American film director (1916-1992). Birth name: Jack Arnold Waks. Born in
New Haven, Connecticut, he started his career as an
actor on
Broadway; he appeared in plays like "
Juke Box Jenny," "
Tillie the Toiler," "
Tarnished Angel," "
Blind Alibi," "
Law of the Underworld," "
China Passage," and "
We're on the Jury." He also acted in a few films, mostly in very small roles; he was in "
Margie," "
There's One Born Every Minute," "
The Mummy's Tomb," and "
Pretty Dolly." After serving in the Army during
World War II, he began directing
short films, earning an
Oscar nomination for "
With these Hands" in 1950.
In 1953, Arnold began working in
feature films, directing, for the most part,
B-movies. But though B-movies didn't get much respect in
Hollywood, Arnold was responsible for many of the best B-movies -- and the best
science fiction movies -- in
film history, including "
It Came from Outer Space," "
The Creature from the Black Lagoon," "
This Island Earth," "
Tarantula," "
Revenge of the Creature," and "
The Incredible Shrinking Man" -- that last one could well be his masterwork; he took an idea that could have been merely
exploitative, focused on
special effects, and turned it into one of the most
sensitive,
intelligent,
lyrical sci-fi films of the '50s, touching on themes like
isolation,
spirituality, and the nature of
existence. Arnold also worked on a number of
action movies and
crime thrillers, as well as writing "
The Monolith Monsters" and directing "
High School Confidential" and "
The Mouse that Roared."
In the 1960s, work in Hollywood began to dry up, so Arnold took a job with
CBS, where he directed everything from "
Gilligan's Island" to "
The Brady Bunch." He saw a few film jobs, but more and more, he worked in
television, directing shows like "
Nanny and the Professor," "
McCloud," "
Ellery Queen," "
Wonder Woman," "
The Bionic Woman," "
Holmes and Yo-Yo," "
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries," "
The Love Boat," "
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "
The Fall Guy," and "
Beauty and the Beast."
Arnold died in
Woodland Hills, California of
arteriosclerosis in 1992.
Research from the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and the All Movie Guide (www.allmovie.com)