Jack Arnold (October 14 1916 - March 17, 1992) was an American television and film director.
He was born in New Haven, Connecticut.
He directed a number of movies starting in 1950. The best known of these, the science fiction films It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula, Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Man, are noted for their atmospheric black-and-white cinematography and unusually sophisticated scripts. Later in his career, he went to England to direct the early Peter Sellers film, The Mouse That Roared, in which Sellers played three roles, one of them in drag.
Arnold began his television career in 1955 with several episodes of Science Fiction Theater. He went on to direct the long-running television series Perry Mason and Peter Gunn. He also directed episodes of such television shows as Alias Smith and Jones, The Fall Guy, The Brady Bunch, and Gilligan's Island, as well as the 1980 TV movie Marilyn: The Untold Story.
Arnold died in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 75.
Jack Arnold reigns supreme as one of the great directors of 50s science fiction features. His films are distinguished by moody black and white cinematography, solid acting, smart, thoughtful scripts, snappy pacing, a genuine heartfelt enthusiasm for the genre, and plenty of eerie atmosphere. Arnold was born on October 14, 1916 in New Haven, Connecticut. Jack began his show business career as an actor in both on and off Broadway stage productions in the late 30s and early 40s; among the plays he appeared in are "The Time of Your Life," "Juke Box Jenny," "Blind Alibi," "China Passage," and "We're on the Jury." Arnold served in the US Army in the Signal Corps during World War II. He apprenticed under famous documentary filmmaker Robert Flaherty. Following his tour of duty Jack started making short films and documentaries. One short called "With These Hands" was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature. Arnold made his theatrical movie debut with the B picture "Girls in the Night." He then did his first foray into the science fiction genre: the supremely spooky "It Came from Outer Space." Jack achieved his greatest enduring cult popularity with "The Creature from the Black Lagoon," a scary, yet poetic reworking of "Beauty and the Beast." "Revenge of the Creature" was a worthy sequel. "Tarantula" was likewise a lot of fun. "The Incredible Shrinking Man" rates highly as Arnold's crowning cinematic achievement; it's an intelligent and entertaining classic that's lost none of its potency throughout the years. Arnold's final two genre entries were the enjoyable "Monster on the Campus" and the offbeat "The Space Children." Jack's other movies are a pretty varied and interesting bunch; said pictures include the hugely successful "The Mouse That Roared" (this film helped establish Peter Sellers as an international star), the teen exploitation gem "High School Confidential," the superior Audie Murphy Western "No Name on the Bullet," the goofy comedy "Hello Down There," and the silly soft-core romp "Sex Play." Arnold even joined forces with Fred "the Hammer" Williamson on a pair of blaxploitation items: the nifty mystery thriller "Black Eye" and the amiable Western "The Black Bounty Hunter." In addition to his film work, Arnold also directed episodes of such TV shows as "Science Fiction Theatre," "Peter Gunn," "Perry Mason," "Rawhide," "Gilligan's Island," "The Mod Squad," "Wonder Woman," "The Love Boat," "The Bionic Woman," and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." He's the father of producer/casting director Susan Arnold. Jack Arnold died at age 75 on March 17, 1992.
