John Badham

John Badham
Badham in 2025
Born	(1939-08-25) August 25, 1939 Luton, Bedfordshire, England
Citizenship	United States (from 1950)
Alma mater	Yale University
Occupations	Director producer screenwriter
Years active	1971–present
Relatives	Mary Badham (sister)
Website	johnbadham.com

John Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films Saturday Night Fever (1977), Dracula (1979), Blue Thunder (1983), WarGames (1983), Short Circuit (1986), Stakeout (1987), Bird on a Wire (1990), The Hard Way (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Drop Zone (1994), and Nick of Time (1995). He is a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, a two-time Hugo Award nominee, and a Saturn Award winner. He is also a Professor at Chapman University.¹

Badham was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, the son of actress Mary Hewitt. When he was five, Badham moved with his mother and stepfather—a U.S. Army brigadier general—to his stepfather's hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1950. He attended Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy and then Master of Fine Arts in 1966.² From 1964 to 1970, Badham served as a medic in the United States Air Force and the California National Guard.³

Badham worked in television for years, on Universal Television series like Cannon and The Bold Ones. He then directed several acclaimed TV movies, including Isn't It Shocking? (1973) and The Law (1974). His first feature film was The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings in 1976.

His breakthrough came in 1977 when he replaced John G. Avildsen as the director of Saturday Night Fever, a massive worldwide hit starring John Travolta.⁴ His choices after that film were wildly eclectic, ranging from the action thriller Blue Thunder (1983) to the comedy-drama Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981) to the comedy thriller Stakeout (1987) and its sequel Another Stakeout (1993). WarGames (1983), starring Matthew Broderick, is his other signature film, renowned for its take on popular Cold War fears of nuclear terror as well as being one of the first films to deal with the subculture of amateur hacking.⁵ Another sizable hit was Short Circuit (1986), a comedy about a robot who comes to life.⁶

In addition to his numerous film credits, Badham has also continued to direct and produce for TV, including credits for Rod Serling's Night Gallery, the A&E television series The Beast, TV movies like HBO's The Jack Bull (1999), and episodes of series including Crossing Jordan and Criminal Minds. He has also contributed commentary to the web series Trailers from Hell.⁷

In 1986, he signed a two-year development deal with production company Universal Pictures, in order to develop various film projects. Badham is a Professor at Chapman University.⁸

Badham has been considered to direct films that ended up being directed by others, such as The Wiz (1978),⁹ Brubaker (1980),¹⁰ First Blood (1982),¹¹ Staying Alive (1983),¹² The Dead Zone (1983),¹³ Starman (1984),¹⁴ Project X (1987),¹⁵ Short Circuit 2 (1988),¹⁶ Ghost Dad (1990),¹⁷¹⁸ Patriot Games (1992),¹⁹ The Firm (1993)²⁰ and Dragonheart (1996).²¹

Badham's sister, Mary Badham, is an actress who was nominated for an Oscar for her role as "Scout" Finch in the film To Kill a Mockingbird.²²

• The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
• Saturday Night Fever (1977)
• Dracula (1979)
• Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981)
• Blue Thunder (1983)
• WarGames (1983)
• American Flyers (1985)
• Short Circuit (1986)
• Stakeout (1987)
• Bird on a Wire (1990)
• The Hard Way (1991)
• Point of No Return (1993)
• Another Stakeout (1993)
• Drop Zone (1994)
• Nick of Time (1995) - director and producer
• Incognito (1997)

• The Impatient Heart, NBC (1971)
• No Place to Run, ABC (1972) (uncredited)
• Isn't It Shocking?, ABC (1973)
• The Law, NBC (1974)
• The Gun, ABC (1974)
• Reflections of Murder, ABC (1974)
• The Godchild, ABC (1974)
• The Keegans, CBS (1976)
• Floating Away, Showtime (1998)
• The Jack Bull, HBO (1999)
• The Last Debate, Showtime (2000)
• Brother's Keeper, USA (2002)
• Obsessed, Lifetime (2002)
• Footsteps, CBS (2003)
• Evel Knievel, TNT (2004)

• The Bold Ones: The Senator, NBC (1971)
• Sarge, NBC (1971)
• Night Gallery, NBC (1971)
• Nichols, NBC (1972)
• The Sixth Sense, ABC (1972)
• The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, NBC (1972)
• Cool Million, NBC (1972)
• Kung Fu, ABC (1972)
• Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law, ABC (1973)
• The Streets of San Francisco, ABC (1973)
• Cannon, CBS (1973)
• Police Story, NBC (1973)
• Rex Harrison Presents Stories of Love, NBC (1974)
• The Shield, FX (2003)
• Blind Justice, ABC (2005)
• Just Legal, The WB (2005)
• Heroes, NBC (2006)
• Crossing Jordan, NBC (2007)
• Standoff, FOX (2007)
• Las Vegas, NBC (2007)
• Psych, USA (2007)
• Men in Trees, ABC (2008)
• In Plain Sight, USA (2008)
• The Beast, A&E (2009)
• Criminal Minds, CBS (2009)
• Trauma, NBC (2010)
• The Event, NBC (2010)
• Nikita, The CW (2012)
• Constantine, NBC (2014)
• Supernatural, The CW (2014)
• 12 Monkeys, SYFY (2015)
• Stitchers, FREE (2015)
• Arrow, The CW (2015)
• Rush Hour, CBS (2016)
• Siren, Freeform (2018)