John Sturges (1910-1992) was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and began in the RKO editing room before making training and documentary films for the US Army Air Forces in the Second World War. He became one of Hollywood's most dependable makers of tough, clean action films: Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), a small thriller about a one-armed stranger in a hostile desert town, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), The Magnificent Seven (1960) and The Great Escape (1963), the last two built around large ensemble casts in which every actor gets a distinct moment.
Filmography
- Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
- Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
- The Great Escape (1963)
- Ice Station Zebra (1968)