Richard Compton

Writer/director/producer 'Richard Compton' (qv) was born on March 2, 1938, in Philadelphia, PA. He began his career in the early 1960s making government propaganda movies for the United States Information Agency. His debut feature "The French Way", was never released in America. Compton followed this film with the nifty biker flick _Angels Die Hard (1970)_ (qv), which was the first movie to be released by 'Roger Corman' (qv)'s New World Pictures. Compton then did the excellent and unjustly overlooked psycho Vietnam veterans exploitation winner _Welcome Home Soldier Boys (1971)_ (qv). He scored his biggest hit with the outstanding cult classic _Macon County Line (1974)_ (qv); the unexpected enormous box-office success of this movie begot a handful of similar Southern-fried "don't go down to Dixie" drive-in pictures, which include _Jackson County Jail (1976)_ (qv), _A Small Town in Texas (1976)_ (qv), and _Nightmare in Badham County (1976)_ (qv). Both the tepid semi-sequel _Return to Macon County (1975)_ (qv) starring then-unknowns 'Nick Nolte' (qv) and 'Don Johnson' (qv) and the strictly so-so post-nuke sci-fi survivalist opus _Ravagers (1979)_ (qv) were regrettably mediocre, although _Assault in Paradise (1977)_ (qv) was a solid and gripping thriller. In the early 1980s Compton began directing more and more for television; he's done several made-for-TV pictures and numerous episodes of such TV shows as _Peacemakers (2003)_ (qv), _JAG (1995)_ (qv), _The Lone Gunmen (2001)_ (qv), _Charmed (1998)_ (qv), _Sliders (1995)_ (qv), _Profiler (1996)_ (qv), _Babylon 5 (1993)_ (qv), _L.A. Law (1986)_ (qv), _The Commish (1991)_ (qv), _Home Improvement (1991)_ (qv), _Baywatch (1989)_ (qv), _Miami Vice (1984)_ (qv), _Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)_ (qv), _The Equalizer (1985)_ (qv), _Hill Street Blues (1981)_ (qv), _Hotel (1983)_ (qv) and _T.J. Hooker (1982)_ (qv).Compton also did some acting in the 1960s and '70s; his acting credits include guest spots on two episodes of the original _Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)_ (qv) TV show and the enjoyably trashy _The Sadistic Hypnotist (1969)_ (qv). He was married to actress 'Veronica Cartwright' (qv). He died at age 69 on August 11, 2007.::woodyanders