Frederick Timmins de Cordova (October 27, 1910 â€" September 15, 2001)
was an American stage, motion picture and television director and
producer. He is best known for his work on The Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson.De Cordova was born in New York City, New York, the son
of Margaret (née Timmins) and George de Cordova, who worked in the
theatre business. George de Cordova was from a Jamaican Sephardic
Jewish family related to Julian de Cordova, founder of the DeCordova
Museum and Sculpture Park, and Waco, Texas founder Jacob de Cordova.
In his 1988 autobiography, de Cordova described his parents as con
artists who, during his early years, lived well and skipped town
without paying their bills. He received an undergraduate degree in
liberal arts in 1931 from Northwestern University.De Cordova was born
in New York City, New York, the son of Margaret (née Timmins) and
George de Cordova, who worked in the theatre business. George de
Cordova was from a Jamaican Sephardic Jewish family related to Julian
de Cordova, founder of the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, and
Waco, Texas founder Jacob de Cordova. In his 1988 autobiography, de
Cordova described his parents as con artists who, during his early
years, lived well and skipped town without paying their bills. He
received an undergraduate degree in liberal arts in 1931 from
Northwestern University.His first theater credit was as a performer in
Elmer, the Great (1928). After his graduation from Harvard Law School
in 1933, he gained employment in the Shubert Theater organization and
directed stage shows for the next ten years. He was variously a
performer, stage manager, stage director, and finally dialogue
director, the last in Ziegfeld Follies of 1943.He was a dialogue
director in five films, including To Have and Have Not (1944). His
first film directing job was Too Young to Know (1945) for Warner
Brothers. He directed 23 movies. One of the better known was Bedtime
for Bonzo (1951) starring future President Ronald Reagan and a
chimpanzee. He also directed Rock Hudson, Errol Flynn, Tony Curtis,
Audie Murphy, Yvonne de Carlo, Bob Hope and Humphrey Bogart. Much of
his career was at Universal Studios, where he was known for turning
out entertaining pictures quickly, even with difficult actors, and on
a low budget. His last film was Frankie and Johnny (1966) with Elvis
Presley. Fred de Cordova Top Movies & Young Movies