---
name: "John Whitesell"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-whitesell"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "2 December 1953"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T23:37:46.034887+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John Whitesell

Director. Born 2 December 1953 in Iowa Falls, Iowa, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 2 December 1953, Iowa Falls, Iowa, USA
- **Active:** 1988–1990
- **Also known as:** John P. Whitesell, John P. Whitesell II, John Patrick Whitesell Jr., John Patrick Whitesell

## Biography

John Whitesell is an American television and film director. Born in Iowa Falls, Iowa, he attended Simpson College and studied acting and directing at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City. He began his career in daytime television, directing and producing on series including Another World and Guiding Light, for which he shared a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding direction.

Whitesell directed episodes of primetime series including Roseanne (from 1990), Law & Order (from 1990), Coach and The John Larroquette Show. He moved into feature films with Calendar Girl (1993), followed by See Spot Run (2001), Malibu's Most Wanted (2003), Big Momma's House 2 (2006), Deck the Halls (2006) and Holidate (2020). He has also directed episodes of Chicago P.D. and Girl Meets World.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Roseanne* (1988), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/roseanne.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *Law & Order* (1990), Director

## Also known for

- *Chicago P.D.* (2014), Director
- *Holidate* (2020), Director
- *Big Momma's House 2* (2006), Director
- *Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son* (2011), Director
- *Deck the Halls* (2006), Director
- *Girl Meets World* (2014), Director
- *Malibu's Most Wanted* (2003), Director
- *Thunderstruck* (2012), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-whitesell