Delbert Mann

Birth Name: Delbert Martin Mann, Jr.

Date of Birth: January 30, 1920

Place of Birth: Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.

Date of Death: November 11, 2007

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, German, Swiss-German, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Delbert Mann was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Marty (1955); his first film. He also directed the films The Bachelor Party (1957), Desire Under the Elms, Separate Tables, Middle of the Night (1959), The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Lover Come Back, The Outsider (1961), That Touch of Mink, A Gathering of Eagles, Quick, Before It Melts; Dear Heart, Mister Buddwing, Fitzwilly, The Pink Jungle, David Copperfield (1969), Kidnapped (1971), Birch Interval, and Night Crossing (1982); and the made-for-tv movies Heidi (1968), Jane Eyre (1970), No Place to Run, The Man Without a Country (1973), Breaking Up (1978), All Quiet on the Western Front (1979), The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story, Love Leads The Way, The Last Days of Patton, Against Her Will: An Incident in Baltimore, and Incident in a Small Town.

Delbert was the son of Ora, a schoolteacher, and Delbert Mann, who taught sociology at the University of Kansas and the Scarritt College for Christian Workers. He was partly raised in Pennsylvania, Chicago, Illinois; and Nashville, Tennessee. Delbert served in WWII, as a B-24 bomber pilot in the Army Air Corps; and an intelligence officer with the 8th Air Force, stationed in England. He was married to Ann Gillespie, until her death. The couple had four children.

Delbert’s paternal grandfather was Levi Martin Mann (the son of Levi Mann and Catherine Ritter). Delbert’s grandfather Levi was born in Indiana. Delbert’s great-grandfather Levi was born in Ohio, the son of James A. Mann and Sarah Magness. Catherine was born in Indiana, the daughter of Jacob Ritter and Sarah Witter.

Delbert’s paternal grandmother was Millicent Irene Lyon (the daughter of Melvin Joshua Lyon and Nancy Jane Case). Millicent was born in Michigan. Melvin was born in Michigan, the son of Joshua Brown Lyon and Elizabeth/Betsey Wilcox, whose father was from Surrey, England. Nancy was born in New York, the daughter of William Henry Case and Sibbyl Hullet Howe.

Delbert’s maternal grandfather was James Finley Patton (the son of Francis Alexander Patton and Amanda Ann Taylor). James was born in Tennessee. Francis was the son of James McConnell Patton and Mary P. Janes. Amanda was the daughter of Hughes Owen Taylor and Elizabeth Cannon Kennon.

Delbert’s maternal grandmother was Sarah Caroline Ferguson (the daughter of John C. Ferguson and Elizabeth Catherine Cunningham). Sarah was born in Tennessee. John was the son of Robert Ferguson and Ruth Eddington. Elizabeth was the daughter of Robert Cunningham and Rutha Bailey.

Sources: Genealogy of Delbert Mann – https://www.geni.com

Delbert Mann on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Birth record of Delbert’s father – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Delbert’s mother – https://familysearch.org