Richard McWhorter
Richard McWhorter was an assistant director and a unit production manager best known for his work alongside the directors King Vidor, Frank Capra, Cecil B. DeMille and Hal Wallis. McWhorter also participated in the first meeting that led to the formation of the Screen Directors Guild.
He began working in entertainment in 1933 as a messenger at Columbia Pictures and later moved on to the studio’s locations department. He attended a meeting in 1936, led by Capra, that consisted of directors, assistant directors and unit managers. The guild would form later that year, and McWhorter, then an AD, would join the following year.
As an AD he worked on the films Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Frenchman’s Creek; Love Letters; Sorry, Wrong Number; Samson and Delilah; Come Back, Little Sheba and The Rose Tattoo. He served as a production manager on the films Broken Lace, The Bachelor Party, Kings Go Forth, The Taming of the Shrew, Portnoy’s Complaint, Matilda, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and The Trouble with Spies.
He also worked as a production manager on the 1975 television movie The Count of Monte Cristo and on four episodes of the popular ‘80s series The Love Boat. In addition, he served as an AD on two episodes of Science Fiction Theatre in 1955.
Richard McWhorter was an assistant director and a unit production manager best known for his work alongside the directors King Vidor, Frank Capra, Cecil B. DeMille and Hal Wallis. McWhorter also participated in the first meeting that led to the formation of the Screen Directors Guild.
He began working in entertainment in 1933 as a messenger at Columbia Pictures and later moved on to the studio’s locations department. He attended a meeting in 1936, led by Capra, that consisted of directors, assistant directors and unit managers. The guild would form later that year, and McWhorter, then an AD, would join the following year.
As an AD he worked on the films Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Frenchman’s Creek; Love Letters; Sorry, Wrong Number; Samson and Delilah; Come Back, Little Sheba and The Rose Tattoo. He served as a production manager on the films Broken Lace, The Bachelor Party, Kings Go Forth, The Taming of the Shrew, Portnoy’s Complaint, Matilda, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid and The Trouble with Spies.
He also worked as a production manager on the 1975 television movie The Count of Monte Cristo and on four episodes of the popular ‘80s series The Love Boat. In addition, he served as an AD on two episodes of Science Fiction Theatre in 1955.
In 1944 he started the Studio Process Body Co., which provided breakaway auto and truck bodies for rent to studios for use in close-up scenes.
McWhorter died January 18, 2015, in Los Angeles. He was 100.
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