Daniel Mann, 79; Directed Many Top Hollywood Actors

Film director Daniel Mann, who guided Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Booth and Anna Magnani to Oscar-winning performances, died Thursday of heart failure at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, officials said. He was 79.

Mann, who made his directing debut in 1952, directed some of Hollywood’s most enduring stars--Taylor, Marlon Brando, Jimmy Stewart, Sophia Loren and Geraldine Page.

Born in New York, Mann helped Booth win an Oscar in his first film directing effort in “Come Back Little Sheba,” which he had brought to Broadway in 1950. Booth also starred in the Broadway production.

He went on to direct “The Rose Tattoo” in 1955, which earned an Oscar for Magnani, and “Butterfield 8” in 1960, in which Taylor won an Oscar for her portrayal of a Manhattan society call girl.

Mann also delighted in taking on different types of films that challenged his creative talents.

He directed “Our Man Flint,” a 1966 satirical takeoff of the wildly successful James Bond movies, and “Willard,” a 1971 horror film about an army of rats trained to kill the enemies of its owner.

“Every time I direct a play or a film, I’m instructing,” he said in a 1966 interview. “You make an inquiry--how to arrive at spontaneity and approach true emotion and how to create inspiration. And most important of all, how to direct a play and not direct acting techniques.”

His other screen credits include “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” in 1955, “Teahouse of the August Moon” in 1956, “Hot Spell” in 1958, “The Last Angry Man” in 1959, “Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed?” in 1963, “Judith” in 1965 and “For Love of Ivy” in 1968.

He also directed two television mini-series, “How the West Was Won” in 1974 and “Playing For Time” in 1980, the latter earning him five Emmy Awards.

Mann is survived by his three children, Michael Mann, Erica Mann Ramis and Alex Mann. Services were pending.