University Place, WA — Prolific director John Llewellyn Moxey, died April 29 at a hospice here of lung cancer. He was 94. MSTies will remember his work directing the movie/TV pilot in episode 614- SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL.
Born in 1925 in Argentina, and after serving in World War II, he managed to get a job in Hollywood, starting in the editing room, then moving to assistant director. He later moved to television, where directed episodes of TV series such as “The Saint,” “Mission:Impossible” and “Kung Fu,” as well as the beloved “Night Stalker” movie/pilot. He retired in 1991.
Thanks to Tim for the heads up.
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RIP, and condolences to his family and friends. Ninety-four is a good long life. Wow, the “Night Stalker” pilot — who else remembers when that first aired? IIRC, it was all anybody was talking about the next day at school and at work. I watched it again not long ago and it wasn’t as good as I remembered, but for 1972 it was amazing.
He directed “Horror Hotel” (aka “City of the Dead”), which Rifftrax riffed (public domain). In one of the 3 dvd editions I own, Moxey gives a pretty interesting audio commentary for the movie. RIP
That seems like the American dream: an Argentinian-born World War II veteran who gets a job in the editing room and ends up as a director of episodes from well-known TV series. It sounds as if he made a very good life indeed. Apparently he was also active online well into his 90s, which is just cool.
Yeti, I remember watching the Night Stalker pilot when it aired, and you’re right, we all talked about it at school the next day. My dad and I watched the series together, and I recall enjoying it a lot, though I’m not surprised to hear it hasn’t aged well.
Mr. Moxey, I thank you for giving me such great memories. May your nose wheel never feel mushy.
“Welcome to Hollywood, sailor.”
Excellent movie; obviously (to people who study movies) made “on a budget” but effective, and beautifully shot. The question of whether the plot twist 1/3 of the way through HORROR HOTEL influenced the similar one in PSYCHO remains open.
Also ten episodes of Mannix. Da-da da-da!
Actually, the Night Stalker movie holds up extremely well, as does its sequel and the series. Thank you for it, Mr. Moxey, and for giving MST one of its best episodes.
The Night Stalker was a huge influence on my tastes. I loved everything about it. It was pretty freakin’ scary watching it by yourself 11:30 on a Friday night! And that theme music!
While he was born in Argentina, he was clearly British. The Night Stalker wasn’t a pilot. It was a made for TV movie that was so successful they turned it into a show.
And he directed a surprisingly large number of TV episodes that I remember.