David Butler (December 17, 1894 – June 14, 1979) was an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and television director.

Biography

Butler was born in San Francisco. His mother was an actress and his father was a theater stage manager. His first acting roles were playing extras in stage plays. He later appeared in two D.W. Griffith films, The Girl Who Stayed Home and The Greatest Thing in Life. He also appeared in the 1927 Academy-award winning film 7th Heaven.

The same year, Butler made his directorial debut with High School Hero, a comedy for Fox. During Butler's nine-year tenure at Fox, he directed over thirty films, including four Shirley Temple vehicles. Butler's last film for Fox, Kentucky, won Walter Brennan an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Butler worked with Bing Crosby in Road to Morocco and If I Had My Way. He directed many films starring Doris Day, among them It's a Great Feeling, Tea For Two, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Lullaby of Broadway, April in Paris, and Calamity Jane.

During the late '50s and 1960s, Butler directed primarily television episodes, mainly for Leave It To Beaver and Wagon Train.

Selected filmography

• The Greatest Thing in Life (1918)
• The Unpainted Woman (1919)
• Better Times (1919)
• Nugget Nell (1919)
• The Petal on the Current (1919)
• The Other Half (1919)
• Bonnie Bonnie Lassie (1919)
• The Sky Pilot (1921)
• The Wise Kid (1922)
• The Village Blacksmith (1922)
• Conquering the Woman (1922)
• Hoodman Blind (1923)
• Mary of the Movies (1923) – cameo
• The Blue Eagle (1926)
• Meet the Prince (1926)
• Sunny Side Up (1929)
• Chasing Through Europe (1929)
• High Society Blues (1930)
• Just Imagine (1930)
• Delicious (1931)
• Business and Pleasure (1932)
• My Weakness (1933)
• Bottoms Up (1934)
• Bright Eyes (1934)
• The Little Colonel (1935)
• The Littlest Rebel (1935)
• Captain January (1936)
• Dimples (1936)
• Pigskin Parade (1936)
• Kentucky (1938)
• That's Right You're Wrong (1939)
• You'll Find Out (1940)
• Road to Morocco (1942)
• Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944)
• The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
• San Antonio (1945)
• The Time, the Place and the Girl (1946)
• It's a Great Feeling (1949)
• The Story of Seabiscuit (1949)
• Tea for Two (1950)
• Where's Charley? (1952)
• April in Paris (1952)
• By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)
• Calamity Jane (1953)
• King Richard and the Crusaders (1954)
• The Command (1954)
• Jump into Hell (1955)
• The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
• C'mon, Let's Live a Little (1967)