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John Badham - Filmbug
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if(document.body.clientWidth > 1200)wideBrowser=1; if(wideBrowser){ document.getElementById("wrapper").style.width = "1175px"; document.write("<div id=\"toolbarright\" style=\"width:175px;border:1px solid #cccccc;border-right:0;border-top:0;margin:0;\"><div id=\"toolbarrightin\">"); document.write("<iframe src=\"/bnr/iframe-skyscraper-fb.php\" style=\"height:600px;width:160px;border:0;\"></iframe>"); document.write("</div></div>"); } </script> <div id="content"> <script type="text/javascript">if(wideBrowser){ document.getElementById("content").style.marginRight = "181px"; document.getElementById("content").style.minHeight="600px"; }</script><!-- google_ad_section_start --><h1>John Badham</h1><div id="profile"><b>John Badham</b> is the Director of the USA Network Original Movie Brother's Keeper. <p> Inspired early in his career by his sister's Hollywood success, Badham moved to Los Angeles and landed a job in the mailroom at Universal Studios. He began moving up through the ranks by learning about casting and cutting trailers, and eventually began directing episodic television, including such series as The Senator (for which he received an Emmy nomination), Night Gallery, Kung Fu, and The Streets of San Francisco. Badham earned a second Emmy nomination for The Law, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/278219">Judd Hirsch</a>. <p> In 1976, Badham directed his first feature film, The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings, which teamed <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/23907">James Earl Jones</a>, <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/29685">Billy Dee Williams</a>, and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/3777">Richard Pryor</a>. In 1978, Badham guided <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/1403">John Travolta</a> to worldwide fame in Saturday Night Fever, which went on to become one of the top grossing films of all time. Following Saturday Night Fever, Badham received acclaim for his vivid adaptations of two Broadway plays: Whose Life Is It Anyway? starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/21727">Richard Dreyfuss</a>, and the stylized Dracula, with <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/285104">Frank Langella</a> and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/22929">Laurence Olivier</a>. Dracula swept the Grand Prizes at both the Paris International Science Fiction Festival and the US Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Awards. <p> Badham again rose to the forefront of the film world in the summer of 1983 after directing two of the season's biggest hits, Blue Thunder and War Games, which were also nominated for a total of four Academy Awards. He then directed <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/1446">Kevin Costner</a> in the cycling action-drama American Flyers, followed by the comedy Short Circuit, featuring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/746">Ally Sheedy</a> and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/275584">Steve Guttenberg</a>. <p> In 1989, Badham directed <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/293">Mel Gibson</a> and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/2947">Goldie Hawn</a> in the action/comedy Bird On A Wire. His film Point of No Return propelled <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/285">Bridget Fonda</a> to stardom, and Another Stakeout reunited Richard Dreyfuss and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/30083">Emilio Estevez</a> as the pair of undercover cops from the original Stakeout, which he also directed. Badham also directed Drop Zone, starrring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/769">Wesley Snipes</a>; Nick of Time, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/268">Johnny Depp</a>; Incognito, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/23849">Jason Patric</a>; Floating Away, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/278423">Paul Hogan</a> and Roseanna Arquette (which received a Prism Award for its portrayal of alcohol abuse); The Jack Bull for HBO, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/260">John Cusack</a> and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/4285">John Goodman</a>; and The Last Debate for Showtime, starring <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/272754">James Garner</a> and <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/31836">Peter Gallagher</a>. <p> Badham was born in England, the son of actress Mary Hewitt and a U.S. Army general, who moved the family to the U.S. when he was transferred to Alabama. Badham received an undergraduate degree from Yale University in philosophy, and later received a Masters Degree from the Yale School of Drama.</div><br><div class="profile"><i>Note</i>: This profile was written in or before <b>2002</b>.<br/></div> <h2 class="pagebar">John Badham Facts</h2> <table class="facts"> <tr><td class="desc">Occupation</td><td>Director</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td class="desc">Birthday</td><td><a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/people/day/08-25/">August 25</a>, <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/people/year/1939/">1939</a> (82)</td></tr><tr><td class="desc">Sign</td><td><a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/site/zodiac.php?sign=Virgo">Virgo</a></td></tr><tr class="alt"><td class="desc">Birthplace</td><td>Luton, <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/people/state/65/">England, United Kingdom</a></td></tr></table><h2 class="pagebar">Selected Filmography</h2><table class="facts"><!-- --> <tr><td>Drop Zone</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td>Saturday Night Fever</td></tr><tr><td>WarGames</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td>Bounty Hunters!</td></tr><tr><td>Not Even Close, Encounters</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td>Bird on a Wire</td></tr><tr><td>Short Circuit</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td>The Devil is in the Details...and in the Upstairs Bedroom</td></tr><tr><td>Point of No Return</td></tr><tr class="alt"><td>The Tao of Gus</td></tr> <tr><td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr> <td><a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/34868-2">Continue »</a></td> <td align="right" class="extrasmall">Find more details on the <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/db/34868-2">John Badham Movies</a> page</td> </tr></table></td></tr> </table><!-- google_ad_section_end --> </div></div> </div> <div id="copyright"><div id="copyrightin"> © 1998-2021 Filmbug - <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/site/contact.php">contact Filmbug</a> - <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/site/disclaimer.php">terms/privacy</a> <br/>Bio courtesy <a href="/web/20211018131718/https://filmbug.com/studios/">USA Network</a> (19-Jul-2002) </div></div> <script> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//web.archive.org/web/20211018131718/https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-151048-2', 'auto'); ga('set', 'anonymizeIp', true); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script> </body> </html> <!-- FILE ARCHIVED ON 13:17:18 Oct 18, 2021 AND RETRIEVED FROM THE INTERNET ARCHIVE ON 22:41:34 Mar 01, 2025. 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