilot for theKojak series.
In the 1980s, Sargent directed the mini-seriesManions of America, which featuredPierce Brosnan, andSpace. In 1987 he directedJaws: The Revenge, the third sequel toSteven Spielberg's 1975 classic. The film received entirely negative reviews.Roger Ebert called his directing of the climactic sequence "incompetent,"[8] and he was nominated for Worst Director in the1987 Golden Raspberry Awards.[9]
He concentrated on TV movies afterJaws: The Revenge, includingThe Karen Carpenter Story,The Long Island Incident,Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, and the 2007 remake of theSally Field docudramaSybil.
Joseph Sargent and his wife Carolyn Nelson Sargent laid the groundwork forDeaf West Theatre.[10]
Sargent spent time as the Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence for the Directing program at theAmerican Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles.
Sargent died of complications fromheart disease at his home inMalibu, California, on December 22, 2014. He was 89.[5]
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Street-Fighter | Yes | ||
| 1966 | One Spy Too Many | Yes | Re-edit of a two-partThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "Alexander the Greater Affair" with different shots and dialog | |
| 1967 | The Spy in the Green Hat | Yes | Re-edit of a two-partThe Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" with new scenes added | |
| 1968 | The Hell with Heroes | Yes | ||
| The Sunshine Patriot | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1970 | Colossus: The Forbin Project | Yes | ||
| Tribes | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1972 | Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| The Man | Yes | |||
| 1973 | Sunshine | Yes | Television film | |
| The Marcus-Nelson Murders | Yes | Kojak pilot | ||
| White Lightning | Yes | |||
| 1974 | The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Yes | ||
| 1975 | Friendly Persuasion | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| The Night That Panicked America | Yes | Yes | Television film | |
| Hustling | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1977 | MacArthur | Yes | ||
| 1979 | Goldengirl | Yes | ||
| 1980 | Coast to Coast | Yes | ||
| Amber Waves | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1981 | Freedom | Yes | Television film | |
| Manions of America | Yes | Miniseries | ||
| 1983 | Nightmares | Yes | ||
| Memorial Day | Yes | Television film | ||
| Choices of the Heart | Yes | Yes | Television film | |
| 1984 | Terrible Joe Moran | Yes | Television film | |
| 1985 | Love Is Never Silent | Yes | Television film | |
| Space | Yes | Miniseries | ||
| 1986 | There Must Be a Pony | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| 1987 | Jaws: The Revenge | Yes | Yes | |
| 1989 | The Karen Carpenter Story | Yes | Television film | |
| Day One | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1990 | The Incident | Yes | Television film | |
| Caroline? | Yes | Television film | ||
| Ivory Hunters | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1991 | Never Forget | Yes | Television film | |
| 1992 | Miss Rose White | Yes | Television film | |
| Somebody's Daughter | Yes | Yes | Television film | |
| 1993 | Skylark | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| Abraham | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1994 | World War II: When Lions Roared | Yes | Miniseries | |
| 1995 | My Antonia | Yes | Television film | |
| Streets of Laredo | Yes | Miniseries | ||
| 1997 | Miss Evers' Boys | Yes | Television film | |
| Mandela and de Klerk | Yes | Television film | ||
| 1998 | The Long Island Incident | Yes | Yes | Television film |
| Crime and Punishment | Yes | Yes | Television film | |
| The Wall | Yes | Yes | Television film | |
| 1999 | A Lesson Before Dying | Yes | Television film | |
| 2000 | For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story | Yes | Television film | |
| 2001 | Bojangles | Yes | Television film | |
| 2003 | Salem Witch Trials | Yes | Television film | |
| Out of the Ashes | Yes | Television film | ||
| 2004 | Something the Lord Made | Yes | Television film | |
| 2005 | Warm Springs | Yes | Television film | |
| 2007 | Sybil | Yes | Television film | |
| 2008 | Sweet Nothing in My Ear | Yes | Television film |
Sargent was nominated for several Emmy awards, winning four. Early in his career, he won aDirectors Guild of America Award for theKojak pilot. Sargent was nominated for eight DGA awards for television movies, more than any other director in this category.
