John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...

'' (1977), ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (1979), '' Blue Thunder'' (1983), '' WarGames'' (1983), ''

Short Circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

'' (1986), '' Stakeout'' (1987), '' Bird on a Wire'' (1990), '' The Hard Way'' (1991), ''

Point of No Return The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is no longer possible, being too dangerous, physically difficult, or prohibitively expensive to be undertaken. ...

'' (1993), and ''

Drop Zone A drop zone (DZ) is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers and airborne forces, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land ...

'' (1994). He is a two-time

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominee, a two-time

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

nominee, and a Saturn Award winner. He is also a Professor at Chapman University.

Early life and education

Badham was born in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England, the son of U.S. Army General Henry Lee Badham Jr., and English-born actress Mary Iola Badham (née Hewitt). Henry, a native of

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, moved his family back to the U.S. when John was two years old. John's parents and paternal grandparents are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Henry was an aviator in both World Wars, and was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007. After retirement from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general, Henry became a businessman and helped develop the Ensley and Bessemer regions near Birmingham. This same line of business had brought his own father, John's grandfather, into association with Walker Percy, grandfather of writer Walker Percy. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Badham's family settled in Mountain Brook, an affluent suburb of Birmingham. He attended Indian Springs School, at that time a brand-new, liberal boys' school located a short distance south of Birmingham in Shelby County near the rural post office of Helena. He later went to college at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, earning a Masters of Fine Arts.

Career

Badham worked in television for years, on Universal Television series like ''

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

'' and ''

The Bold Ones ''The Bold Ones'' is the umbrella title for several television series. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast on NBC from 1969 to 1973. It was a wheel series, wheel format series, an NBC programming approach also used by that net ...

''. He then directed several acclaimed TV movies, including '' Isn't It Shocking?'' (1973) and '' The Law'' (1974). His first feature film was '' The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'' in 1976. His breakthrough came in 1977 when he replaced John G. Avildsen as the director of ''

'', a massive worldwide hit starring

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

. His choices after that film were wildly eclectic, ranging from the action thriller '' Blue Thunder'' (1983) to the comedy-drama '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' (1981) to the comedy thriller '' Stakeout'' (1987) and its sequel '' Another Stakeout'' (1993). '' WarGames'' (1983), starring

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in ''WarGames'' (1983) as a teen government hacker, and ''Ladyhawke (film), Ladyhawke'' (1985), a medieval fantasy alongside Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer. He play ...

, is his other signature film, renowned for its take on popular

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

fears of nuclear terror as well as being one of the first films to deal with the subculture of amateur hacking. Another sizable hit was ''

'' (1986), a comedy about a robot who comes to life. In addition to his numerous film credits, Badham has also continued to direct and produce for TV, including credits for

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter and television producer best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Anthology series, anthology television series ''The Twilight Zone (1 ...

's ''

Night Gallery ''Night Gallery'' is an American anthology television series that aired on NBC from December 16, 1970, to May 27, 1973, featuring stories of horror and the macabre. Rod Serling, who had gained fame from an earlier series, '' The Twilight Zon ...

'', the A&E

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' The Beast'', TV movies like

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's '' The Jack Bull'' (1999), and episodes of series including ''

Crossing Jordan ''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama television series created by Tim Kring, that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001, to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed ...

'' and ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

''.He has also contributed commentary to the

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

'' Trailers from Hell''. In 1986, he signed a two-year development deal with production company

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

, in order to develop various film projects. Badham is a Professor at Chapman University.

Unrealized projects

Badham has been considered to direct films that ended up being directed by others, such as ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' (1978), ''

Brubaker ''Brubaker'' is a 1980 American prison film, prison Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg. It stars Robert Redford as a newly arrived prison warden, Henry Brubaker, who attempts to clean up a corrupt and violent pe ...

'' (1980), ''

First Blood ''First Blood'' is a 1982 American war action film starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. Directed by Ted Kotcheff, the film was co-written by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim, and Stallone, deriving from the 1972 no ...

'' (1982), '' Staying Alive'' (1983),'' The Dead Zone'' (1983),'' Starman'' (1984), '' Project X'' (1987),''

Short Circuit 2 ''Short Circuit 2'' is a 1988 American science fiction comedy film, the sequel to the 1986 film ''Short Circuit''. It was directed by Kenneth Johnson and starred Fisher Stevens as Ben Jahrvi, Michael McKean as Fred Ritter, Cynthia Gibb as Sand ...

