Road House

Background:

Rowdy Herrington is an American film director and screenwriter. Known for specializing in Hollywood action movies, the ex-broadcasting major from Penn State began his career at a local Pittsburgh television station in the early 1970s before working as a stage manager and gaffer (electrician on movie and television sets in charge of lighting). Eventually, Herrington made his feature debut as a director and writer with “Jack's Back” (1988), which starred James Spader. He went on to score a box office hit with the Patrick Swayze action vehicle “Road House” (1989). Despite the commercial victory of the film, it was met with negative reviews from critics and earned the director a Razzie nomination. After the boxing underground movie “Gladiator” (1992), Herrington hit the big budget action circuit as the director and co-writer of “Striking Distance” (1993), starring Bruce Willis. However, it flopped at the box office. He then directed and/or scripted such movies as “A Murder of Crows” (1998), “The Stickup” (2002), “I Witness” (2003) and “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius” (2004).

Herrington enjoys golf and riding horses. He is a professor at the celebrated USC Film School.

Pennsylvania

Childhood and Family:

Rowdy L. Herrington was born in 1951, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He majored in television production at Pennsylvania State University from 1969 to 1973.

Rowdy is married to Toni Semple. The couple currently lives in Malibu, California, with their dogs, cats and horses.

Striking Distance

Career:

After graduating college, Rowdy Herrington worked for two years at the local Pittsburgh public television station WQED-TV in various production capacities. He progressed to stage manager for a number of television series, including “Entertainment Tonight,” “Growing Pains” and “Alice.” He also spent 14 years working as a gaffer on TV and feature film projects before entering the cinematic industry as a director in late 1989. His film credits during this time includes the 1979 comedy “H.O.T.S.,” which starred several “Playboy Playmates” and Danny Bonaduce, “Humanoids from the Deep” (1980), a science fiction monster movie starring Doug McClure, Ann Turkel and Vic Morrow that was directed by Barbara Peeters, Alex Cox's “Repo Man” (1984), starring Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton, and the hit slasher movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984), which was directed and written by Wes Craven and starred Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund and John Saxon. He also worked on the Blake Lewis helmed “That's Life” (1986), starring Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews, the critically acclaimed “Shy People” (1987), starring Barbara Hershey, Jill Clayburgh and Martha Plimpton that was directed and co-written by Andrei Konchalovsky, and the horror film “Nightflyers” (1987), starring Catherine Mary Stewart, Michael Praed and John Standing.

A chance to become a filmmaker came after fellow technician and future partner Tim Moore brought Herrington's script for “Jack's Back” to Elliot Kastner's Cinema Group, which bought it and allowed Herrington to direct it. Released on May 6, 1988, by Paramount Pictures, the thriller, starring James Spader and Cynthia Gibb with Moore sharing the producing credit with Cassian Elwes, received negative reviews from critics but earned Spader a Saturn nomination for Best Actor.

The next year, Herrington resurfaced with the action movie “Road House,” which was produced by Joel Silver, co-written by David Lee Henry and Hilary Henkin and starred Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliott. Distributed by United Artists, the film was a commercial success in the domestic market although it was largely panned by critics. “Road House” was nominated for five Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay.

In 1992, Herrington helmed Cuba Gooding, Jr., James Marshall and Brian Dennehy in the film “Gladiator,” which was about two teenagers trapped in the world of underground boxing. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the movie grossed $9,223,441 in the U.S. He then directed and co-wrote (with Marty Kaplan) Columbia Picture's action thriller “Striking Distance” (1993), starring Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, Tom Sizemore, Robert Pastorelli, Timothy Busfield, Andre Braugher and John Mahoney. Shot in Pittsburgh, it made over $23 million in the U.S. market against a budget of $30 million.

After about a five year break, Herrington returned to filmmaking with “A Murder of Crows” (1998), a thriller that he wrote and directed that starred Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tom Berenger, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Mark Pellegrino and Eric Stoltz. He then wrote and directed “The Stickup” (2002), a movie starring James Spader, Leslie Stefanson and David Keith, and directed “I Witness” (2003), which starred Jeff Daniels, James Spader, Portia DeRossi and Clifton Collins Jr.

In 2004, Herrington co-wrote and directed the story of golf legend Bobby Jones, “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius,” starring James Caviezel. Produced with a budget of $17 million, the film was a box office disappointment. The cast included Claire Forlani, Jeremy Northam, Malcolm McDowell, Aidan Quinn and Devon Gearhart.

Awards:
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