Robert Stevenson (director)
Encyclopedia
Robert Stevenson was an English
film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society.
He moved to California
in the 1940s and ended up directing 19 films for The Walt Disney Company
in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Stevenson is best remembered for directing the Julie Andrews
musical Mary Poppins
, for which Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress
and Stevenson received a nomination for Best Director Oscar.
Stevenson divorced his first wife Cecilie and married actress Anna Lee
in 1934. They lived on London's Bankside for five years, moving to Hollywood in 1939, where he remained for many years. They had two daughters, Venetia
and Caroline, before divorcing in March 1944.
He married Frances Holyoke Howard on October 8, 1944; they later divorced. They had one son, Hugh Howard Stevenson. Robert Stevenson's widow, Ursula Henderson, appeared as herself in the documentary Locked in the Tower: The Men behind Jane Eyre in 2007.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society.
He moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the 1940s and ended up directing 19 films for The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Stevenson is best remembered for directing the Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
musical Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, for which Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
and Stevenson received a nomination for Best Director Oscar.
Stevenson divorced his first wife Cecilie and married actress Anna Lee
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
in 1934. They lived on London's Bankside for five years, moving to Hollywood in 1939, where he remained for many years. They had two daughters, Venetia
Venetia Stevenson
Venetia Stevenson , born Joanna Venetia Invicta Stevenson is a retired film and television actress.-Family:Stevenson is the daughter of Oscar nominated director Robert Stevenson and actress Anna Lee. Her brother is actor Jeffrey Byron...
and Caroline, before divorcing in March 1944.
He married Frances Holyoke Howard on October 8, 1944; they later divorced. They had one son, Hugh Howard Stevenson. Robert Stevenson's widow, Ursula Henderson, appeared as herself in the documentary Locked in the Tower: The Men behind Jane Eyre in 2007.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1932 | Happy Ever After Happy Ever After (1932 film) Happy Ever After is a 1932 German musical film directed by Paul Martin and Robert Stevenson, and starring Lilian Harvey, Jack Hulbert, Cicely Courtneidge, Sonnie Hale and Edward Chapman. A German language version was released under the title Un rêve blond... |
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| 1933 | Falling For You Falling for You (1933 film) Falling for You is a 1933 comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and Jack Hulbert. It stars Jack Hulbert and Cicely Courtneidge.-Cast:*Jack Hulbert as Jack Hazeldon*Cicely Courtneidge as Minnie Tucker*Tamara Desni as Sondra von Moyden... |
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| 1934 | The Camels Are Coming The Camels are Coming (film) The Camels are Coming is a 1934 British comedy adventure film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Jack Hulbert, Anna Lee, Hartley Power and Harold Huth... |
(uncredited) |
| 1936 | Tudor Rose Tudor Rose (film) Tudor Rose is a 1936 British film starring Cedric Hardwicke and Nova Pilbeam and directed by Robert Stevenson.... |
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| The Man Who Changed His Mind The Man Who Changed His Mind The Man Who Changed His Mind is a 1936 science fiction horror film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and was released in Great Britain by Gainsborough Pictures. The film was also known as The Brainsnatcher or The Man Who Lived Again.-Plot:Dr... |
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| Jack of All Trades Jack of All Trades (film) Jack of All Trades is a 1936 comedy film British directed by Robert Stevenson and Jack Hulbert. It stars Jack Hulbert and Gina Malo.-Cast:*Jack Hulbert as Jack Warrender*Gina Malo as Frances Wilson*Robertson Hare as Lionel Fitch... |
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| 1937 | King Solomon's Mines King Solomon's Mines (1937 film) King Solomon's Mines is a 1937 film, the first film adaptation of the 1885 novel by the same name by Henry Rider Haggard. It starred Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, John Loder and Roland Young... |
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| Non-Stop New York Non-Stop New York Non-Stop New York is a 1937 crime film based on the novel Sky Steward by Ken Attiwill. A woman who can clear an innocent man of the charge of murder is pursued by gangsters onto a luxurious transatlantic flying boat.-Cast:... |
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| 1938 | Owd Bob | |
| The Ware Case | ||
| 1939 | Young Man's Fancy Young Man's Fancy (film) Young Man's Fancy is a 77 minute long 1940 British comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson, who also wrote the story, and starring Anna Lee and Griffith Jones. An aristocratic Englishman is unhappily engaged to a brewery heiress but meets a human cannonball during a visit to a circus and falls in... |
