Hal Ashby

Filmmakers

William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor. Associated with the New Hollywood era, his work exemplified the countercultural attitude of the era. He directed wide-ranging films featuring iconic performances.

He began his career in editing, in particular the films of Norman Jewison. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Editing on Jewison’s The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966), with Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Theodore Bikel, Jonathan Winters, John Phillip Law, Tessie O’Shea, and Paul Ford; and In the Heat of the Night (1967), with Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, and Lee Grant – winning for the latter. His other editing credits include The Cincinnati Kid (1965), with Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson, Ann-Margret, Karl Malden, Tuesday Weld, Joan Blondell, Rip Torn;l, and Jack Weston; The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), with McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke, and Weston; and Gaily, Gaily (1969), with Beau Bridges, Brian Keith, George Kennedy, Hume Cronyn, and Melina Mercouri.

He made his directorial debut on The Landlord (1970), with Bridges, Grant, Diana Sands, Pearl Bailey, Louis Gossett Jr., and Walter Brooke. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for Coming Home (1978), with Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine and Robert Ginty.

Other films of the 1970s include Harold and Maude (1971), with Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort, Vivian Pickles, Cyril Cusack, Charles Tyner, and Ellen Geer; The Last Detail (1973), with Jack Nicholson, Otis Young, Randy Quaid, Clifton James, Carol Kane, Michael Moriarty, Nancy Allen, and Gilda Radner; Shampoo (1975), with Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Goldie Hawn, Grant, Jack Warden, Tony Bill, and Carrie Fisher; Bound for Glory (1976), with David Carradine, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, John Lehne, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, and Quaid; and Being There (1979), with Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart.

Films of the 1980s include Second-Hand Hearts (1981), with Robert Blake, Barbara Harris, and Bert Remsen; Lookin’ to Get Out (1982), with Voight, Ann-Margret, and Burt Young; The Slugger’s Wife (1985), with Michael O’Keefe, Rebecca De Mornay, Quaid, Cleavant Derricks, and Martin Ritt; and 8 Million Ways to Die (1986), with Jeff Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Alexandra Paul, and Andy García.

He also directed the pilot episode for an unsold series called Jake’s Journey (1988), with Graham Chapman, Chris Young, Peter Cook, Nancy Lenehan, Lane Smith, Gabrielle Anwar, and Rik Mayall. It was his last project before dying from cancer the same year.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

Director

  • The Landlord (1970)
  • Harold and Maude (1971)
  • The Last Deal (1973)
  • Shampoo (1975)
  • Bound for Glory (1976)
  • Coming Home (1978)
  • Being There (1979)
  • Second-Hand Hearts (1981)
  • Lookin’ to Get Out (1982)
  • Let’s Spend the Night Together (1983) – concert film
  • Solo Trans (1984) – concert film
  • The Slugger’s Wife (1985)
  • 8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
  • Jake’s Journey (1988) – TV pilot

Other Credits

  • Friendly Persuasion (1956) – directed by William Wyler – uncredited assistant editor
  • The Big Country (1958) – directed by William Wyler – uncredited assistant editor
  • Tokyo After Dark (1959) – directed by Norman T. Herman – uncredited assistant editor
  • The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) – directed by George Stevens – uncredited assistant editor
  • The Young Doctors (1961) – directed by Phil Karlson – editorial consultant
  • The Children’s Hour (1961) – directed by William Wyler – assistant editor
  • Captain Sinbad (1963) – directed by Byron Haskin – assistant editor
  • The Best Man (1964) – directed by Franklin J. Schaffner – editorial consultant
  • The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) – directed by George Stevens – uncredited assistant editor
  • The Loved One (1965) – directed by Tony Richardson – co-edited with Brian Smedley-Aston
  • The Cincinnati Kid (1965) – directed by Norman Jewison – co-edited with Brian Smedley-Aston
  • The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966) – directed by Norman Jewison – co-edited with J. Terry Williams
  • In the Heat of the Night (1967) – directed by Norman Jewison – editor
  • The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) – directed by Norman Jewison – co-edited with Ralph E. Winters & Byron Brandt
  • Gaily, Gaily (1969) – directed by Norman Jewison – co-edited with Ralph E. Winters & Byron Brandt