Biography
John Badham is a British-born American film and television director. Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, he was raised in Alabama after his family moved to the United States and became a naturalised citizen. He studied at Yale University, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
Badham began his career in television, directing episodes of series including Night Gallery, The Streets of San Francisco and Police Story. His feature breakthrough came with Saturday Night Fever (1977). He is also known for directing WarGames (1983), Short Circuit (1986) and Stakeout (1987), as well as later television episodes of Heroes (2006), Criminal Minds (2005) and The Shield (2002).
He has directed numerous television movies and series episodes, and has taught directing at Chapman University.
