Norman Z. McLeod

American film director (1898–1964)

Born

20 September 1895, Grayling

Died

27 January 1964

Citizenship

United States

Occupation

film director, screenwriter, director, producer

Films here

2

Norman Zenos McLeod (September 20, 1898 – January 27, 1964) was an American film director.

McLeod's most acclaimed work was made in collaboration with major comic performers of the 1930s, and included such films as the first original Marx Brothers comedies Monkey Business (1931) and Horse Feathers (1932), the most acclaimed W.C. Fields film It's a Gift (1934), the Danny Kaye vehicle The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), and The Paleface starring Bob Hope (1948). He also directed the first two installments of the Topper franchise.

His last directed film was Alias Jesse James (1959). In his later years, McLeod was recruited by writer Rod Serling to direct silent film comedy legend Buster Keaton in the 1961 Richard Matheson-penned "Once Upon a Time" episode of Serling's classic CBS television series The Twilight Zone.

Filmography (martial arts films)

Frequent collaborators

• Lionel Stander

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q1971705 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.