Joseph Sargent | Today's AI Wiki

1. Overview

Joseph Sargent, born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente^Italian, was a distinguished American film and television director. Throughout his extensive career, which spanned decades, he became renowned for his ability to craft compelling narratives across various genres, from thrilling feature films to impactful television movies and miniseries. Among his most celebrated works are the subway thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the action film White Lightning starring Burt Reynolds, the biopic MacArthur featuring Gregory Peck, and the horror anthology Nightmares. Sargent received significant critical acclaim for his contributions to television, earning four Emmy Awards and multiple nominations for the Directors Guild of America Award, particularly for his television films that often explored social issues and human experiences. His directorial career concluded in 2008, leaving behind a legacy of diverse and critically recognized productions.

2. Life and Career

Joseph Sargent's life and professional journey encompassed military service, a brief acting career, and a prolific transition into directing, where he left an indelible mark on both film and television.

2.1. Birth and Early Life

Joseph Sargent was born as Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente^Italian on July 22, 1925, in Jersey City, New Jersey. His parents, Maria (née Noviello) and Domenico Sorgente, were Italian immigrants. During his teenage years, Sargent volunteered for service in the United States Army and fought in World War II, notably participating in the brutal Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he pursued his passion for performance, studying acting at the prestigious Actors Studio and later graduating from The New School.

2.2. Acting and Transition to Directing

Sargent began his professional career as an actor, appearing in numerous films and television programs. One of his early uncredited roles was as a soldier in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity, where he met his first wife, Mary Carver. He also appeared in the Western series Gunsmoke, portraying a man who lost his will to live in the 1957 episode "Skid Row" and a drunk cowboy in the 1959 episode "There Never Was A Horse". In the mid-1950s, Sargent transitioned from acting to directing. Over the next 15 years, his directorial credits included episodes for popular television series such as Lassie, The Invaders (directing four episodes), The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver".

2.3. Major Directing Activities

Sargent's major directing activities spanned across feature films, television movies, and miniseries, demonstrating his versatility and commitment to storytelling.

In 1966, Joseph Sargent made his feature film directorial debut with One Spy Too Many, which was a re-edited version of a two-part episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "Alexander the Greater Affair". His first original feature film was the 1969 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project. In 1971, he was initially hired to direct Buck and the Preacher but was replaced by Sidney Poitier due to creative differences after only a few days of shooting. The following year, he directed The Man, a film that began as a television movie and starred James Earl Jones as the first African-American President of the United States, a significant role that explored themes of race and power.

Throughout the 1970s, Sargent seamlessly alternated between directing television movies and feature films. His notable works from this period include the acclaimed thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the action movie White Lightning, and the biopic MacArthur. His television movie credits from this era include Hustling starring Lee Remick and Jill Clayburgh, Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring with Sally Field, and Tribes featuring Jan-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin, which explored themes of generational conflict and military life. He also directed the international award-winning ABC film The Night That Panicked America, a docudrama about a fictional alien invasion. In 1974, he earned his first Directors Guild of America Award for The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), which served as the television movie pilot for the popular crime series Kojak.

In the 1980s, Sargent directed the miniseries Manions of America, which featured a young Pierce Brosnan, and Space. In 1987, he directed Jaws: The Revenge, the third sequel to Steven Spielberg's classic 1975 film. The film was widely panned by critics, with Roger Ebert describing Sargent's direction of the climactic sequence as "incompetent," leading to Sargent's nomination for Worst Director at the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards.

Following the negative reception of Jaws: The Revenge, Sargent primarily focused on directing television movies. His later works include The Karen Carpenter Story (1989), a biographical film about the singer, The Long Island Incident (1998), which dramatized a real-life shooting, Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1998), and the 2007 remake of the docudrama Sybil. His final directorial work was the 2008 television film Sweet Nothing in My Ear. Beyond his directing, Sargent also served as the Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence for the Directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, sharing his extensive experience with aspiring filmmakers.

3. Major Works

Joseph Sargent's extensive filmography showcases his diverse range as a director, encompassing a variety of genres and formats across both cinema and television.

3.1. Film

Sargent directed several notable feature films throughout his career, often venturing into thrillers, action, and biographical dramas.

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Notes
1966	One Spy Too Many	Yes	No	Re-edit of a two-part The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode "Alexander the Greater Affair" with different shots and dialogue
1967	The Spy in the Green Hat	Yes	No	Re-edit of a two-part The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes "The Concrete Overcoat Affair" with new scenes added
1968	The Hell with Heroes	Yes	No
1970	Colossus: The Forbin Project	Yes	No
1972	The Man	Yes	No
1973	White Lightning	Yes	No
1974	The Taking of Pelham One Two Three	Yes	No
1977	MacArthur	Yes	No
1979	Goldengirl	Yes	No
1980	Coast to Coast	Yes	No
1983	Nightmares	Yes	No
1987	Jaws: The Revenge	Yes	Yes

3.2. TV Film and Drama

Sargent was particularly prolific in television, directing a vast number of acclaimed television movies and episodes of drama series, many of which addressed significant social and historical themes.

