Brutally stabbed to death by a prowler while protecting his wife at his Montecito, California home on January 3, 1970. The prowler turned out to be a University of California--Santa Barbara (UCSB) graduate student. His wife, actress Heather Angel who witnessed the homicide, was unhurt.
Directed the original Broadway productions of "The Philadelphia Story," "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Dodsworth," "Babes in Arms" and "Pride and Prejudice" before coming out to California from New York City in 1938 to direct films. He later turned to TV.
Graduated from the Whorton School of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania in 1926.