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| 1940 | Return to Yesterday Return to Yesterday Return to Yesterday is a 1940 British drama film directed by Robert Stevenson. It stars Clive Brook and Anna Lee. It was based on the play Goodness How Sad! by Robert Morley.-Cast:* Clive Brook as Robert Maine* Anna Lee as Carol Sands... |
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| Tom Brown's School Days | ||
| 1941 | Back Street Back Street (1941 film) Back Street is a 1941 drama film made by Universal Pictures, directed by Robert Stevenson. The film stars Charles Boyer and Margaret Sullavan. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, also from Universal. The film follows the 1931 Fannie Hurst novel and the 1932 film version very closely,... |
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| 1942 | Joan of Paris Joan of Paris Joan of Paris is a 1942 war film about five Royal Air Force pilots shot down over Nazi-occupied France during World War II and their attempt to escape to England... |
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| 1943 | Forever and a Day | |
| 1944 | Jane Eyre Jane Eyre (1944 film) Jane Eyre is a classic film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan, and Orson Welles . The screenplay was by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster, and Robert... |
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| Know Your Ally: Britain Know Your Ally: Britain Know Your Ally: Britain was a 45 minute propaganda film narrated by Walter Huston and produced by the United States War Department and Signal Corp to solidify Anglo-American solidarity within the ranks as well as counter Nazi propaganda aimed at weakening the Alliance.-Synopsis:The film opens with... |
Documentary Short (uncredited) | |
| 1946 | American Creed | Short |
| 1947 | Dishonored Lady Dishonored Lady Dishonored Lady is a film starring Hedy Lamarr, Dennis O'Keefe, John Loder, William Lundigan, and Natalie Schafer, directed by Robert Stevenson, and released by United Artists... |
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| 1948 | To the Ends of the Earth To the Ends of the Earth (film) To the Ends of the Earth is an American crime film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Sidney Buchman and Jay Richard Kennedy. The drama features Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, and others.-Plot:... |
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| 1949 | The Woman on Pier 13 | |
| 1950 | Walk Softly, Stranger Walk Softly, Stranger Walk Softly, Stranger is a 1950 film that tells the story of a small-time crook on the run who later becomes reformed by the love of a crippled woman. This would be the last RKO credit for famed film producer Dore Schary, who would leave the studio soon after the completion of the film. Privately,... |
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| 1951 | My Forbidden Past My Forbidden Past My Forbidden Past is a 1951 film directed by Robert Stevenson. It stars Robert Mitchum and Ava Gardner.. Adapted from Polan Banks novel Carriage Entrance by Leopold Atlas.-Cast:*Robert Mitchum as Dr... |
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| 1952 | The Las Vegas Story The Las Vegas Story (film) The Las Vegas Story is a 1952 suspense film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Robert Sparks and Howard Hughes with Samuel Bischoff as the executive producer. The screenplay was by Paul Jarrico, Earl Felton, and Harry Essex from a story by Jay Dratler. The music score was by Leigh... |
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| Macao Mação Mação is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 400.0 km² and a total population of 7,763 inhabitants.The municipality is composed of eight parishes, and is located in the Santarém District.... |
(uncredited) | |
| The Ford Television Theatre | TV series (3 episodes: 1952-1953) | |
| 1953 | Calvacade of America | TV series (8 episodes: 1953-1955) |
| General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:... |
TV series (2 episodes: 1953-1956) | |
| 1955 | Atomic Energy as a Force for Good | (short) |
| The Star and the Story | TV series (3 episodes: 1955-1956) | |
| The 20th Century-Fox Hour | TV series (2 episodes: 1955-1956) | |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades... |
TV series (7 episodes: 1955-1959) | |
| Gun Law | TV series (6 episodes) | |
| 1957 | The Christophers The Christophers The Christophers are a Christian inspirational group that was founded in 1945 by Father James Keller. The name of the group is derived from the Greek word "christophoros", which means "Christ-bearer"... |
TV series (1 episode: "Sentence Deferred") |
| Johnny Tremain Johnny Tremain (film) Johnny Tremain is a 1957 film made by Walt Disney Productions, based on the 1944 Newbery Medal-winning children's novel of the same name by Esther Forbes, retelling the story of the years in Boston, Massachusetts prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution. The movie was directed by Robert... |
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| Old Yeller Old Yeller (1957 film) Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson... |
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| Disneyland | TV series (26 episodes: 1957-1982) | |
| Zorro | TV series (3 episodes) | |
| 1959 | Darby O'Gill and the Little People Darby O'Gill and the Little People Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea, in a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and its screenplay written by... |
