Norman Z. McLeod

Norman Zenos McLeod (September 20, 1898 – January 27, 1964) was an American film director. McLeod's most acclaimed work was made in collaboration with major comic performers of the 1930s, and included such films as the first original Marx Brothers comedies Monkey Business (1931) and Horse Feathers (1932), the most acclaimed W.C. Fields film It's a Gift (1934), the Danny Kaye vehicle The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), and The Paleface starring Bob Hope (1948). He also directed the first two installments of the Topper franchise. Other significant films McLeod made include Taking a Chance (1928), Alice in Wonderland (1933), Pennies from Heaven (1936), There Goes My Heart (1938), Merrily We Live (1938), Little Men (1940), Panama Hattie (1942), Jackass Mail (1942), and his last, Alias Jesse James (1959). In his later years, McLeod was recruited by writer Rod Serling to direct silent film comedy legend Buster Keaton in the 1961 Richard Matheson-penned "Once Upon a Time" episode of Serling's classic CBS television series The Twilight Zone.