__NOTOC__ Irvin Shortess "Shorty" Yeaworth Jr. (February 14, 1926 – July 19, 2004) was a German-born American film director, producer, screenwriter and

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

builder. He began his career singing at age 10 at KDKA in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He later became a radio producer. He directed more than 400 films for motivational, educational, and religious purposes, including television specials for

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a co ...

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

. As an impresario, he directed the Wayne (Pa.) Concert Series from 1979 to 2003. However, he is best known for directing the classic film ''

The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. It stars Steve McQueen (in his first feature film leading role) and Aneta Corsaut and co-stars Earl Rowe ...

'' which depicts a growing, devouring alien slime. In the 1970s he began leading American Christians on tours of Israel and Jordan which he continued to do up until his death. While in these countries he designed and produced World's Fair and theme park pavilions for local enterprises. He was married to Jean Yeaworth for 59 years, who worked on most of his films as music supervisor or writer, and together they had five children. Before he died in a road accident in Amman, he was building a theme park called Jordanian Experience at the Aqaba Gateway in Jordan. In 2007, The Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania (the filming location of the famous "Running Out" scene in ''The Blob'') honored Irvin Yeaworth and ''The Blob'' by holding a film contest in which amateur film-makers competed for the "Shorty" award, named after Yeaworth's nickname.

Filmography

Director

* '' The Flaming Teen-Age'' (1956) (also writer and producer) * ''

'' (1958) * '' 4D Man'' (1959) (also producer) * '' Dinosaurus!'' (1960) (also producer) * '' The Gospel Blimp'' (1967) (also producer) * '' Way Out'' (1967) (also producer)

References

External links

* * 1926 births 2004 deaths Road incident deaths in Jordan Film directors from Berlin Film directors from Pennsylvania German emigrants to the United States American film producers American male screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{Germany-film-director-stub