Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director, Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Editing, and In the Heat of the Night (1967), which earned him an Oscar for the same category. Ashby received a third Oscar nomination, this time for Best Director, for Coming Home (1978). Other films directed by Ashby include The Landlord (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), Bound for Glory (1976) and Being There (1979). Born William Hal Ashby in Ogden, Utah, he grew up in a Mormon household. His tumultuous childhood as part of a dysfunctional family included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide, and dropping out of high school. Ashby was married and divorced by the time he was 19. As Ashby was entering adult life, he moved from Utah to California where he soon became an assistant film editor. After being nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing in 1967 for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, his big break occurred in 1968 when he won the award for In the Heat of the Night. At the urging of producer Norman Jewison, Ashby directed his first film The Landlord in 1970. While his birth date placed him squarely within the realm of the prewar generation, the filmmaker quickly embraced the hippie lifestyle, adopting vegetarianism and growing his hair long. In 1970 he married actress Joan Marshall. While they remained married until his death in 1988, the two had separated by the mid-seventies, with Marshall never forgiving Ashby, along with Warren Beatty and Robert Towne, for dramatizing certain unflattering elements of her life in Shampoo. Over the next 16 years, Ashby directed several acclaimed and popular films, many were about outsiders and adventurers traversing the pathways of life. Aside from Shampoo, Ashby's most commercially successful film was the Vietnam War drama Coming Home (1978). Starring Jane Fonda and Jon Voight, both in Academy Award-winning performances, it was for this film that Ashby earned his only Best Director nomination from the Academy for his work. After Being There (his last film to achieve widespread attention), Ashby became notoriously reclusive and eccentric, retreating to his home in Malibu Colony. Later it was learned that Ashby was using drugs, and he slowly became difficult and unemployable. Attempting to turn a corner in his declining career, Ashby stopped using drugs, trimmed his hair and beard, and began to frequently attend Hollywood parties wearing a navy blue blazer so as to suggest that he was once again employable. Despite these efforts, he could only find work as a television director. Ashby died on December 27, 1988 at his home in Malibu, California. The Last Detail, Bound for Glory, Coming Home, and Being There were all nominated for the Palme d'Or.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 2, 1929
- December 27, 1988 (aged 59)
- Ogden, Utah, USA
- Director, editor and producer, also writer
- 20 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
What are Hal Ashby's films like?
Across their 17 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 2 · Wry 0 · Earnest 14
Light 6 · Serious 7 · Dark 4
Grounded 13 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 3
Gentle 4 · Charged 9 · Intense 4
A split, not a type: Steady 11 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 8 · Funny 3
Slow burn 11 · Even-paced 6 · Relentless 0
Casual 8 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 1
A split, not a type: Easy watch 8 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 5
Resolved 13 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet9
- Ambiguous5
- Cyclical1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Hal Ashby's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 13 of their 20 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (8).
- In the Heat of the Night (1967) · producer, editor · free
- The Children's Hour (1961) · assistant editor · free
- The Big Country (1958) · assistant editor · free
- The Best Man (1964) · editorial consultant · free
- The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966) · editor · free
- The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) · producer, editor · free
- Shampoo (1975) · director · free
- 8 Million Ways to Die (1986) · director, writer · free
Subscription and free streaming for Hal Ashby's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
27 credits, 20 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Interviews (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
Jake's Journey (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
Beverly Hills Buntz (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
8 Million Ways to Die(1986)
Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films
The Slugger's Wife(1985)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
Neil Young: Solo Trans (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)
Midcredits score: 62nd percentile of all films
Lookin' to Get Out(1982)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
The Rolling Stones: Hampton Coliseum (Live 1981) (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
Second-Hand Hearts(1980)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Being There(1979)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Coming Home(1978)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films
Bound for Glory(1976)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
The Stronger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1976)
Shampoo(1975)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
The Last Detail(1973)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Harold and Maude(1971)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Landlord(1970)
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all films
Gaily, Gaily (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
The Thomas Crown Affair(1968)
Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films
In the Heat of the Night(1967)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
The Cincinnati Kid(1965)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films
The Loved One(1965)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
The Best Man(1964)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
The Children's Hour(1961)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
The Big Country(1958)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 27 titles from 1958 to 2007.
Biggest box office
Shampoo (1975)
Highest rated
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Most popular right now
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
Film career
- 1971Screen debut· Harold and Maude
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do Hal Ashby's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 83rd percentile, the median of all 20; across their 17 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 74th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up14
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 20 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved7
- Crowd Pleaser9
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 40/100 in their films, across 17 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Hal Ashby's work okay for kids?
Across up to 9 MovieCove titles with content scores, sex & nudity and profanity run heavier than most films and frightening / intense lighter.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Hal Ashby work with?
People who share at least 2 of Hal Ashby's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Haskell Wexler shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Norman JewisonShared titles: The Landlord (1970), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), The Cincinnati Kid (1965)See all 5 shared titles with Norman Jewison
Writers
- Robert TowneShared titles: 8 Million Ways to Die (1986), Shampoo (1975), The Last Detail (1973)See all 3 shared titles with Robert Towne
- Robert C. JonesShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Being There (1979), Coming Home (1978), Bound for Glory (1976), Shampoo (1975), The Last Detail (1973)See all 6 shared titles with Robert C. Jones
- Terry SouthernShared titles: The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Loved One (1965)See all 2 shared titles with Terry Southern
Actors
- Randy QuaidShared titles: The Slugger's Wife (1985), Bound for Glory (1976), The Last Detail (1973)See all 3 shared titles with Randy Quaid
- Lee GrantShared titles: Shampoo (1975), The Landlord (1970), In the Heat of the Night (1967)See all 3 shared titles with Lee Grant
- Ann-MargretShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), The Cincinnati Kid (1965)See all 2 shared titles with Ann-Margret
- Bert RemsenShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Second-Hand Hearts (1980)See all 2 shared titles with Bert Remsen
Composers, cinematographers and editors
- Haskell WexlerShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Second-Hand Hearts (1980), Coming Home (1978), Bound for Glory (1976), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Loved One (1965)See all 7 shared titles with Haskell Wexler
- Johnny MandelShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Being There (1979), The Last Detail (1973), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)See all 4 shared titles with Johnny Mandel
- Caleb DeschanelShared titles: The Slugger's Wife (1985), Let's Spend the Night Together (1982), Being There (1979)See all 3 shared titles with Caleb Deschanel
- Don ZimmermanShared titles: Being There (1979), Coming Home (1978)See all 2 shared titles with Don Zimmerman
Producers
- Charles MulvehillShared titles: 8 Million Ways to Die (1986), Second-Hand Hearts (1980), Being There (1979), Bound for Glory (1976), The Last Detail (1973), Harold and Maude (1971)See all 6 shared titles with Charles Mulvehill
- Walter MirischShared titles: The Landlord (1970), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), In the Heat of the Night (1967), The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)See all 4 shared titles with Walter Mirisch
- Andrew BraunsbergShared titles: Lookin' to Get Out (1982), Being There (1979)See all 2 shared titles with Andrew Braunsberg
- John CalleyShared titles: The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Loved One (1965)See all 2 shared titles with John Calley
