American film and television director
Father of Mary McLaglen and Josh McLaglen.
Son of actor Victor McLaglen.
Holds the distinction of directing the most episodes of "Gunsmoke" .
Holds the distinction of directing the most episodes of "Have Gun - Will Travel" .
One of the few directors to have directed both Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. Some of the others are Don Siegel and John Sturges.
In 1997 he retired to the San Juan Islands in Washington. He directed several plays for the San Juan Island Community Theater.
He was born in London but grew up around Hollywood, where his father often took him on movie sets. He learned the art of directing from greats like John Ford , who eventually gave him a job as assistant director on The Quiet Man (1952) .
Directed John Wayne in several films, including The Undefeated and Chisum .
In interviews with Christopher Frayling McLaglen rejected criticisms that he was no more than a journeyman director. He pointed out that he had kept the traditional Western alive, that he had revived the late careers of James Stewart and John Wayne and that he had reversed the previous stereotype of Native Americans. He liked Fraylings likening him to a figurative painter when everybody else had gone abstract.
