Norman Tokar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norman Tokar (born November 25, 1919 in Newark , New Jersey , † April 6, 1979 in Hollywood , Los Angeles , California ) was an American film director who also worked as an actor in his younger years .

He is internationally known primarily for his around 20 cinema and television films, which he directed for Walt Disney Studios in the 1960s and 1970s .

Life

Career in stage, television and film

Norman Tokar had roles on stage and on the radio as a teenager. From 1939 he also appeared on Broadway , including as "Irving Frankel" in See My Lawyer by Richard Maibaum and Harry Clork . When Ezra Stone was drafted into military service in 1942 , Tokar took over from him the lead role of Henry Aldrich in the hugely successful radio series The Aldrich Family . However, he also received soon after its convening and served during World War II in the Signal Corps .

After the end of the war, Norman Tokar initially worked again as an actor, but eventually switched to directing television series . He directed several episodes of the sitcoms The Bob Cummings Show (1956/1957) and Mother is the very best with Donna Reed (1960 to 1962). Tokars breakthrough came with the sitcom Leave It to Beaver ( Leave It to Beaver ), he led in 1957 to 1960 on a total of 93 episodes directed. Walt Disney noticed his skilful use of the numerous child actors , who offered Tokar to direct cinema films for his studio in addition to television projects .

In 1961 he signed for the first project, the film adaptation of Jim Kjelgaard's most successful novel , Big Red - A Dog Adventure ( Big Red ). The outdoor shots of the adventure film starring Walter Pidgeon , Gilles Payant , Émile Genest and Janette Bertrand were made in Québec and California . From then on, Tokar was considered the studio's specialist for rustic adventure films with lots of landscape shots, animals and child actors. Typical examples are his next three movies, all with Brian Keith in the lead role. In the Valley of the Apaches ( Savage Sam ) was a sequel to his friend Jello ( Old Yeller , 1957) and was based like this on a novel by Fred Gipson . The tiger is going on ( A Tiger Walks , 1964) by Ian Niall is a drama with satirical undertones and this Calloway ( Those Calloway , 1965) in the woods of Vermont playing adventure a family of bird conservationists from the novel hunted swing ( Swiftwater ) of Paul Annixter . Even if none of these films were outstanding box office successes, Tokar established himself as the most important real film director at Disney Studios alongside Robert Stevenson and James Neilson and Don Chaffey in Great Britain.

The cinema audience also saw plenty of dogs in Tokar's slapstick comedy Beloved House Tyrant ( The Ugly Dachshund , 1966) with Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette . For this he worked - as in the previous films - closely with the Disney animal trainer William R. Koehler . In contrast to the ambitious film These Calloways , the undemanding clothing based on the popular GB Stern novel was a decent box-office success with grossing around six million dollars.

After the equally successful scout film Forty Daredevils ( Follow Me, Boys!, 1966) with Fred MacMurray in the lead role, Disney commissioned him for what is probably his most lavish production, the musical The Happiest Millionaire ( The Happiest Millionaire , 1967). It was the last feature film that Walt Disney personally supervised the making and was to build on the worldwide success of Mary Poppins three years earlier. The Sherman brothers wrote the music again, the cast included Fred MacMurray Greer Garson , Tommy Steele , Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson . But the hopes of the studio were not fulfilled, the film, which with almost three hours of running time turned out to be overly long, was not a particularly great success with audiences and critics and was ultimately shortened by a good hour for further performances.

Norman Tokar was the Disney studio still close ties, but now focused on film comedies like The stallion in the gray flannel suit ( The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit , 1968) based on the novel horse with Familienanschluß ( The Year of the Horse ) by Eric Hatch or inheritance in white ( Snowball Express , 1972) based on the experience report Hotel Bonvivant ( Château Bon Vivant ) by Frankie and Johnny O'Rear. Dean Jones played the leading role in both films. Almost in the style of the carry-on… film series , Tokar had Die Bruchschiffer ( The Boatniks ) put to sea in 1970 .

