Mark Rydell is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, film director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 and producer

Film producer

A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...

.

Career

Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night

The Edge of Night

The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...

and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns

As the World Turns

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

, which he played from 1956 to 1962. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman

Robert Altman

Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...

's The Long Goodbye

The Long Goodbye (film)

The Long Goodbye is a 1973 neo noir, directed by Robert Altman and based on Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote the screenplay for The Big Sleep in 1946...

(1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen

Woody Allen

Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...

's Hollywood Ending

Hollywood Ending

Hollywood Ending is a 2002 American film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director who suffers hysterical blindness due to the intense pressure of directing.-Plot:...

(2002).

As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers

The Reivers

The Reivers, published in 1962, is the last novel by the American author William Faulkner. The bestselling novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1963. Faulkner previously won this award for his book A Fable, making him one of only three authors to be awarded it more than once...

(1969), The Cowboys

The Cowboys

The Cowboys is a 1972 Western motion picture starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Slim Pickens, A Martinez and Bruce Dern. Robert Carradine makes his film debut with fellow child actor Stephen R. Hudis. It was filmed at various locations in New Mexico, Colorado and at Warner Brothers Studio in...

(1972), Cinderella Liberty

Cinderella Liberty

Cinderella Liberty is a 1973 film which tells the story of a sailor who falls in love with a prostitute and becomes a surrogate father for her 11-year-old mixed race son. It stars James Caan, Marsha Mason, Kirk Calloway, Eli Wallach, Burt Young, Allyn Ann McLerie, Dabney Coleman, Jon Korkes, and...

(1973), The Rose

The Rose (film)

The Rose is a 1979 American musical drama film which tells the story of a self-destructive 1960s rock star who struggles to cope with the constant pressures of her career and the demands of her ruthless business manager...

(1979), On Golden Pond

On Golden Pond (1981 film)

On Golden Pond is a 1981 American drama film directed by Mark Rydell. The screenplay by Ernest Thompson was adapted from his 1979 play of the same title. Henry Fonda won the Academy Award in what was his final film role. Co-star Katharine Hepburn also received an Oscar, as did Thompson for his...

(1981, for which he received an Oscar

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 nomination as Best Director), The River

The River (1984 film)

The River is a 1984 film which tells the story of a struggling farm family in the Tennessee valley trying keep its farm going in the face of bank foreclosures, floods, and other hard times. The father faces the dilemma of having to work as a strikebreaker in a steel mill to keep his family farm...

(1984), For the Boys

For the Boys

For the Boys is a 1991 film which tells the story of Dixie Leonard, a 1940s actress/singer who teams up with Eddie Sparks, a famous performer to entertain American troops. The film traces her life through 50 years. The original music score was composed by Dave Grusin.The film was adapted by...

(1991) and Intersection

Intersection (film)

Intersection is a 1994 film, directed by Mark Rydell and starring Richard Gere, Sharon Stone, and Lolita Davidovich.A remake of the French film Les choses de la vie by Claude Sautet, the story — set in Vancouver, British Columbia — concerns an architect who, as his classic Mercedes 280SL roadster...

(1994). In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money

Even Money (film)

Even Money is a 2006 American crime film.The story concerns three strangers who are addicted to gambling and how their lives come to be intertwined. They are a novelist who struggles to write her follow-up book, a former stage magician and an older brother of a college basketball star...

which starred Kim Basinger, Forest Whitaker, and Danny DeVito.

Rydell was also director of the TV bio-pic James Dean

James Dean (film)

James Dean is a 2001 biographical television film based on the life of the American actor of the same name. James Franco plays James Dean under the direction of Mark Rydell, who chronicles Dean's rise from a struggling actor to an A-list movie star in 1950s Hollywood...

(2001

2001 in film

The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...

), which earned actor James Franco

James Franco

James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...

 a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack Warner

Jack Warner

Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...

 (head of Warner Bros).

In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau

Martin Landau

Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...

 and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler

Lyle Kessler

Lyle Kessler is an American playwright, screenwriter and actor, best known internationally for Orphans, the play he wrote in 1983.-Actor:...

, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar

The Total Picture Seminar

The Total Picture Seminar, a California LLC, was formed by Actor Martin Landau, Director Mark Rydell, and Screenwriter/Playwright Lyle Kessler. The purpose is to educate Actors, Writers, and Directors in the aspects of filmmaking. Martin Landau, Mark Rydell, and Lyle Kessler have worked together...

. It is a two-day event covering the disciplines of acting, directing, and writing for film. The three have worked together as a team for many decades at The Actors Studio teaching and coaching professional actors, writers, and directors. In 2010, Rydell joined the Advisory Board of Openfilm, an online video sharing site created to help aspiring independent filmmakers.

Personal life

Rydell was married to actress Joanne Linville in 1962. They had two children, Amy and Christopher, both actors. They divorced in 1973. Rydell also has a child, Alexander, from his second marriage to Esther Rydell.

External links

• The Total Picture Seminar – A Seminar with Martin Landau
  Martin Landau
  Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
  
  , Mark Rydell, and Lyle Kessler
  Lyle Kessler
  Lyle Kessler is an American playwright, screenwriter and actor, best known internationally for Orphans, the play he wrote in 1983.-Actor:...
  
  covering filmmaking.