- Has directed 8 actors to Oscar nominations: Rupert Crosse, Sissy Spacek, Bette Midler, Frederic Forrest, Marsha Mason, Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda, & Katharine Hepburn. Fonda (Henry) and Hepburn won for their performances in On Golden Pond (1981).
- Studied at Julliard School of Music and played New York nightclubs as a jazz pianist.
- He was thirty-eight years old when he directed his first feature film.
- Director of the Actor's Studio West.
- Producer Michael Douglas considered him as director of Starman (1984) but the job went to John Carpenter.
- Has directed one Emmy Award-winning performance: Michael Moriarty in James Dean (2001).
- Son of actress Evelyn Rydell.
- Father of actor Christopher Rydell.
- Father of actress Amy Rydell.
- Father of Alexander, 24, aspiring filmmaker.
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