Background
Sargent was born as Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Italians Maria (née Noviello) and Domenico Sorgente.
motion picture and television director
Sargent was born as Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Italians Maria (née Noviello) and Domenico Sorgente.
Student in Theatre Arts, New School for Social Research, 1946—1949.
Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the theatrical releases: Burt Reynolds action movie White Lightning, Gregory Peck biopic MacArthur, and horror anthology Nightmares. His most popular feature film was subway thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He is the father of anime dubbing voice actress Lia Sargent.
Sargent began his career as an actor, appearing in numerous films and television programs.
In the mid 1950s Sargent switched to directing. Over the next 15 years his directing credits would include episodes of television series Lassie, The Invaders, The Manitoba from United Network Command for Law and Enforcement" and Star Trek.
In 1969, he directed his first feature, science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, and in 1972 The Manitoba, starring James Earl Jones, which was begun as a television movie. He alternated between television movies and feature films during the 1970s.
Sargent"s directorial work from this period includes.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, the television movies Hustling with Lee Remick and Jill Clayburgh and Tribes with January-Michael Vincent and Darren McGavin, as well as international award-winning American Broadcasting Company film The Night That Panicked America. In the 1980s, Sargent directed mini-series Manions of America, which featured Pierce Brosnan, and Space. In 1987 he directed Jaws: The Revenge, the third sequel to Steven Spielberg"s 1975 classic.
The film received mostly negative reviews.
Roger Ebert called his directing of the climactic sequence "incompetent," and he was nominated for Worst Director in the 1987 Golden Raspberry He concentrated on television movies after Jaws: The Revenge, including The Karen Carpenter Story, The Long Island Incident, Dostoevsky"s Crime and Punishment and the 2007 remake of Sally Field docudrama Sybil. Sargent spent time as the Senior Filmmaker-in-Residence for the Directing program at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Los Angeles
Sargent died of complications from heart disease at his home in Malibu, California, on December 22, 2014. He was 89.
Served with United States Army, 1943-1946. Member Dirs Guild American, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association.
Married Carolyn Nelson, November 22, 1970;children by previous marriage— Athena, Lia. Children by previous marriage: Athena, Lia.