Editing Walter Lang

{{Short description|American film director (1896–1972)}}
{{otherpeople}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Walter Lang
| image              = Walter-lang-portrait.jpg
| caption            =
| birth_name         =
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1896|08|10}}
| birth_place        = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], US
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1972|02|07|1896|08|10}}
| death_place        = [[Palm Springs, California]], US
| resting_place      = [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]]
| spouse             = Madalynne Field (m. 1937–1972; his death)
| occupation         = Film director
| years_active       = 1925&ndash;1961
}}
[[File:Christening of the Liberty Ship S. S. Carole Lombard 1944.jpg|thumb|275px|At christening of the ship S. S. Carole Lombard (1944). Lang's wife Madalynne Field, a former actress, is second from left.  Also in photo (L-R) are [[Clark Gable]], actress [[Irene Dunne]], and [[Louis B. Mayer]] ]]
'''Walter Lang''' (August 10, 1896 – February 7, 1972) was an American film director.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/02/08/archives/walter-lang-73-director-is-dead-filmed-king-and-i-call-me-madam-and.html |title=Walter Lang, 73, Director, is Dead |date=February 8, 1972 |work=New York Times}}</ref>

==Early life==
Walter Lang was born in Tennessee. As a young man he went to New York City where he found clerical work at a [[movie studio|film production company]]. The business piqued his artistic instincts and he began learning the various facets of filmmaking and eventually worked as an assistant director. However, Lang also had ambitions to be a painter and left the United States for a time to join the great gathering of artists and writers in the [[Montparnasse Quarter]] of Paris, France. Things did not work out as Lang hoped and he eventually returned home and to the film business.

==Career==
In 1925, Walter Lang directed his first [[silent film]], ''[[The Red Kimono]]''. In the mid-1930s, he was hired by [[20th Century Fox]] where, as a director, he "painted" a number of the spectacular colorful musicals for which Fox Studios became famous for producing during the 1940s. One of Lang's most recognized films is the lavish adaptation of [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]]'s musical ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' (1956) for which he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Directing]].<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news |url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/walter-lang/ |title=Walter Lang |date=February 8, 1972 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> and his star, [[Yul Brynner]], won the Oscar for Best Actor in a role he immortalized.  Another is ''[[State Fair (1945 film)|State Fair]]'', also a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, which was shown to [[WW2]] servicemen around the world in the last months of the war.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Walter Lang has a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] at 6520 Hollywood Blvd.<ref name="HWOF">{{cite web |url=http://hwof.com/star/motion-pictures/walter-lang/682 |title=Walter Lang |access-date=December 7, 2014 |work=Hollywood Walk of Fame}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Lang was married to Madalynne Field (1907–1974) from 1937 until his death. Field, a former actress, had met and befriended [[Carole Lombard]] when they were employed as [[Sennett Bathing Beauties]] in the late 1920s. Field's film career ended with the demise of Sennett's studio. However, she maintained her friendship with Lombard, and acted as Lombard's secretary until her marriage. She met Lang when he directed Lombard in ''Love Before Breakfast'' (1936). Lang was buried in the [[Inglewood Park Cemetery]], in [[Inglewood, California]].

==Filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* ''[[The Red Kimono]]'' (1925)
* ''[[The Earth Woman]]'' (1926)
* ''[[The Golden Web (1926 film)|The Golden Web]]'' (1926)
* ''[[Money to Burn (1926 film)|Money to Burn]]'' (1926)
* ''[[The Ladybird (film)|The Ladybird]]'' (1927)
* ''[[The Satin Woman]]'' (1927)
* ''[[Sally in Our Alley (1927 film)|Sally in Our Alley]]'' (1927)
* ''[[By Whose Hand? (1927 film)|By Whose Hand?]]'' (1927)
* ''[[The College Hero]]'' (1927)
* ''[[The Night Flyer (film)|The Night Flyer]]'' (1928)
* ''Alice Through a Looking Glass'' (1928)
* ''[[The Desert Bride (1928 film)|The Desert Bride]]'' (1928)
* ''[[The Spirit of Youth]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Hello Sister (1930 film)|Hello Sister]]'' (1930)
* ''[[Cock o' the Walk (1930 film)|Cock o' the Walk]]'' (1930)
* ''[[The Big Fight (1930 film)|The Big Fight]]'' (1930)
* ''[[The Costello Case]]'' (1930)
* ''[[Brothers (1930 film)|Brothers]]'' (1930)
* ''[[Command Performance (1931 film)|Command Performance]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Hell Bound (1931 film)|Hell Bound]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Women Go on Forever]]'' (1931)
* ''[[No More Orchids]]'' (1932)
* ''[[The Warrior's Husband]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Meet the Baron]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Whom the Gods Destroy (1934 film)|Whom the Gods Destroy]]'' (1934)
* ''[[The Party's Over (1934 film)|The Party's Over]]'' (1934)
* ''[[The Mighty Barnum]]'' (1934)
* ''[[Carnival (1935 film)|Carnival]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Hooray for Love (film)|Hooray for Love]]'' (1935)
* ''[[Love Before Breakfast]]'' (1936)
* ''[[Top of the Town (film)|Top of the Town]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Wife, Doctor and Nurse]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Second Honeymoon (1937 film)|Second Honeymoon]]'' (1937)
* ''[[The Baroness and the Butler]]'' (1938)
* ''[[I'll Give a Million (1938 film)|I'll Give a Million]]'' (1938)
* ''[[The Little Princess (1939 film)|The Little Princess]]'' (1939)
* ''[[Susannah of the Mounties (film)|Susannah of the Mounties]]'' (1939)
* ''[[The Blue Bird (1940 film)|The Blue Bird]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Star Dust (film)|Star Dust]]'' (1940)
* ''[[The Great Profile]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Tin Pan Alley (film)|Tin Pan Alley]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Moon Over Miami (film)|Moon Over Miami]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Week-End in Havana]]'' (1941)
* ''[[Song of the Islands]]'' (1942)
* ''[[The Magnificent Dope]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Coney Island (1943 film)|Coney Island]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Greenwich Village (film)|Greenwich Village]]'' (1944)
* ''[[State Fair (1945 film)|State Fair]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Claudia and David]]'' (1946)
* ''[[Sentimental Journey (film)|Sentimental Journey]]'' (1946)
* ''[[Mother Wore Tights]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Sitting Pretty (1948 film)|Sitting Pretty]]'' (1948)
* ''[[When My Baby Smiles at Me (film)|When My Baby Smiles at Me]]'' (1948)
* ''[[You're My Everything (film)|You're My Everything]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Cheaper by the Dozen (1950 film)|Cheaper by the Dozen]]'' (1950)
* ''[[The Jackpot]]'' (1950)
* ''[[On the Riviera]]'' (1951)
* ''[[With a Song in My Heart (film)|With a Song in My Heart]]'' (1952)
* ''[[Call Me Madam (film)|Call Me Madam]]'' (1953)
* ''[[There's No Business Like Show Business (film)|There's No Business Like Show Business]]'' (1954)
* ''[[The King and I (1956 film)|The King and I]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Desk Set]]'' (1957)
* ''[[But Not for Me (film)|But Not for Me]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Can-Can (film)|Can-Can]]'' (1960)
* ''[[The Marriage-Go-Round (film)|The Marriage-Go-Round]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Snow White and the Three Stooges]]'' (1961)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Walter Lang}}
* {{IMDb name|0485943}}

{{Walter Lang}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Walter}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:20th Century Studios people]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Memphis, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure in California]]
[[Category:Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:Film directors from Tennessee]]