Tokar also directed the nostalgic children's film Ein Frechdachs im Maisbeet ( Rascal , 1968) based on the award-winning autobiographical children's book Rascal, the Raccoon ( Rascal ) by Sterling North . His most commercially successful film, however, turned out to be the western comedy Die Semmelknödelbande ( The Apple Dumpling Gang ), based on a template by Jack Bickham , starring Bill Bixby and Susan Clark as well as the comedian duo Don Knotts and Tim Conway , which played in the wake of Mel Brooks ' hit film Der wilde wild west ( blazing saddles ) arose. The crime comedy Abenteuer auf Schloß Candleshoe ( Candleshoe , 1977) by Michael Innes in turn belongs to the series of Disney films with the young Jodie Foster .

In between, he was still active outside the Disney studios for a number of television projects and brought out where the red fern grows ( Where the Red Fern Grows ) after Wilson Rawls his only non-Disney feature film in 1974 .

The for Tokar to the animal scenes and comedic deposits rather unusual science fiction film The Cat From Outer Space ( The Cat from Outer Space , 1978) was to be his last film. He died in Hollywood on April 6, 1979 at the age of 59.

Private life

Norman Tokar was married to Grace Tokar from 1941 until their divorce in 1949. The marriage resulted in a child. He was later married to Phyllis Coates for three years . Another child comes from this connection.

Filmography

- unless otherwise stated, always director -

  • 1956–1957: The Bob Cummings Show (5 episodes)
  • 1957–1960: One should be an adult (Leave It to Beaver, 93 episodes)
  • 1960: McGarry and His Mouse (TV)
  • 1960–1962: Mother is the very best (The Donna Reed Show, 17 episodes)
  • 1962: My Friend Red (Big Red)
  • 1962: Disneyland: Sammy, the Way-Out Seal (TV) - also screenplay
  • 1962: His Model Wife (TV) - also producer
  • 1963: In the Valley of the Apaches (Savage Sam)
  • 1964: A Tiger Walks
  • 1965: Those Calloways (Those Calloways)
  • 1966: Beloved Domestic Tyrant (The Ugly Dachshund)
  • 1966: Forty Daredevils (Follow Me, Boys!)
  • 1967: The Happiest Millionaire (The Happiest Millionaire)
  • 1967: The Legend of the Boy and the Eagle (TV)
  • 1967: A Boy Called Nuthin '(TV)
  • 1967: The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit
  • 1968: A cheeky badger in the maize patch (Rascal)
  • 1970: The Boatniks
  • 1970: Me and Benjie (TV)
  • 1971–1972: Doris Day in ... (The Doris Day Show, 4 episodes)
  • 1972: My Sister Hank (TV) - also producer
  • 1972: Inheritance in White (Snowball Express)
  • 1973: Big Daddy (TV) - also producer
  • 1974: Young Love (TV) - also producer
  • 1974: Where the Red Fern Grows
  • 1975: Die Breadknödelbande (The Apple Dumpling Gang)
  • 1976: The Big Vacation Adventure (No Deposit, No Return)
  • 1977: Adventures at Candleshoe Castle (Candleshoe)
  • 1978: The Cat From Outer Space (The Cat from Outer Space) - also co-producer

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tokar in the Internet Broadway Database ; Retrieved February 13, 2011
  2. ^ A b Short biography of Tokar by Hal Erickson in the All Movie Guide ; Retrieved February 13, 2011
  3. ^ Dave Smith: Disney A to Z. The Official Encyclopedia. 3. Edition. Hyperion, New York 1996, ISBN 0-7868-6223-8 , (short entry on Tokar on p. 500).
  4. ^ Leonard Maltin : The Disney Films. 3. Edition. Hyperion , New York 1995, ISBN 0-7868-8137-2 , p. 22.
  5. ^ William R. Koehler : The Wonderful World of Disney Animals. Howell Book House, New York 1979, ISBN 0-87605-810-1 , pp. 73ff., 143-162 and 225-241.
  6. ^ Leonard Maltin: The Disney Films. 3. Edition. Hyperion, New York 1995, ISBN 0-7868-8137-2 , pp. 240-241.
  7. ^ Leonard Maltin: The Disney Films. 3. Edition. Hyperion, New York 1995, ISBN 0-7868-8137-2 , pp. 256-258 and Richard Holliss, Brian Sibley: The Disney Studio Story. Octopus, London 1988, ISBN 0-7064-3040-9 , pp. 89 and 202.
  8. ↑ Information on private life IMDb ; Retrieved February 13, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Tokar, Norman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film director and actor
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Newark , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH April 6, 1979
Place of death Hollywood , Los Angeles, California