DGA President Michael Apted made the following statement on the passing of Past President Delbert Mann:
“Del once said, ‘I am a lucky man. I have been able to spend my life doing what I love to do the most.’ Well, we were the lucky ones. Lucky to have him as president at a crucial time in the battle for directors creative rights; lucky to have him serve the Guild for almost 50 years, and most of all, lucky to have been part of the audience for his great creative contributions in film and television, including award-winning favorites like Marty, Heidi, and All Quiet on the Western Front. He will be deeply missed.”
Born in Lawrence, Kansas, on January 30, 1920, Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. After he graduated from Vanderbilt University, he was assigned to the Eighth Air Corps during WWII and flew 35 combat missions as a B-24 pilot. Following the war, he earned his M.F.A. from Yale Drama School and began working as director at Columbia, South Carolina’s Town Theatre. In 1949, he began directing live dramatic programs for Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Playhouse 90, Omnibus, Producers Showcase, Ford Star Jubilee and DuPont Show of the Month.
Mann became a member of the Guild in 1954, was elected to the National Board in 1958, and elected DGA President in 1967 where he served for two terms. He served as Vice President from 1958-1966 and from 1973-1977. He remained active in Guild and industry leadership, serving as Chairman of the Directors Guild Foundation from 1979-1983 and from 2001-2004, continuing to serve as a trustee of the Directors Guild Foundation and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation up until his death.
Mann received both an Academy Award and the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film in 1955 for Marty; he received six additional Directors Guild Award nominations over the years including: The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, 1960; Heidi, 1968; David Copperfield, 1970; Jane Eyre, 1971; All Quiet on the Western Front, 1979; The Member of the Wedding, 1982.
The hallmarks of Mann’s directing style and philosophy have always been a keen interest in portraying everyday lives and relationships, along with fundamental human concerns like loneliness, loyalty, love, acceptance, and redemption. With a naturalistic approach to directing honed by his theater training, Mann was been praised as a gifted craftsman for his ability to elicit sensitive and penetrating performances from his actors and his close attention to narrative balance and harmony.
