John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films Saturday Night Fever (1977), Dracula (1979), Blue Thunder (1983), WarGames (1983), Short Circuit (1986), Stakeout (1987), Bird on a Wire (1990), The Hard Way (1991) and Point of No Return (1993).
After retirement from the U.S. Air Force as a brigadier general, Henry became a businessman and helped develop the Ensley and Bessemer regions near Birmingham.
[3] After World War II, Badham's family settled in Mountain Brook, an affluent suburb of Birmingham.
[5] His choices after that film were wildly eclectic, ranging from the action thriller Blue Thunder (1983) to the comedy-drama Whose Life Is It Anyway?
[7] In addition to his numerous film credits, Badham has also continued to direct and produce for TV, including credits for Rod Serling's Night Gallery, the A&E television series The Beast, TV movies like HBO's The Jack Bull (1999), and episodes of series including Crossing Jordan and Criminal Minds.
[9] Badham has been considered to direct films that ended up being directed by others, such as The Wiz (1978), [10] Brubaker (1980), [11]First Blood (1982),[12] Staying Alive (1983),[13]The Dead Zone (1983),[14]Starman (1984),[15] Project X (1987),[16]Short Circuit 2 (1988),[17]Ghost Dad (1990),[18][19]Patriot Games (1992),[20]The Firm (1993)[21] and Dragonheart (1996).