John MacDonald Badham is an English-born American director of film and television, best known for the films Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, Blue Thunder, WarGames, Short Circuit, and Stakeout.
Early life
John Badham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom, the son of U.S. Army General Henry Lee Badham, Jr., and English-born actress Mary Iola Badham. Henry, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, moved his family back to the U.S. when John was two years old. John's parents and paternal grandparents are buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham. Henry was an aviator in both World Wars, and was posthumously inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 2007. After retirement from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general, Henry became a businessman and helped develop the Ensley and Bessemer regions near Birmingham, Alabama. This same line of business had brought his own father, John's grandfather, into association with Walker Percy, grandfather of writer Walker Percy. After World War II, Badham's family settled in Mountain Brook, an affluent suburb of Birmingham. He attended Indian Springs School, at that time a brand-new, liberal boy's school located a short distance south of Birmingham in Shelby County near the rural post office of Helena. He later went to college at Yale University.
Career
Badham worked in television for years, before his breakthrough in 1977 with Saturday Night Fever, a massive worldwide hit starring John Travolta. WarGames, starring Matthew Broderick, is his other signature film, renowned for its take on popular Cold War fears of nuclear terror as well as being one of the first films to deal with the subculture of amateur hacking. In addition to his numerous film credits, Badham has also directed and produced for TV, including credits for Rod Serling's Night Gallery, and the A&E television seriesThe Beast. He has also contributed commentary to the web series Trailers from Hell.
Unrealized projects
Badham has been considered to direct films that ended up being helmed by other directors, such as The Wiz, The Dead Zone and Ghost Dad.
Family
Badham's sister, Mary Badham, was nominated for an Oscar for her role as "Scout" Finch in the film To Kill a Mockingbird. They worked together on one project, William Castle'sLet's Kill Uncle, released in 1966; Badham was Castle's casting director, and Mary played one of the leads. Badham's former wife is veteran model Jan Speck of The New Treasure Hunt fame. She had assorted cameo roles in many of his projects, starting in the 1980s.
