His role in the stage version of My Sister Eileen led to Quine's being signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[8] Quine's first film for MGM was Babes on Broadway (1941), starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Rooney and Quine had been friends since childhood.[6]
While at MGM, Quine also appeared in Tish (1942), with Susan Peters who would later become his second wife, and For Me and My Gal (1942), playing Judy Garland's brother. Columbia borrowed him to reprise his stage role in My Sister Eileen (1942).
Just as his acting career seemed about to take off, he had to serve in the United States Coast Guard.[10] While in the Coast Guard, he became a lieutenant and served in public relations department in San Diego, California.[1]: 138
Quine and friend William Asher then decided to get into production and directing. The two set about adapting "Leather Gloves," a short story that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. The story was later adapted by another writer, but Quine and Asher were hired to produce and direct the 1948 film version released by Columbia Pictures.[11]
Reportedly Harry Cohn offered to buy the script outright but they wanted to direct. Cohn responded: "How the hell do you think you can make a picture?" But then later another Columbia executive told Quine, "Mr. Cohn tells me you're going to direct a picture."[12]
He was still under contract to MGM when the film was made.[13] The film was successful and Quine was hired to a long-term contract at Columbia.
At Columbia he directed some comedy shorts: A Slip and a Miss (1950) with Hugh Herbert, Foy Meets Girl (1950) with Eddie Foy, Jr, The Awful Sleuth with Bert Wheeler, and Woo-Woo Blues (1951) with Herbert.
In July 1951 he signed a seven-year contract with Columbia to direct.[15]
Quine and Edwards entered television with The Mickey Rooney Show (1954–55) which lasted for a season of 34 episodes. Quine created it and Edwards was chief writer.[16]
Quine helped Edwards write the film that became Edwards' first feature as director, Bring Your Smile Along (1955) with Laine. Edwards and Quine wrote the script for a musical remake of My Sister Eileen (1955), which Quine directed, and He Laughed Last (1956), which Edwards directed.[3]
Quine set up his own film production company, Quine Productions, and secured a financing and distribution deal through Columbia Pictures.[17] Quine Productions' first film was Strangers When We Meet (1960) with Kirk Douglas, Novak and Kovaks; the film was co-produced with Douglas' film production company, Bryna Productions.[18]
Quine announced he would do several projects for his own company: The Image Makers with Glenn Ford, Roar Like a Dove with Doris Day, and The Fannie Brice Story for Ray Stark. He was also going to do Man Hunt in Kenya with William Holden.[19] None of these films were made.
Quine produced and directed Synanon (1965) for Columbia, a little seen film about addicts. He returned to TV producing and directing episodes of the short-lived The Jean Arthur Show (1966).[21] That series also lasted one season.[22][23]
In addition to producing, directing and screenwriting, Quine was a lyricist. He wrote the lyrics "Be Prepared," a song included in the film It Happened to Jane (1959), which he also produced and directed.[26] In 1962, Quine wrote two songs, "Going Steady With a Dream" and "Strangers When We Meet," the latter the theme to the 1960 film of the same name, which Quine directed, and also for the film Don't Knock the Twist.[27][28] Quine also wrote the theme song to his 1964 film Sex and the Single Girl.[29]
He directed three episodes of Peter Falk's Columbo, including "Dagger of the Mind," an episode set in Britain. He also worked on another, much less successful NBC Mystery Movie series, McCoy, reuniting him with star Tony Curtis, whom Quine had directed in So This Is Paris and Sex and the Single Girl (1964).
