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Joseph Sargent

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Joseph Sargent
Sargent at the premiere of Something the Lord Made in 2004
Born
Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente

(1925-07-22)July 22, 1925
DiedDecember 22, 2014(2014-12-22) (aged 89)
Other namesJoseph Daniel Sargent
OccupationFilm director
Years active1951–2009
Known forWhite Lightning
MacArthur
Nightmares
Jaws: The Revenge
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Spouses
(m. 1952; div. 1968)
Carolyn Nelson
(m. 1970)
Children2, including Lia Sargent

Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the action movie White Lightning starring Burt Reynolds, the biopic MacArthur starring Gregory Peck, and the horror anthology Nightmares. His most popular feature film was the subway thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Sargent won four Emmy Awards over his career.

He is the father of voice actress Lia Sargent.

Life and career

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Sargent was born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Italians Maria (née Noviello) and Domenico Sorgente.[1][2] Sargent served in the U.S. Army during World War II, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.[3][4][5][6] Sargent began his career as an actor, appearing in numerous films and television programs.

He appeared in an uncredited role as a soldier in the film From Here to Eternity (1953) where he also met his first wife Mary Carver on the set. In the mid 1950s Sargent switched to directing; over the next 15 years his directing credits would include episodes of television series Lassie, The Invaders (four episodes), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver".

He appeared in the Western series Gunsmoke, once in 1957 as a man, turned drunk, who lost his drive to live, in the episode “Skid Row” (S2E22); then again as a drunk cowboy who gets killed in The Longbranch Saloon in the 1959 episode “”There Never Was A Horse” (S4 E35).

In 1969, he directed his first feature, the science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project. In 1971, he was hired to direct Buck and the Preacher but, after a few days of shooting, was replaced by Sidney Poitier, who cited creative differences.[7] The next year, however, he directed The Man, starring James Earl Jones, which was begun as a television movie.

He alternated between television movies and feature films during the 1970s. Sargent's directorial work from this period includes The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the TV movies Hustling with Lee Remick and Jill Clayburgh, Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring with Sally Field and Tribes with Jan-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin, as well as international award-winning ABC film The Night That Panicked America. In 1974, he won his first Directors Guild of America Award for The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), which was the TV movie pilot for the Kojak series.

In the 1980s, Sargent directed mini-series Manions of America, which featured Pierce Brosnan, and Space. In 1987 he directed Jaws: The Revenge, the third sequel to Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic. The film received entirely negative reviews. Roger Ebert called his directing of the climactic sequence "incompetent,"[8] and he was nominated for Worst Director in the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards.[9]

He concentrated on TV movies after Jaws: The Revenge, including The Karen Carpenter Story, The Long Island Incident, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and the 2007 remake of Sally Field docudrama Sybil.

Joseph Sargent and his wife Carolyn Nelson Sargent laid the groundwork for Deaf West Theatre.[10]

Sargent spent time as the Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence for the Directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles.

Sargent died of complications from heart disease at his home in Malibu, California, on December 22, 2014. He was 89.[5]

Filmography

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Year Title Director Producer
1959 Street-Fighter Yes
1968 The Hell with Heroes Yes
The Sunshine Patriot Yes
1970 Colossus: The Forbin Project Yes
Tribes Yes
1972 Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring Yes Yes
The Man Yes
1973 Sunshine Yes
The Marcus-Nelson Murders Yes
White Lightning Yes
1974 The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Yes
1975 Friendly Persuasion Yes Yes
The Night That Panicked America Yes Yes
Hustling Yes
1977 MacArthur Yes
1979 Goldengirl Yes
1980 Coast to Coast Yes
Amber Waves Yes
1981 Freedom Yes
Manions of America Yes
1983 Nightmares Yes
Memorial Day Yes
Choices of the Heart Yes Yes
1984 Terrible Joe Moran Yes
1985 Love Is Never Silent Yes
Space Yes
1986 There Must Be a Pony Yes Yes
1987 Jaws: The Revenge Yes Yes
1989 The Karen Carpenter Story Yes
Day One Yes
1990 The Incident Yes
Caroline? Yes
Ivory Hunters Yes
1991 Never Forget Yes
1992 Miss Rose White Yes
Somebody's Daughter Yes Yes
1993 Skylark Yes Yes
Abraham Yes
1994 World War II: When Lions Roared Yes
1995 My Antonia Yes
Streets of Laredo Yes
1997 Miss Evers' Boys Yes
Mandela and de Klerk Yes
1998 The Long Island Incident Yes Yes
Crime and Punishment Yes Yes
The Wall Yes Yes
1999 A Lesson Before Dying Yes
2000 For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story Yes
2001 Bojangles Yes
2003 Salem Witch Trials Yes
Out of the Ashes Yes
2004 Something the Lord Made Yes
2005 Warm Springs Yes
2007 Sybil Yes
2008 Sweet Nothing in My Ear Yes

One Spy Too ManyRe-edit of a two-part The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes Alexander the Greater Affair with different shots and dialog.

The Spy in the Green HatRe-edit of a two-part The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes The Concrete Overcoat Affair with new scenes added.

Awards

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Sargent was nominated for several Emmy awards. He won four. Early in his career, he won a Directors Guild of America award for the Kojak pilot. Sargent was nominated for eight DGA awards for television movies, more than any other director in this category.

20th century

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Tribes

The Marcus-Nelson Murders

Amber Waves

  • Nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama - A Single Program

Nightmares

Love Is Never Silent

Space

  • Emmy Award, Outstanding Film Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or a Special
  • Emmy Award nominee, Outstanding Limited Series
  • Artios Award nominee, Best Casting for TV Miniseries

Jaws: The Revenge

Caroline?

Miss Rose White

World War II: When Lions Roared

Miss Evers' Boys

A Lesson Before Dying

21st century

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For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story

Something the Lord Made

Warm Springs

References

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  1. ^ BRUCE BENNETT. "New York's Greatest Starring Roles". nysun.com.
  2. ^ "Joseph Sargent Biography (1925-)". filmreference.com.
  3. ^ Joseph Sargent dies at 89; prize-winning film and TV movie director Los Angeles Times via Internet Archive. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Joseph Sargent, Emmy-winning director of TV and film productions, dies at 89 The Washington Post via Internet Archive. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  5. ^ a b Emmy-Winning Director Joseph Sargent Dies at 89 Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Sargent, Joseph 1925 - (Joe Sargent, Joseph D. Sargent) PERSONAL Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  7. ^ Shandell, Jonathan (2018). The American Negro Theatre and the Long Civil Rights Era. University of Iowa Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1609385958.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Jaws the Revenge". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2006.
  9. ^ "1987 Archive". Razzies.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2006.
  10. ^ "The Deaf West Theatre". DeafWest.org. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
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