John Huston stands as a titan in Hollywood history, a ten-time Oscar-nominated legend celebrated not only as a director but also as a screenwriter and character 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. His very origin story is tinged with the eccentricity that would define his life, with family lore claiming his birthplace was won in a poker game by his grandfather. The son of character actor Walter Huston and newspaperwoman Rhea Gore, John’s upbringing was anything but conventional, setting the stage for a life as unpredictable and grand as his films.
From a tender age, Huston was immersed in the world of performance, joining his vaudevillian father on stage at just three years old. His childhood was split between the dazzling lights of the vaudeville circuit with his father and the nomadic life of journalistic exploration with his mother after his parents divorced when he was seven. Despite being a frail child, once confined to a sanitarium for heart and kidney issues, Huston displayed an indomitable spirit. He miraculously recovered and, at 14, traded academics for the rough-and-tumble world of boxing, becoming the Amateur Lightweight Boxing Champion of California with a record of 22 wins out of 25 bouts. His signature broken nose, a testament to this period, became a permanent badge of his early life’s adventures.
Huston’s restless spirit extended beyond the ring. He briefly settled into married life with his high school sweetheart, Dorothy Harvey, and ventured into professional acting, securing a leading role off-Broadway in “The Triumph of the Egg.” His Broadway debut followed swiftly in 1925 with “Ruint,” and another show, “Adam Solitaire,” the subsequent November. However, the confines of marriage and acting soon proved too restrictive for Huston’s wanderlust. He embarked on a sojourn to Mexico, becoming a cavalry officer and skilled horseman, all while secretly honing his writing skills by penning plays.
The allure of storytelling eventually drew him back to America. He dabbled in newspaper and magazine reporting in New York, submitting short stories and even briefly working as a screenwriter for Samuel Goldwyn Jr. Yet, the call of the unknown was ever-present. A brief, uncredited foray into film acting did little to quell his yearning for more. By 1932, Huston was abroad again, this time in London and Paris, pursuing painting and sketching. This period of artistic exploration even led to a stark period of homelessness, adding another layer to his already richly textured life experience.
Returning to America in 1933 marked a turning point. He took on the lead role in “Abraham Lincoln” on stage, a role his father Walter had famously portrayed on film just years prior. This return to performance coincided with a renewed focus on his writing talents, and he began collaborating on screenplays for Warner Brothers. His talent impressed the studio enough to offer him a dual role: screenwriter and director for the adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s mystery novel, Die Spur des Falken (1941), known in English as The Maltese Falcon.
This directorial debut in 1941 was nothing short of revolutionary. The Maltese Falcon not only catapulted Humphrey Bogart to superstardom but also redefined the film noir genre. Critics and audiences alike, decades later, still hail it as one of the greatest detective films ever made. Huston’s sharp direction, combined with his knack for adapting complex narratives, immediately established him as a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
The success of The Maltese Falcon opened doors to further directorial opportunities. In the wake of this triumph, Huston directed Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland in the melodrama Ich will mein Leben leben (1942) (In This Our Life) and reunited with Bogart, Mary Astor, and Sydney Greenstreet from The Maltese Falcon for the wartime romantic adventure Abenteuer in Panama (1942) (Across the Pacific). His career trajectory was briefly interrupted by World War II, during which he served as a Signal Corps lieutenant and directed several documentaries for the U.S. government, including the controversial Es werde Licht! (1980) (Let There Be Light), narrated by his father Walter.
Post-war Hollywood saw Huston reach even greater heights. Der Schatz der Sierra Madre (1948) (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre), a gripping tale of greed and human nature set against the backdrop of Mexico, became a cinematic landmark. Huston’s masterful direction and screenplay earned him two Oscars, while his father Walter won Best Supporting Actor, marking a unique family triumph. Huston himself made a brief cameo at the film’s beginning, his last on-screen appearance for over a decade.
The late 1940s and early 1950s are considered Huston’s golden era. He delivered a string of iconic films, including Gangster in Key Largo (1948) (Key Largo) and African Queen (1951), both starring Humphrey Bogart, as well as Asphalt-Dschungel (1950) (The Asphalt Jungle), Die rote Tapferkeitsmedaille (1951) (The Red Badge of Courage), and Moulin Rouge (1952). These films showcased his versatility, moving seamlessly between genres and consistently delivering compelling narratives and memorable characters. His direction was characterized by a raw, realistic style, often filmed on location, and a keen eye for human drama.
While his later films, such as Moby Dick (1956), Denen man nicht vergibt (1960) (The Unforgiven), Misfits – Nicht gesellschaftsfähig (1961) (The Misfits), Freud (1962), Die Nacht des Leguan (1964) (The Night of the Iguana), and Die Bibel (1966) (The Bible), may not have reached the same critical heights as his earlier work, they still demonstrated his willingness to experiment and tackle challenging subject matter, including themes of homosexuality and psychoanalysis, topics rarely explored in mainstream Hollywood at the time.
Beyond filmmaking, Huston was a passionate advocate for human rights. In 1947, alongside director William Wyler and others, he co-founded the Committee for the First Amendment, a group that bravely challenged the House Un-American Activities Committee and the Hollywood blacklist. Disgusted by the political climate, Huston relocated to St. Clerans, Ireland, becoming an Irish citizen. His personal life remained as dynamic as his career, marked by multiple marriages and a large family.
Huston experienced a notable acting resurgence in Otto Preminger’s Der Kardinal (1963) (The Cardinal), earning an Oscar nomination at the age of 57. From then on, he frequently appeared in character roles, lending his distinctive presence to both acclaimed films like Chinatown (1974) and Der Wind und der Löwe (1975) (The Wind and the Lion), and less distinguished projects, often using acting roles to finance his directorial endeavors.
In the 1970s, Huston experienced a directorial renaissance with films like Fat City (1972), Der Mann, der König sein wollte (1975) (The Man Who Would Be King), and Der Ketzer (1979) (Wise Blood). He concluded his illustrious career with a string of critically acclaimed films in the 1980s, including Unter dem Vulkan (1984) (Under the Volcano), Die Ehre der Prizzis (1985) (Prizzi’s Honor), which earned his daughter Anjelica Huston an Oscar under his direction, and The Dead (1987).
Huston’s larger-than-life persona, his adventurous spirit, and his rejection of convention drew comparisons to figures like Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles. Clint Eastwood even drew inspiration from Huston when directing Weißer Jäger, schwarzes Herz (1990) (White Hunter Black Heart), a film about the making of The African Queen. Despite battling chronic emphysema in his later years, Huston remained relentlessly productive, often working while requiring supplemental oxygen. He passed away at the age of 81 while on location for Mr. North – Liebling der Götter (1988) (Mr. North), a film directed by his son Danny Huston. Paul Newman famously dubbed him “the eccentric’s eccentric,” a fitting epitaph for a man who lived and breathed cinema with unparalleled passion and left behind a monumental legacy as a truly maverick John Huston Film Director.