His final completed film as a director was the film The Prisoner of Zenda (1979) starring Peter Sellers. Quine was hired to direct another Sellers film, The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980). Before the script was even completed, Quine was fired owing to "creative differences" with Sellers.[32]
Personal life
Quine was married five times and had three children. His first marriage was in January 1942 to showgirl and model Susan Paley, several years his senior.[1]: 135 His second marriage was to actress Susan Peters. They were married on November 7, 1943, at the Westwood Community Church in Los Angeles.[10] On New Year's Day 1945, the couple were on a duck hunting trip when Peters dropped her rifle. The gun discharged, hitting Peters in the stomach. The bullet lodged in her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.[33] On April 17, 1946, the couple adopted a ten-day-old baby boy whom they named Timothy Richard Quine.[34] They separated on March 1, 1948, and were divorced later that year.[35] In October 1952, Peters died of a chronic kidney infection and bronchial pneumonia, both of which were hastened by dehydration and starvation because she had stopped eating and drinking in the last few weeks of her life.[36]
In September 1951, Quine married Barbara Bushman, the granddaughter of actor Francis X. Bushman. The couple had two children before separating in May 1958.[37] They were divorced in March 1960.[38]
While Quine was separated from his third wife, he began dating actress Kim Novak, whom he had previously directed in Pushover (1954) and Bell, Book and Candle (1958). In 1959 the two became engaged while working on their third film together, Strangers When We Meet (1960).[39] They planned to marry when shooting completed on Strangers but Novak ended the relationship shortly before the film was completed.[40] He later dated actresses Judy Holliday, whom he had directed in Full of Life and The Solid Gold Cadillac (both 1956) and Natalie Wood (whom he also directed in Sex and the Single Girl (1964).[40] While directing Sex and the Single Girl, Quine met and began dating one of the film's stars, Fran Jeffries.[41] On January 4, 1965, they married in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. The couple separated on June 10, 1968. In July 1969, Quine filed for divorce, citing "extreme cruelty."[42] Their divorce became final in December 1970.[43]
In 1977, Quine married Diana Balfour. They remained married until Quine's death in 1989.[44]
Death
After an extended period of depression and poor health, Quine shot himself in the head at his Los Angeles home on June 10, 1989. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center, where he died at the age of 68.[2][44] His remains are interred in the Room of Prayer columbarium at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
^HOWARD THOMPSON (June 11, 1960). "QUINE LISTS FILMS ON A BUSY AGENDA: Producer-Director, With 2 Finished, Readies 3 More, including 'Image Makers'". New York Times. p. 12.
^Scott, John L. (June 28, 1961). "Quine Aims 'Bolt' at Jack Lemmon: Comedy of Salesman Acquired; 'Light Brigade' to Be Remade". Los Angeles Times. p. C11.
^Thomas, Bob (September 25, 1966). "Richard Quine Turns Producer". The Day. New London, Connecticut. p. 10. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
^Gardella, Kay (June 3, 1966). "Different Look Goal of Jean Arthur Show". Los Angeles Times. p. d18.
^Thomas, Kevin (July 18, 1966). "Actor Takes Cue, Turns Director". Los Angeles Times. p. c24.
^Scheuer, Philip K. (September 29, 1964). "Quine, Seven Arts Lead New Signers: U.S. Bags British Director; Garfein Joining Wife Carroll". Los Angeles Times. p. C11.
^Baltake, Joe (1977). The Films of Jack Lemmon. Citadel Press. p. 101. ISBN0-806-50560-5.
^Fetrow, Alan G. (1999). Feature Films, 1950-1959: A United States Filmography. McFarland. p. 160. ISBN0-786-40427-2.
^Gary, Marmorstein (1997). Hollywood Rhapsody: Movie Music and Its Makers, 1900 to 1975 (2 ed.). Schirmer Books. p. 207. ISBN0-028-64595-2.
^Kilgallen, Dorothy (October 4, 1963). "Dorothy Kilgallen's Voice of Broadway". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 39. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
^MOVIE CALL SHEET: Alda Joins 'Moonshine' Cast
Los Angeles Times 21 July 1969: a5.
^Blimey! A bean pole branches out into luverly Twigs
Norma Lee Browning. Chicago Tribune 20 May 1973: e18.
.jpg)
