William Witney

William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the movie serials he co-directed with John English for Republic Pictures such as Daredevils of the Red Circle, Zorro's Fighting Legion and Drums of Fu Manchu.

Early years

Witney was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was four years old when his father died, and he lived with his uncle, who was an Army captain at Fort Sam Houston. Colbert Clark, Witney's brother-in-law, introduced him to films by letting him ride in some chase scenes for the serial Fighting with Kit Carson (1933). Witney stayed around the Mascot Pictures headquarters while preparing for the entrance exam to the U.S. Naval Academy. After he failed that exam, he continued at the studio, working in the music and editing departments before beginning work as a director.

Career

Witney directed many Westerns during his career, and is credited with devising the modern system of filming movie fight sequences in a series of carefully choreographed shots, which he patterned after the musical sequences of American director Busby Berkeley. Prolific and pugnacious, Witney began directing while still in his 20s, and continued until 1982.

Quentin Tarantino has singled out Witney as one of his favorite directors and a "lost master", and considers four films as Witney's best work: The Golden Stallion (1949), a Roy Rogers vehicle, Stranger at My Door (1956), The Bonnie Parker Story (1958), and Paratroop Command (1959). Witney also directed Master of the World (1961) starring Vincent Price and Charles Bronson.

Whitney was also a director for Jim Davis' syndicated adventure television series, Rescue 8, which aired from 1958 to 1960. He died of a stroke in 2002.

