John Huston, a name synonymous with cinematic audacity and versatility, remains an iconic figure in Hollywood history. A ten-time Oscar nominee, Huston’s career spanned five decades, showcasing his talents as a director, screenwriter, and actor. Born John Marcellus Huston on August 5, 1906, in Nevada, Missouri, his lineage was a rich tapestry of English, Scottish, Scots-Irish, and distant German and Portuguese roots. Legend has it that his birthplace was won in a poker game by his grandfather, adding to the colorful narrative that surrounded his life. His father, Walter Huston, was a celebrated character actor, and his mother, Rhea Gore, was a dynamic newspaperwoman, setting the stage for a life less ordinary.
As an only child, John Huston’s early life was steeped in the performing arts. He began his stage journey at the tender age of three, performing alongside his vaudevillian father. Following his parents’ divorce when he was seven, his childhood was split between the dazzling world of vaudeville circuits with his father and the adventurous life of journalistic expeditions with his mother. Despite his vibrant upbringing, Huston was a frail child, once confined to a sanitarium due to heart and kidney issues. However, he made a remarkable recovery and, at 14, left school to pursue a career in boxing. He swiftly rose in the ranks, winning the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Championship of California with an impressive record of 22 wins out of 25 bouts. His signature broken nose, a testament to his boxing days, became a permanent feature, marking his rugged persona.
Huston’s personal life took a turn when he married his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Harvey. Simultaneously, his acting career began to blossom. He landed a leading role in the off-Broadway production “The Triumph of the Egg,” marking his professional stage debut. In the same year, 1925, he made his Broadway debut in “Ruint” on April 7th, followed by another Broadway show, “Adam Solitaire,” in November. However, the confines of marriage and acting soon felt restrictive. He left both behind, embarking on a transformative journey to Mexico. There, he embraced a new life as a cavalry officer and a skilled horseman, all while secretly nurturing his writing ambitions through playwriting.
Upon returning to America, Huston attempted to ground himself in newspaper and magazine reporting in New York, even submitting short stories. He briefly worked as a screenwriter for Samuel Goldwyn Jr., but his restless spirit resurfaced. During this period, he also made uncredited appearances in a few films, hinting at his future in cinema. By 1932, wanderlust took hold again, leading him to London and Paris, where he explored painting and sketching. In a stark turn of events, the aspiring artist experienced a period of homelessness as a beggar.
In 1933, Huston returned to America, taking on the title role in “Abraham Lincoln,” ironically, years after his father Walter had portrayed the iconic president on film for D.W. Griffith. This marked a turning point as John decided to focus on his undeniable writing talent, collaborating on scripts for Warner Brothers. He also remarried. Warner Bros. recognized his potential and offered him a dual role as screenwriter and director for the adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s mystery novel, The Maltese Falcon (1941). This cinematic masterpiece catapulted Humphrey Bogart to superstardom and remains celebrated as one of the greatest detective films ever created, even decades later. Amidst this screen success, Huston also wrote and staged Broadway plays. Following The Maltese Falcon, he directed Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland in the melodrama In This Our Life (1942), and reunited with three Falcon stars – Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet – for the romantic war film Across the Pacific (1942).
During World War II, John Huston served as a Signal Corps lieutenant, directing several documentaries for the U.S. government, including the controversial Let There Be Light (1980), narrated by his father, Walter. The end of the war also marked the end of his second marriage. In 1946, he married his third wife, Evelyn Keyes, famed for Gone With the Wind, but this union was also short-lived. That same year, the ever-impulsive Huston directed Jean-Paul Sartre’s existential play No Exit on Broadway. Despite its brief run and box-office failure, the play earned the New York Drama Critics Award for “best foreign play,” showcasing Huston’s artistic range and daring choices.
Hollywood once again beckoned, bringing Huston further accolades, particularly through his continued collaboration with Bogart and Warner Brothers. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), a timeless tale of greed and human nature set against the backdrop of Mexico, earned John Huston Oscars for both Best Director and Best Screenplay, while his father, Walter, won the Best Supporting Actor award. John himself made a cameo at the film’s beginning as a tourist, his last on-screen appearance for fifteen years. Riding this wave of success, Huston remained in Hollywood to write and direct some of American cinema’s most iconic films, including Key Largo (1948) and The African Queen (1951), both starring Bogart, as well as The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Red Badge of Courage (1951), and Moulin Rouge (1952). His later works, such as Moby Dick (1956), The Unforgiven (1960), The Misfits (1961), Freud (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964), and The Bible: In the Beginning… (1966), were generally well-received but didn’t quite reach the critical heights of his earlier masterpieces. Huston was known for his innovative use of color and his willingness to tackle unconventional subjects like homosexuality and psychoanalysis, pushing the boundaries of mainstream cinema.
A staunch advocate for human rights, Huston co-founded the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947 with director William Wyler, challenging the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood blacklist that devastated many careers. Disillusioned with Hollywood’s political climate, he relocated to St. Clerans, Ireland, becoming an Irish citizen alongside his fourth wife, ballet dancer Enrica (Ricki) Soma. They had two children, including daughter Anjelica Huston, who would forge her own distinguished Hollywood career. Huston and Ricki separated after his son Danny Huston (also a director) was born to another actress in 1962. Though estranged, they remained married until her tragic death in a car accident in 1969. John later adopted his late wife’s child from a previous relationship. Ever restless, Huston moved to Mexico, where he married (1972) and divorced (1977) his fifth and final wife, Celeste Shane.
Huston made a notable return to acting with a significant role in Otto Preminger’s epic The Cardinal (1963), earning an Oscar nomination at age 57. From then on, he frequently appeared in character roles, often eccentric and memorable, in films ranging from excellent to abysmal. These roles, however varied in quality, helped finance his passion projects. Highlights from this acting phase include Chinatown (1974) and The Wind and the Lion (1975), while less acclaimed roles included parts in Candy (1968) and Myra Breckinridge (1970).
Directing his daughter Angelica in her film debut, the poorly received A Walk with Love and Death (1969), Huston redeemed himself fifteen years later by directing her to an Oscar win in the acclaimed mob comedy Prizzi’s Honor (1985). The 1970s saw a resurgence in Huston’s directorial quality with films like Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), and Wise Blood (1979). He concluded his illustrious career on a high note with Under the Volcano (1984), Prizzi’s Honor (1985), and The Dead (1987). His only acknowledged misstep during this period was the musical Annie (1982), though it later gained a cult following among children.
John Huston embodied a macho, unconventional lifestyle, often drawing comparisons to Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles in his flamboyant style. He even inspired Clint Eastwood’s film White Hunter Black Heart (1990), which depicted the making of The African Queen. In his later years, Huston battled chronic emphysema, but his relentless work ethic remained undeterred. Even while requiring oxygen, he continued to work. He was filming an acting cameo in Mr. North (1988), directed by his son Danny, when he contracted pneumonia and passed away at the age of 81. Paul Newman once called this maverick “the eccentric’s eccentric,” a fitting epithet for a man who left behind a rich and enduring cinematic legacy for generations to appreciate.