'' (1988),''

Ghost Dad ''Ghost Dad'' is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier (in his final directorial effort) and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death. The film was relea ...

'' (1990),'' Patriot Games'' (1992),'' The Firm'' (1993) and ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue, based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' (1996).

Personal life

Badham's sister, Mary Badham, was nominated for an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for her role as "Scout" Finch in the film ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release; in the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' ...

''. They worked together on one project, William Castle's '' Let's Kill Uncle'', released in 1966, Badham was Castle's casting director, and Mary played one of the leads. Badham's former wife is retired model Jan Speck of '' The New Treasure Hunt''. She had assorted cameo roles in many of his projects, starting in the 1980s.

Filmography

*'' The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings'' (1976) *''

'' (1977) *''

'' (1979) *'' Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' (1981) *'' Blue Thunder'' (1983) *'' WarGames'' (1983) *'' American Flyers'' (1985) *''

'' (1986) *'' Stakeout'' (1987) *'' Bird on a Wire'' (1990) *'' The Hard Way'' (1991) *''

'' (1993) *'' Another Stakeout'' (1993) *''

'' (1994) *'' Nick of Time'' (1995) *'' Incognito'' (1997)

Television films

*''The Impatient Heart'', NBC (1971) *'' No Place to Run'', ABC (1972) (uncredited) *'' Isn't It Shocking?'', ABC (1973) *'' The Law'', NBC (1974) *'' The Gun'', ABC (1974) *'' Reflections of Murder'', ABC (1974) *''The Godchild'', ABC (1974) *''The Keegans'', CBS (1976) *''Floating Away'', Showtime (1998) *'' The Jack Bull'',

(1999) *'' The Last Debate'', Showtime (2000) *'' Brother's Keeper'', USA (2002) *''Obsessed'', Lifetime (2002) *'' Footsteps'', CBS (2003) *''

Evel Knievel Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel (), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted List of Evel Knievel career jumps, more than 75 ramp-to-ra ...

'', TNT (2004)

Television series

*'' The Bold Ones: The Senator'', NBC, (1971) *'' Sarge'', NBC, (1971) *''

'', NBC, (1971) *'' Nichols'', NBC, (1972) *'' The Sixth Sense'', ABC, (1972) *'' The Bold Ones: The New Doctors'', NBC, (1972) *'' Cool Million'', NBC, (1972) *'' Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law'', ABC, (1973) *'' The Streets of San Francisco'', ABC, (1973) *''

'', CBS, (1973) *''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...

'', ABC, (1973) *'' Police Story'', NBC, (1973) *''Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love'', NBC, (1974) *'' The Shield'', FX, (2003) *'' Blind Justice'', ABC, (2005) *''

Just Legal ''Just Legal'' is an American courtroom drama television series that stars Don Johnson and Jay Baruchel as two courtroom lawyers in Venice, California. The series premiered on The WB on September 19, 2005, and was canceled on October 3, 2005, ...

'',

The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...

, (2005) *'' Heroes'', NBC, (2006) *''

'', NBC, (2007) *'' Standoff'', FOX, (2007) *''

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

'', NBC, (2007) *''

Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...

'', USA, (2007) *'' Men in Trees'', ABC, (2008) *'' In Plain Sight'', USA, (2008) *'' The Beast'', A&E, (2009) *''

'', CBS, (2009) *'' Trauma'', NBC, (2010) *''

The Event ''The Event'' (stylized as THE EVƎNT) is an American television series containing elements of science fiction, Action fiction, action/adventure and political allegory. It was created by Nick Wauters and aired on NBC from September 20, 2010, to ...

'', NBC, (2010) *'' Nikita'',

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

, (2012) *'' Constantine'', NBC, (2014) *''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'',

, (2014) *''

12 Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American Science fiction film, science fiction thriller film directed by Terry Gilliam from a screenplay by David Peoples and Janet Peoples, based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film ''La Jetée''. It stars Bruce Willis, M ...

'', SYFY, (2015) *'' Stitchers'', FREE, (2015) *''

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

'',

, (2015) *''

Rush Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

'', CBS, (2016) *'' Siren'', Freeform, (2018)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* *
John Badham
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badham, John 1939 births Living people American television directors Film producers from Alabama American television producers American male screenwriters American male film actors American male television actors Artists from Birmingham, Alabama Chapman University faculty English emigrants to the United States Film directors from Alabama Indian Springs School alumni People from Mountain Brook, Alabama Yale University alumni Male actors from Luton