John Newland (November 23, 1917 â January 10, 2000) was an American film director, actor, television producer, and screenwriter.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Newland was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Newland, a couple who managed small hotels in the Greater Cincinnati area. He was educated at Mt. Auburn Elementary School and Walnut Hills High School.
Newland began his career while still in his teens as an apprentice with the Stuart Walker Stock Company. He also performed in vaudeville with the Vikings song-and-dance act.
He moved to New York City to study acting, and there he performed in theaters with Milton Berle. He went on to tour in vaudeville houses around the United States.
Newland served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he signed with Warner Bros. but was limited to playing bit parts. His film debut came in Adventures of Dusty Bates (1946). By the early 1950s, Newland began to focus solely on television roles, appearing in several episodes of Studio One, The Philco Television Playhouse, Tales of Tomorrow, Kraft Television Theatre, Robert Montgomery Presents and Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.
After directing episodes of Letter to Loretta in 1953, Newland went on to direct two episodes of Bachelor Father, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Thriller (US TV series).
His feature film directorial debut That Night! (1957) was nominated for two British Academy Film Awards.
In 1959, Newland became the host and director of the paranormal television series '. The series ended its run in 1961 and Newland later hosted its short-lived counterpart The Next Step Beyond in 1978.
Following the demise of his One Step Beyond, Newland directed one of the early 1964 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. episodes called "The Double Affair." His episode was given additional footage and released to cinemas as a motion picture titled The Spy with My Face. In 1966 he produced and directed all episodes but one of the serious spy series The Man Who Never Was for which he also served as a writer. Some episodes were strung together and released outside the United States as a film called Danger Has Two Faces. He later directed episodes of The Sixth Sense and Police Woman. In addition to acting, directing, and screenwriting, he produced several television movies and directed the 1967 ' episode "Errand of Mercy."
On January 10, 2000, Newland died of a stroke in Los Angeles, age 82.