On this day in 1987, film director, screenwriter and actor, John Huston, died in Middletown, Rhode Island from pneumonia as a complication of lung disease.
Huston was in Rhode Island and rented a home in Middletown for his work as producer and co-writer of Mr. North (1998), the last film he would ever work on.
Mr. North, which was being filmed in Newport and Bristol, Rhode Island, was being directed by Huston’s son Danny and Huston’s daughter Anjelica was one of the stars of the film.
Huston reportedly personally asked Robert Mitchum to take his part in Mr. North after he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Mitchum filmed the role during a break from War and Remembrance (1988).
During his 46-year career, Huston received 15 Oscar nominations, won twice, and directed both his father, Walter Huston, and daughter, Anjelica Huston, to Oscar wins in different films.
Huston, who was born on August 5th 1906 in Nevada, Missouri, wrote the screenplays for most of the thirty-seven feature films he directed, including what these classics; The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), The Misfits (1961), and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).
In the following speech from 1983, director, actor and writer John Huston accepts the 11th American Film Institute (AFI) Life Achievement Award. Some Huston’s best known films include Chinatown, The Maltese Falcon, and The African Queen.
Before becoming a Hollywood filmmaker, he had been an amateur boxer, reporter, short-story writer, portrait artist in Paris, a cavalry rider in Mexico, and a documentary filmmaker during World War II.
Huston was a citizen of the United States by birth but renounced U.S. citizenship to become an Irish citizen and resident at one point. He returned to the United States, where he lived the rest of his life.
Huston was married five times and had five children.
Huston is interred next to his mother in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
According to Wikipedia, Huston has the following filmography credits to his name;
Director
Screenwriter
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | The Shakedown | Extra | Directed by William Wyler Uncredited |
| Hell’s Heroes | |||
| 1930 | The Storm | ||
| 1948 | The Treasure of the Sierra Madre | American in Tampico in White Suit | Also director Uncredited |
| 1949 | We Were Strangers | Señor Muñoz | |
| 1951 | The Red Badge of Courage | Grizzled union veteran | |
| 1956 | Moby Dick | Barman / ship’s lookout (voice) | |
| 1961 | The Misfits | Extra in Blackjack scene | |
| 1962 | Freud: The Secret Passion | Narrator | |
| The List of Adrian Messenger | Lord Ashton | ||
| 1963 | The Cardinal | Cardinal Lawrence Glennon | Directed by Otto Preminger Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Laurel Award for Top Male Supporting Performance |
| 1966 | The Bible | Noah | Also director |
| The Legend of Marilyn Monroe | Narrator | Directed by Terry Sanders | |
| 1967 | Casino Royale | M / General McTarry | Also co-director |
| 1968 | Candy | Dr. Arnold Dunlap | Directed by Christian Marquand |
| 1969 | De Sade | The Abbe | Directed by Cy Endfield |
| A Walk with Love and Death | Robert the Elder | Also director | |
| 1970 | The Kremlin Letter | Admiral | |
| Myra Breckinridge | Buck Loner | Directed by Michael Sarne | |
| 1971 | The Bridge in the Jungle | Sleigh | Directed by Pancho Kohner |
| The Deserter | General Miles | Directed by Burt Kennedy | |
| Man in the Wilderness | Captain Henry | Directed by Richard C. Sarafian | |
| 1972 | Appointment with Destiny | Narrator | Episode: “The Crucifixion of Jesus” |
| The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean | Grizzly Adams | Also director | |
| 1973 | Battle for the Planet of the Apes | The Lawgiver | Directed by J. Lee Thompson |
| 1974 | Chinatown | Noah Cross | Directed by Roman Polanski Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture |
| 1975 | Breakout | Harris Wagner | Directed by Tom Gries |
| The Wind and the Lion | John Hay | Directed by John Milius | |
| 1976 | Sherlock Holmes in New York | Professor Moriarty | Directed by Boris Sagal |
| 1977 | The Rhinemann Exchange | Ambassador Henderson Granville | Directed by Burt Kennedy |
| Tentacles | Ned Turner | Directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis | |
| Angela | Hogan | Directed by Boris Sagal | |
| The Hobbit | Gandalf | Directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass | |
| 1978 | The Greatest Battle | Sean O’Hara | Directed by Umberto Lenzi |
| The Bermuda Triangle | Edward | Directed by René Cardona, Jr. | |
| The Word | Nathan Randall | TV miniseries | |
| 1979 | The Visitor | Jerzy Colsowicz | Directed by Giulio Paradisi |
| Winter Kills | Pa Kegan | Directed by William Richert | |
| Wise Blood | Grandfather | Also director | |
| Jaguar Lives! | Ralph Richards | Directed by Ernest Pintoff | |
| 1980 | The Return of the King | Gandalf | Directed by Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Head On | Clarke Hill | Directed by Michael Grant | |
| 1982 | Cannery Row | Narrator | Directed by David S. Ward |
| Annie | Actor on radio | Also director Uncredited | |
| 1983 | Lovesick | Larry Geller, M.D. | Directed by Marshall Brickman |
| A Minor Miracle | Father Cardenas | Directed by João Fernandes | |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Carlos Narrator | Episode: “Pilot” Segment: “Man from the South” |
| Epic | Narrator | Directed by Yoram Gross | |
| The Black Cauldron | Directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich | ||
| 1986 | Momo | Meister Hora | Directed by Johannes Schaaf |
| 1987 | Mister Corbett’s Ghost | Soul collector | Directed by Danny Huston |
| 2018 | The Other Side of the Wind | Jake Hannaford | Directed by Orson Welles. [Scenes filmed in 1974–1975]. |