Mark Rydell
Director, Actor, Producer
March 23, 1929 — August 13, 2026 (97 years)
Mark Rydell (March 23, 1929 — August 13, 2026) was an American actor, film director and producer. He has directed many Academy Award-nominated films including The Fox (1967), The Reivers (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), The River (1984) and For the Boys (1991). He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for On Golden Pond (1981).
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 and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. 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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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 and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns, which he played from 1956 to 1962. When he would not sign a long-term contract to remain on ATWT the producers had his character die in a car crash. He won plaudits for his role of violent Jewish mob kingpin Marty Augustine in Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye (1973). His most recent significant film role was in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending (2002).
As a director, Rydell's credits include The Reivers (1969), The Cowboys (1972), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Rose (1979), On Golden Pond (1981), for which he received an Oscar nomination as Best Director, The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and Intersection (1994). He directed the TV movie The Crime of the Century (1996), which starred Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In 2006, Rydell directed the movie Even Money.
Rydell was also the director of the TV bio-pic James Dean (2001), which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award. Rydell also acted in the movie, playing Jack L. Warner (head of Warner Bros).
In 2009, Rydell, working with actor Martin Landau and screenwriter/playwright Lyle Kessler, produced an education seminar, The Total Picture Seminar. 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.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Rydell, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Known For
Filmography
| 2007 | Masters of Science FictionOn Plex |
| 2006 | Even MoneyOn Plex |
| 2001 | |
| 1996 | |
| 1994 | |
| 1991 | |
| 1984 | |
| 1981 | On Golden PondOn Plex |
| 1979 | |
| 1976 | |
| 1976 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1972 | |
| 1969 | |
| 1967 | |
| 1965 | |
| 1965 | |
| 1965 | |
| 1964 | |
| 1963 | |
| 1963 | |
| 1963 | |
| 1962 | |
| 1961 | |
| 1955 |
| 2021 | Senior Entourage · as MarkOn Plex |
| 2006 | Even Money · as IvanOn Plex |
| 2002 | Everwood · as Jacob Hoffman |
| 2002 | Hollywood Ending · as AlOn Plex |
| 2001 | James Dean · as Jack Warner |
| 2000 | A Man Is Mostly Water · as Distributor |
| 1990 | Havana · as Meyer Lansky |
| 1988 | Punchline · as Romeo |
| 1973 | Cinderella Liberty · as Gutteral Mischief (as Marty Augustine) |
| 1973 | The Long Goodbye · as Marty Augustine |
| 1961 | The Dick Powell Show · as Yutch |
| 1959 | Deadline · as Evans |
| 1958 | Naked City · as Ralph Harris |
| 1958 | Wanted: Dead or Alive · as Tom AdamsOn Plex |
| 1956 | Crime in the Streets · as Lou Macklin |
| 1956 | As The World Turns · as Jeff Baker |
| 1956 | The Edge of Night · as Walt Johnson |
| 1955 | The Phil Silvers Show · as Pvt. Tommy Vandemere |
| 1955 | |
| 1954 | The Elgin Hour · as Lou Macklin |
| 1953 | You Are There · as Allessandro |
| 1952 | Omnibus · as (segment: Village Incident - India) |
| 1950 | Danger · as Cast |
| 1950 | The Web (1950) · as Cast |
| 1950 | Robert Montgomery Presents · as Cast |
| 1949 | The Big Story · as Frank Robert Evans |
| 1949 | I Remember Mama · as Cast |
| 1948 | |
| 1947 | Kraft Television Theatre · as Cast |
| 2015 | A Coup in Camelot · as Executive Producer |
| 2006 | Even MoneyOn Plex |
| 2005 | An Unfinished Life · as Executive Producer |
| 2001 | James Dean · as Executive Producer |
| 1994 | |
| 1991 | For the Boys · as Executive Producer |
| 1991 | |
| 1973 | |
| 1972 |
| 2016 | Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond · as Self |
| 2014 | And the Oscar Goes to... · as Self |
| 2010 | |
| 2009 | Char·ac·ter · as SelfOn Plex |
| 2009 | Hollywood's Best Film Directors · as Self |
| 2008 | No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos · as Self |
| 2007 | John Wayne: Behind the Scenes · as Self |
| 2003 | Reflections on Golden Pond · as Self |
| 2003 | Style Star · as Self |
| 2002 | Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s · as Self |
| 2000 | Lesley Ann Warren: A Cinderella Story · as Self |
| 1998 | Steve McQueen: The King of Cool · as Self |
| 1996 | E! True Hollywood Story · as Self |
| 1994 | Inside the Actors Studio · as Self |
| 1994 | A Century of Cinema · as Self |
| 1992 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno · as Self |
| 1990 | Intimate Portrait · as Self |
| 1987 | Biography · as Self |
| 1985 | American Masters · as Self |
| 1985 | Larry King Live · as Self |
| 1982 | The 54th Annual Academy Awards · as Self - Nominee |
| 1978 | Many Classic Moments · as Self |
| 1977 | The Hollywood Greats · as Self |
| 1962 | The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson · as Self |
| 1961 | The Mike Douglas Show · as Self |