Extremely efficient and underrated director Lewis Teague was born on March 8th, 1938, in Brooklyn, NY. He apprenticed with director Sydney Pollack at Universal Television, and was a production manager on the landmark rock concert documentary Woodstock (1970).
Teague found gainful employment working for legendary producer Roger Corman throughout the 1970s: he handled second-unit director chores on La course à la mort de l'an 2000 (1975), Un cocktail explosif (1977) and Avalanche (1978) and served as an editor for Monte Hellman's outstanding Cockfighter (1974) and Jonathan Demme's delightful Crazy Mama (1975). Teague also tackled second-unit director responsibilities on Samuel Fuller's classic World War II epic Au-delà de la gloire (1980).
Teague made his feature debut as the co-director of the entertainingly trashy Dirty O'Neil (1974). He followed this with the lively Depression-era crime exploitation winner Du rouge pour un truand (1979), which he also edited. The witty horror-creature feature L'incroyable alligator (1980) and the gritty urban vigilante opus Fighting Back: The Story of Rocky Bleier (1980) were likewise solid and satisfying movies. Teague directed two superior Stephen King adaptations in the 1980s, the terrifying Cujo (1983) and the immensely enjoyable anthology outing Cat's Eye (1985). His other films include the fun À la poursuite du diamant vert (1984) sequel Le diamant du Nil (1985), the exciting action romp Navy Seals - les meilleurs (1990), the cool futuristic sci-fi offering Wedlock - Les prisonniers du futur (1991) and the nifty made-for-TV supernatural shocker Triangle maudit (2001). In addition to his film work, Teague has directed episodes of such TV shows as Suspicion (1962), Barnaby Jones (1973), Shannon's Deal (1990), Profiler (1996) and Nash Bridges (1996). After a regrettable five-year absence from directing, Lewis Teague made a welcome comeback with the dramatic short Cante Jondo (2007).
