Archie Mayo

Director Born Jan. 29, 1891 in New York, NY

Archie Mayo directed some Hollywood heavyweights in his lengthy career, including Humphrey Bogart in his first leading role in 1936's "The Black Legion" and the Marx Brothers in the 1946 "A Night in Casablanca."

In 1940, Mayo sued his studio, Samuel Goldwyn, Inc., for allegedly threatening to send him to work in then-embattled England if he did not agree to extend his contract. Under the settlement agreement, Mayo agreed to direct a sixth film for the studio, and the studio agreed not to exercise the clause in the contract that would have allowed it to ship the director across the Atlantic.

— Abby Sewell for the Los Angeles Times June 21, 2010