Biography
Joseph Mansfield Santley (born Joseph Ishmael Mansfield, January 10, 1890 – August 8, 1971) was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer involved in musical theatre, films, and television. He took the stage name of his stepfather, actor Eugene Santley.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Joseph and his older brother Fred began performing in live theatre as children, appearing in summer stock and touring with their parents. At seventeen, in 1906, Joseph co-wrote and starred in the Broadway play Billy the Kid. The following year, he made his film debut in a silent Western short, Pony Express, directed by Sidney Olcott for the Kalem Company.
Santley directed his first film in 1928, a short talkie for Paramount Pictures featuring singer Ruth Etting. In 1929, he directed three more short musical films for Paramount, including one with Etting, another with Rudy Vallee, and High Hat starring Broadway singer Alice Boulden. He also directed A Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic, a musical film featuring Eddie Cantor and Eddie Elkins' orchestra. That same year, Santley co-directed The Cocoanuts, the first Marx Brothers feature film, alongside Robert Florey. This musical comedy, based on George S. Kaufman’s play with music by Irving Berlin, was promoted as "Paramount's All Talking-Singing Musical Comedy Hit." Among his other notable works are Harmony Lane (1935), a biographical musical about composer Stephen Foster, and Melody Ranch (1940), starring "singing cowboy" Gene Autry. Melody Ranch has been recognized as "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and preserved in the National Film Registry.
During World War II, Santley contributed to the war effort, directing the 1942 film Remember Pearl Harbor. After making his last feature film in 1950, he returned at age 65 to produce the television comedy The Mickey Rooney Show (1954–55). In 1956, he assembled two segments of Jazz Ball, a TV musical revue showcasing performances by jazz legends from the 1930s through the 1950s.
Joseph Santley passed away in 1971 in Los Angeles.
