born Aug. 9, 1918, Cranston, R.I., U.S.
died Dec. 5, 1983, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. film director and producer.
He held various jobs at RKO from 1941, working under such directors as Jean Renoir and Charlie Chaplin . After directing his first feature film, The Big Leaguer (1953), he formed his own production company and earned a reputation for socially conscious yet often violent films, including Apache (1954), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), and The Dirty Dozen (1967).