Gordon Douglas

I refer to your obituary on Oct. 2, for film director Gordon Douglas. I cannot imagine how your research department could have overlooked the great body of work that Douglas had achieved in his lifetime. From the classic science fiction “Them,” and five Frank Sinatra pictures including, “Young at Heart,” “Robin and the Seven Hoods,” “The Detective,” “Tony Rome,” and “Lady in Cement.” Alan Ladd in “The Big Land,” “The Iron Mistress,” Gregory Peck in “Only the Valiant,” Liberace in “Sincerely Yours,” Elvis Presley in “Follow That Dream,” Bob Hope in “Call Me Bwana,” Angela Lansbury in “Harlow,” Bing Crosby in “Stagecoach,” Sidney Portier in “Call Me Mr. Tibbs,” and Jerry Lewis in “Way Way Out,” and the list goes on and on.

As a very young man Douglas had been signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers but he preferred the theater to baseball. Though divorced many years we had remained good friends. Incidentally the children mentioned in your obit are mine; Douglas never remarried.

ELAINE DOUGLAS

Santa Monica