Oscar-Winning Director Delbert Mann Dies at 87

The Kansas-born Mann, who attended Vanderbilt University and the Yale School of Drama, directed two Broadway plays: the short-lived 1956 play Speaking of Murder and the even shorter-lived 1967 comedy Zelda.

With his mentor, producer Fred Coe, he was one of the instrumental forces behind TV’s Philco-Goodyear Playhouse, which first presented Paddy Chadeyfsky’s Marty, starring Rod Steiger and Nancy Marchand in 1953. The film version starred Ernest Borgnine (who won the Oscar as Best Actor) and Betsy Blair.

Among his many achievements, Mann also directed the film versions of such popular plays as Desire Under the Elms, Separate Tables, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, as well as a 1982 television version of The Member of the Wedding.

Mann is survived by his sons, Fred, David, and Steven. His wife Ann and daughter Susan predeceased him.