Biography.guide
Home › People › Film director › Joseph A. McDonough
Portrait of Joseph A. McDonough

Joseph A. McDonough

1896 – 1944

American film director

Film director Assistant director
Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Joseph A. McDonough

Lived 1896 – 1944 (aged 47). Joseph A. McDonough was an American film director and assistant director.

Joseph A. McDonough (October 20, 1896 in Portland, Maine – May 11, 1944 in Hollywood, California) was an assistant director in Hollywood. He often worked with director James Whale at Universal Studios and MGM.

Among the films he worked on with Whale at Universal were Frankenstein (1931), The Old Dark House (1932), The Invisible Man (1933), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the 1936 version of Show Boat. At MGM, McDonough worked with Whale on the unsuccessful Port of Seven Seas (1938), an American adaptation of the French Marcel Pagnol "Marius Trilogy".

He also worked on the W. C. Fields-Mae West classic comedy My Little Chickadee in 1940, and on the supernatural anthology film Flesh and Fantasy, in 1943. In 1934, he was nominated for an Oscar, not for any one film, but for his body of work, in the category of Best Assistant Director, a category that would be discontinued after 1937.

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Birth century
Nationality
Also known as
Joe McDonough

People in Joseph A. McDonough's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Joseph A. McDonough's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Joseph A. McDonough?

American film director (1896–1944)

When was Joseph A. McDonough born?

Joseph A. McDonough was born on 20 October 1896 in Portland.

When did Joseph A. McDonough die?

Joseph A. McDonough died on 11 May 1944 in Hollywood.

What was Joseph A. McDonough's occupation?

Joseph A. McDonough was a film director and assistant director.

What nationality was Joseph A. McDonough?

Joseph A. McDonough was American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Joseph A. McDonough

· Wikidata: Q1438724

· DBpedia: Joseph A. McDonough

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Joseph A. McDonough. https://biography.guide/joseph-a-mcdonough/

MLA: "Joseph A. McDonough." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/joseph-a-mcdonough/.

Chicago: "Joseph A. McDonough." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/joseph-a-mcdonough/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-22 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:12 UTC