William Francis Claxton (October 22, 1914 – February 11, 1996) was an American film and television producer, editor and director.

He also directed and produced episodes of Bonanza,[1] the NBC-TV series Little House on the Prairie, and also directed episodes of the NBC-TV series Father Murphy, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone, Fame, and The High Chaparral.

During World War II, Claxton served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a captain.

Claxton worked under Frank Capra as a film editor on the Why We Fight series.

He spent much of the 1950s with 20th Century Fox's Regal Pictures subsidiary, turning out medium-budget films which included the films God Is My Partner (1956) and Desire in the Dust (1960); occasionally, as in the cast of Rockabilly Baby (1957), he produced as well as directed.