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| 1960 | Kidnapped Kidnapped (1960 film) Kidnapped is a 1960 Walt Disney Productions film adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, Kidnapped. It stars Peter Finch and James MacArthur, and was Disney's second production based on a novel by Stevenson.-Plot:... |
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| 1961 | The Absent-Minded Professor The Absent-Minded Professor The Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 black-and-white Walt Disney Productions film based on the short story A Situation of Gravity, by Samuel W. Taylor.... |
Nominated - DGA Award - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures |
| 1962 | In Search of the Castaways In Search of the Castaways (film) In Search of the Castaways is a 1962 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Maurice Chevalier in a tale about a worldwide search for a shipwrecked sea captain. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley based upon Jules Verne's 1868... |
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| 1963 | Son of Flubber Son of Flubber Son of Flubber is the 1963 black-and-white sequel to the Walt Disney children's movie comedy The Absent-Minded Professor , also starring Fred MacMurray as a scientist who has perfected a high-bouncing substance, Flubber that can levitate an automobile and cause athletes to bounce into the sky... |
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| 1964 | The Misadventures of Merlin Jones The Misadventures of Merlin Jones The Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a 1964 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. Kirk plays a college student who experiments with mind-reading and hypnotism, leading to run-ins with a local judge... |
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| Mary Poppins Mary Poppins (film) Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by... |
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Director Blue Ribbon Award - Best Foreign Film Nominated - DGA Award - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures |
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| 1965 | The Monkey's Uncle The Monkey's Uncle The Monkey's Uncle is a 1965 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk as genius college student Merlin Jones and Annette Funicello as his girlfriend, Jennifer. The title refers to a chimpanzee named Stanley, Merlin's legal "nephew" ; Stanley otherwise has little relevance to the plot... |
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| That Darn Cat! That Darn Cat! That Darn Cat! is a 1965 American Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Hayley Mills and Dean Jones, starring in his first film for Disney in a story about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat. The film was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon and was... |
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| 1967 | The Gnome-Mobile The Gnome-Mobile The Gnome-Mobile is a 1967 Disney musical film, directed by Robert Stevenson. It was one of the last films personally produced by Walt Disney.... |
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| 1968 | Blackbeard's Ghost Blackbeard's Ghost Blackbeard's Ghost is a 1968 live-action fantasy comedy Disney film starring Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, and Suzanne Pleshette, directed by Robert Stevenson. It is based upon the novel of the same name by Ben Stahl and was shot in Walt Disney Studios. The Disney Channel aired this film until the... |
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| The Love Bug The Love Bug The Love Bug is the first in a series of comedy films made by Walt Disney Productions that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie... |
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| 1971 | Bedknobs and Broomsticks Bedknobs and Broomsticks Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company which combines live action and animation and was released in North America on December 13, 1971... |
Sant Jordi - Best Children's Film |
| 1974 | Herbie Rides Again Herbie Rides Again Herbie Rides Again is a 1974 comedy film. It is the sequel to The Love Bug, released six years earlier, and the second in a series of movies made by Walt Disney Productions starring an anthropomorphic 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie... |
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| The Island at the Top of the World | ||
| 1975 | One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is a 1975 British comedy film, which is set in the early 1920s, about the theft of a dinosaur skeleton from the Natural History Museum. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company. The title is a parody of the... |
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| 1976 | The Shaggy D.A. The Shaggy D.A. The Shaggy D.A. is a 1976 film sequel to 1959's The Shaggy Dog by Walt Disney Productions. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Don Tait, based on the original film and inspired by the long out-of-print Felix Salten novel, The Hound of Florence.It starred Dean Jones as the adult... |
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| 1985 | The Walt Disney Comedy and Magic Revue | (video short) (archive footage) |