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Notes
1959	Street-Fighter	Yes	No
1968	The Sunshine Patriot	Yes	No	Television film
1970	Tribes	Yes	No	Television film
1972	Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring	Yes	No	Television film
1973	Sunshine	Yes	No	Television film
1973	The Marcus-Nelson Murders	Yes	No	Kojak pilot
1975	Friendly Persuasion	Yes	No	Television film
1975	The Night That Panicked America	Yes	Yes	Television film
1975	Hustling	Yes	No	Television film
1980	Amber Waves	Yes	No	Television film
1981	Freedom	Yes	No	Television film
1981	Manions of America	Yes	No	Miniseries
1983	Memorial Day	Yes	No	Television film
1983	Choices of the Heart	Yes	No	Television film
1984	Terrible Joe Moran	Yes	No	Television film
1985	Love Is Never Silent	Yes	No	Television film
1985	Space	Yes	No	Miniseries
1986	There Must Be a Pony	Yes	No	Television film
1989	The Karen Carpenter Story	Yes	No	Television film
1989	Day One	Yes	No	Television film
1990	The Incident	Yes	No	Television film
1990	Caroline?	Yes	No	Television film
1990	Ivory Hunters	Yes	No	Television film
1991	Never Forget	Yes	No	Television film
1992	Miss Rose White	Yes	No	Television film
1992	Somebody's Daughter	Yes	No	Television film
1993	Skylark	Yes	Yes	Television film
1993	Abraham	Yes	No	Television film
1994	World War II: When Lions Roared	Yes	No	Miniseries
1995	My Antonia	Yes	No	Television film
1995	Streets of Laredo	Yes	No	Miniseries
1997	Miss Evers' Boys	Yes	No	Television film, a critically acclaimed film depicting the Tuskegee Syphilis Study
1997	Mandela and de Klerk	Yes	No	Television film, focusing on the end of apartheid in South Africa
1998	The Long Island Incident	Yes	No	Television film
1998	Crime and Punishment	Yes	No	Television film
1998	The Wall	Yes	No	Television film
1999	A Lesson Before Dying	Yes	No	Television film, dealing with racial injustice and the death penalty
2000	For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story	Yes	No	Television film
2001	Bojangles	Yes	No	Television film
2003	Salem Witch Trials	Yes	No	Television film
2003	Out of the Ashes	Yes	No	Television film
2004	Something the Lord Made	Yes	No	Television film, exploring racial barriers in medicine
2005	Warm Springs	Yes	No	Television film, about Franklin D. Roosevelt's battle with polio
2007	Sybil	Yes	No	Television film
2008	Sweet Nothing in My Ear	Yes	No	Television film

4. Awards and Nominations

Joseph Sargent was highly recognized for his directorial achievements, particularly in television, earning numerous awards and nominations throughout his career.

Sargent was nominated for several Emmy Awards, ultimately winning four. Early in his career, he secured a Directors Guild of America Award for his work on The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), which served as the pilot for the Kojak series. He holds the distinction of being nominated for eight DGA awards specifically for television movies, more than any other director in that category. While most of his recognition was positive, he was nominated for Worst Director at the 1987 Golden Raspberry Awards for his work on Jaws: The Revenge.

The following table details his major awards and nominations:

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1971	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama - A Single Program	Tribes	Nominated
1973	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama - A Single Program	The Marcus-Nelson Murders	Won
1973	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or TV Film	The Marcus-Nelson Murders	Won
1980	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special	Amber Waves	Nominated
1984	Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival	Golden Raven	Nightmares	Nominated
1986	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Special	Love Is Never Silent	Won
1988	Razzie Award	Worst Picture	Jaws: The Revenge	Nominated
1988	Razzie Award	Worst Director	Jaws: The Revenge	Nominated
1990	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or Special	Caroline?	Won
1992	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or Special	Miss Rose White	Nominated
1995	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or TV Film	World War II: When Lions Roared	Nominated
1998	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or TV Film	Miss Evers' Boys	Won
1999	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or Movie	A Lesson Before Dying	Won
2001	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or TV Film	For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story	Nominated
2004	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing in a Television Film	Something the Lord Made	Won
2004	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special	Something the Lord Made	Won
2005	Directors Guild of America Award	Outstanding Directing - Miniseries or TV Film	Warm Springs	Nominated
2005	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special	Warm Springs	Won

5. Personal Life

Joseph Sargent was married to Carolyn Nelson Sargent. He was also the father of voice actress Lia Sargent. Along with his wife, he played a foundational role in establishing the Deaf West Theatre, an organization dedicated to creating exceptional theater experiences for deaf and hard-of-hearing artists and audiences.

6. Death

Joseph Sargent passed away at the age of 89 on December 22, 2014. He died at his home in Malibu, California, due to complications from heart disease.