Frank McDonald

Birthday: 11/9/1899
Deathday: 3/8/1980
Place of birth: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Fame for: Directing
Also known as: Frank MacDonald, Bill Raynor

Biography

A former railroad worker, Frank McDonald came to Hollywood after a career on the stage as an actor/producer/director. At first hired as a dialogue director, McDonald turned out some scripts and in the mid-'30s began directing. Working for almost every studio in Hollywood at one time or another, he did a lot of work for Republic, grinding out Gene Autry and Roy Rogers westerns, and at the Pine/Thomas "B" unit at Paramount, churning out westerns, action dramas and war pictures. Not entirely comfortable as a director -Evelyn Keyes once said, "I've never seen anyone as terrified of directing as Frank McDonald" - he nevertheless turned out more than 100 pictures in his career.