Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director of 1981’s On Golden Pond and two of Bette Midler’s signature films – The Rose and For The Boys – died Thursday of natural causes in Los Angeles. He was 97.
His death was announced by Midler on Instagram today.
“Mark Rydell, the director or my first film, The Rose, died this morning. He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did; he taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys. Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor’s whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed.”
Other films directed by Rydell included The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973) and The River (1984).
Born Mortimer H. Rydell on March 23, 1929, in New York City, Rydell studied music with the intention of becoming an orchestra conductor but pivoted to acting after attending The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and landing roles on in the mid-1950s and early ’60s on New York-based soap operas The Edge of Night and As the World Turns.
A busy acting career was launched, with guest appearances over the next decade on episodes of such primetime series as The Phil Silvers Show, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Big Story, Naked City and Wanted: Dead Or Alive.
By the mid-1960s, though, Rydell was increasingly pivoting toward directing, with such early TV credits as episodes of The Virginian, Mr. Novak, 10 episodes of Ben Casey, I Spy, The Wild Wild West, The Fugitive and Gunsmoke.
Rydell made his feature film directing debut in 1967 with The Fox, based on a D.H. Lawrence novella and starring Sandy Dennis, Anne Heywood and Keir Dullea. Though never explicitly stated, the film’s suggestion of a lesbian relationship between the two women was a rarity of the era.
Rydell directed Steve McQueen in 1969’s The Reivers, John Wayne in 1972’s The Cowboys and James Caan and Marsha Mason in 1973’s Cinderella Liberty. He would reteam with Caan on 1976’s Harry and Walter Go To New York and, that same year, directed the pilot episode of the hit ABC domestic drama Family.
His highest profile film to date came in 1979 with Midler’s movie debut, The Rose. Based loosely on the life and death of rock star Janis Joplin, The Rose made a movie star of Midler, earning her an Oscar nomination as well as one for co-star Frederic Forrest.
The Rose‘s success led to Rydell’s hiring to direct the much anticipated On Golden Pond, the film adaptation of playwright Ernest Thompson’s 1979 play. The movie would star Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda in one of the most celebrating casting coups of its day. Rydell was nominated for an Oscar, as was Jane Fonda. Both Henry Fonda and Hepburn won their Academy Awards, as did Thompson for his adapted screenplay.
Rydell continued his run of star-driven films with 1984’s The River with Mel Gibson and Sissy Spacek, and 1991’s For The Boys, a project that reunited the director with both Midler and Caan. A heart-tugging musical comedy-drama, For The Boys was set largely during the military conflicts of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, with the two stars playing characters loosely based on the troop-entertaining Martha Raye and Bob Hope. Midler was nominated for her second Oscar, and won a Golden Globe for her performance.
Despite Midler’s performance, For The Boys was both a commercial and critical disappointment, and, aside from 1994’s Intersection starring Richard Gere and Sharon Stone (critics panned it, audiences mostly ignored it) Rydell turned increasingly back to television for his directing jobs. Credits from the period include TV movies Crime of the Century and James Dean, with Rydell returning to the big screen for the 2007 crime-and-gambling film Even Money starring Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Forest Whitaker, Nick Cannon and Kelsey Grammer. The film was not a success.
In all, eight actors in Rydell films would be Oscar-nominated for their performances: both Henry and Jane Fonda, Midler (twice), Mason, Hepburn, Spacek, Forrest and The Reivers’ Rupert Crosse.
The director occasionally performed small roles in his films, and had producing credits for, among others, Cinderella Liberty, For The Boys, James Dean and Even Money.
Rydell was married to actor Joanne Linville (Guiding Light, The Goddess, 1976’s A Star Is Born) from 1962 to 1973. The couple had two children, daughter Amy and son Christopher. A second marriage to documentarian and producer Esther Rydell produced a son, Alexander, before ending in divorce.
Survivors include his three children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
