Tay Garnett

A prolific, skillful director of adventure films, westerns and other hard-hitting fare, Tay Garnett began in films around 1920 as a writer. Becoming as a director near the end of the silent period, Garnett quickly demonstrated the narrative verve and technical competence typical of his work with the early talkie landmarks, the rough-housing romance, "Her Man" (1930) and the intriguing gangster film, "Bad Company" (1931). Though his output is variable, Garnett was a reliable and very talented craftsman who helmed such fine genre fare as "One Way Passage" (1932), a lovely romantic duet for Kay Francis and William Powell; "China Seas" (1935), a lively comic adventure at sea teaming up Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, and Wallace Beery; "Slave Ship" (1937), a grim, potent seafaring saga with Beery and Warner Baxter; "Stand In" (1937), a highly enjoyable spoof of Hollywood filmmaking with Leslie Howard and Joan Blondell; and one of Marlene Dietrich's best films, the rowdy yet touching "Seven Sinners" (1940). His most famous film, though, is arguably that classic film noir pairing of Lana Turner's blondeness and John Garfield's swarthiness, "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946).

• Also Credited As:
  William Taylor Garnett
• Born:
  June 13, 1894 in Los Angeles, California, USA
• Died:
  October 3, 1977.
• Job Titles:
  Director, Screenwriter, Novelist, Stuntman

Education

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Los Angeles High School, Los Angeles, California

Milestones

• 1920 Became a screenwriter; wrote screenplays and comic material for, among others, Hal Roach and Mack Sennett
• 1927 Joined the DeMille unit at Pathe
• 1928 Began as a film director at Pathe; first films, Celebrity (for which he also co-wrote the screenplay) and The Spieler (which he also co-wrote)
• 1973 Last film, Timber Tramp
• Directed mainly for TV beginning in the late 1950s
• Served as a pilot for the Navy during and shortly after WWI