Motion Picture Director. Formerly an illustrator and a supporting actor in stock theatre, he entered films as an administrative clerk for Cosmopolitan Pictures and worked his way up to assistant director. Lang was given his big break by producer Dorothy Davenport (Mrs. Wallace Reid), for whom he directed his first film, "The Red Kimona" (1925). In 1929, discouraged by the crudeness of early talkies, he went to Paris to become a painter, but his canvases did not sell and he returned to Hollywood. Lang spent most of his career at 20th Century-Fox, where his slickly handled musicals and comedies epitomized that studio's glittering and sometimes gaudy house style. His biggest hit was "The King and I" (1956), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. His other credits include "The Little Princess" (1939), "The Blue Bird" (1940), "Moon Over Miami" (1941), "State Fair" (1945), "Sitting Pretty" (1947), "Cheaper By the Dozen" (1950), "With a Song In My Heart" (1952), "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954), "Desk Set" (1957), and "Can-Can" (1960). Lang was a polished, efficient workhorse in the best Hollywood tradition. He was not a great director, and he rarely made a bad film. He also had a reputation as one of the nicest men in the film industry. Betty Grable, Fox's biggest star of the 1940s, said that Lang was one of the "few true gentlemen" she had ever known. He retired in 1961.
Motion Picture Director. Formerly an illustrator and a supporting actor in stock theatre, he entered films as an administrative clerk for Cosmopolitan Pictures and worked his way up to assistant director. Lang was given his big break by producer Dorothy Davenport (Mrs. Wallace Reid), for whom he directed his first film, "The Red Kimona" (1925). In 1929, discouraged by the crudeness of early talkies, he went to Paris to become a painter, but his canvases did not sell and he returned to Hollywood. Lang spent most of his career at 20th Century-Fox, where his slickly handled musicals and comedies epitomized that studio's glittering and sometimes gaudy house style. His biggest hit was "The King and I" (1956), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. His other credits include "The Little Princess" (1939), "The Blue Bird" (1940), "Moon Over Miami" (1941), "State Fair" (1945), "Sitting Pretty" (1947), "Cheaper By the Dozen" (1950), "With a Song In My Heart" (1952), "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954), "Desk Set" (1957), and "Can-Can" (1960). Lang was a polished, efficient workhorse in the best Hollywood tradition. He was not a great director, and he rarely made a bad film. He also had a reputation as one of the nicest men in the film industry. Betty Grable, Fox's biggest star of the 1940s, said that Lang was one of the "few true gentlemen" she had ever known. He retired in 1961.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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