Delbert Mann, the Oscar-winning film and TV director, died yesterday in Los Angeles at age 87. Mann, who moved to Nashville with his family at age 11, got involved with theater while attending Vanderbilt as a political-science student in the late 1930s. During that time, he met director Fred Coe at the Nashville Community Playhouse, now the Belcourt Theatre, and with his mentor Coe he went on to become one of the first TV directors to make the successful leap to film. His versatile five-decade career included comedy (the Rock Hudson-Doris Day farce Lover Come Back), mystery (the James Garner thriller Mister Buddwing), and the socially conscious dramas that made his name on TV.
In Mann's honor, here's the pivotal scene from his signature film: his 1955 movie version of Paddy Chayefsky's Marty, which took the Best Picture Academy Award and netted Mann Best Director.