Selected filmography

• The Law of the Wild (1934) (serial) - assistant director
• The Phantom Empire (1935) (serial) - assistant director
• The Miracle Rider (1935) (serial) - editor
• The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) (serial) - assistant director, script supervisor
• Darkest Africa (1936) (serial) - script supervisor
• Red River Valley (1936) - script supervisor
• Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island (1936) (serial) - editor
• Dick Tracy (1937) (serial) - editor, 2nd unit director
• The Painted Stallion (1937) (serial) - director
• S.O.S. Coast Guard (1937) (serial) - director
• The Trigger Trio (1937) - director
• Zorro Rides Again (1937) (serial) - director
• The Lone Ranger (1938) (serial) - director - edited as Hi Yo Silver! (1940)
• The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938) (serial) - director
• Dick Tracy Returns (1938) (serial) - director
• Hawk of the Wilderness (1938) (serial) - director
• The Lone Ranger Rides Again (1939) (serial) - director
• Zorro's Fighting Legion (1939) (serial) - director
• Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939) (serial) - director
• Dick Tracy's G-Men (1939) (serial) - director
• Heroes of the Saddle (1940) - director
• Drums of Fu Manchu (1940) (serial) - director
• Adventures of Red Ryder (1940) (serial) - director
• King of the Royal Mounted (1940) (serial) - director
• Mysterious Doctor Satan (1940) (serial) - director
• Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) (serial) - director
• Jungle Girl (1941) (serial) - director
• King of the Texas Rangers (1941) (serial) - director
• Dick Tracy vs. Crime, Inc. (1941) (serial) - director
• Spy Smasher (1942) (serial) - director
• The Girl from Alaska (1942) - director (uncredited)
• Perils of Nyoka (1942) (serial) - director
• King of the Mounties (1942) (serial) - director
• Outlaws of Pine Ridge (1942) - director
• G-Men vs. the Black Dragon (1943) (serial) - director
• Roll on Texas Moon (1946) - director
• Home in Oklahoma (1946) - director
• The Crimson Ghost (1946) (serial) - director
• Heldorado (1946) - director
• Apache Rose (1947) - director
• Bells of San Angelo (1947) - director
• Springtime in the Sierras (1947) - director
• On the Old Spanish Trail (1947) - director
• The Gay Ranchero (1948) - director
• Under California Skies (1948) - director
• Eyes of Texas (1948) - director
• Night Time in Nevada (1948) - director
• Grand Canyon Trail (1948) - director
• The Far Frontier (1948) - director
• Susanna Pass (1949) - director
• Down Dakota Way (1949) - director
• Land of Opportunity: The American Rodeo (1949) (documentary) - director
• The Golden Stallion (1949) - director
• Land of Opportunity: The Sponge Driver (1949) (documentary) - director
• Bells of Coronado (1950) - director
• Land of Opportunity: Tillers of the Soil (1950) (documentary) - director
• Land of Opportunity: Mardi Gras (1950) (documentary) - director
• Twilight in the Sierras (1950) - director
• Trigger, Jr. (1950) - director
• Sunset in the West (1950) - director
• North of the Great Divide (1950) - director
• Trail of Robin Hood (1950) - director
• Spoilers of the Plains (1951) - director
• The Wild Blue Yonder (1951) - actor
• Heart of the Rockies (1951) - director
• In Old Amarillo (1951) - director
• South of Caliente (1951) - director
• Pals of the Golden West (1951) - director
• Colorado Sundown (1952) - director
• The Last Musketeer (1952) - director
• Border Saddlemates (1952) - director
• Old Oklahoma Plains (1952) - director
• The WAC from Walla Walla (1952) - director
• South Pacific Trail (1952) - director
• Old Overland Trail (1953) - director
• Iron Mountain Trail (1953) - director
• Down Laredo Way (1953) - director
• Shadows of Tombstone (1953) - director
• The Outcast (1954) - director
• Stories of the Century (1954-55) (TV series) - director
• Santa Fe Passage (1955) - director
• The Last Command (1955) - 2nd unit director
• City of Shadows (1955) - director
• Headline Hunters (1955) - director
• The Fighting Chance (1955) - director
• The Last Command (1955) (battle scenes)
• Stranger at My Door (1956) - director
• A Strange Adventure (1956) - director
• Panama Sal (1957) - director
• Zorro (1958-60) (TV series) - director
• The Cool and the Crazy (1958) - director
• Juvenile Jungle (1958) - director
• Young and Wild (1958) - director
• The Bonnie Parker Story (1958) - director
• Mike Hammer (1959) (TV series) - director
• Special Agent 7 (1959) (TV series) - director
• Lassie (1959) (TV series) - director
• Paratroop Command (1959) - director
• Sky King (1959) (TV series) - director
• Rescue 8 (1959) (TV series) - director
• State Trooper (1959) (TV series) - director
• Frontier Doctor (1956-59) (TV series) - director
• Riverboat (1959-60) (TV series) - director
• Wagon Train (1959-65) (TV series) - director
• Valley of the Redwoods (1960) - director
• Overland Trail (1960) (TV series) - director
• The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960) - director
• M Squad (1960) (TV series) - director
• The Tall Man (1961) (TV series) - editor, director
• Coronado 9 (1960-61) (TV series) - director
• The Long Rope (1961) - director
• The Cat Burglar (1961) - director
• Master of the World (1961) - director
• Frontier Circus (1961-62) (TV series) - director
• Tales of Wells Fargo (1961-62) (TV series) - director
• Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) - 2nd unit director
• The Virginian (1962-69) (TV series) - director
• Wide Country (1963) (TV series) - director
• Laramie (1963) (TV series) - director
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (TV series) - director
• Marnie (1964) - 2nd unit director
• Destry (1964) (TV series) - director
• Apache Rifles (1964) - director
• The Girls on the Beach (1965) - director
• Arizona Raiders (1965) - director
• The Wild Wild West (1965) (TV series) - director
• Branded (1966) (TV series) - director
• Laredo (1966-67) (TV series) - director
• Daniel Boone (1966-67) (TV series) - director
• Bonanza (1966) (TV series) - director
• 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1967) - director
• Honda (1967) (TV series) - director
• Tarzan (1967-68) (TV series) - director
• The High Chapparal (1967-68) (TV series) - director
• I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) - director
• The Cowboys (1974) (TV series) - director
• Kodiak (TV series) - director
• Darktown Strutters (1974) - director
• Quell and Co. (1982) aka Showdown at Eagle Gap - director, actor