Jesse Hibbs

Jesse John Hibbs (January 11, 1906 - February 4, 1985) was an American film and television director and assistant director. He was previously an All-American offensive tackle for the University of Southern California football team in 1927 and 1928.

Football career
Born in Normal, Illinois, Hibbs was the captain of USC's first national championship team in 1928. Among his 1926 teammates was Marion Morrison, later known as John Wayne.

Hibbs played with the NFL's Chicago Bears in 1931.

Hollywood
Like several other USC players of the 1920s and 1930s, including Wayne, Ward Bond, Cotton Warburton and Aaron Rosenberg, Hibbs entered the film industry and became an assistant director. He got his first opportunity to direct in 1953, on the Tony Curtis football drama The All American. He went on to work primarily in westerns; seven of his eleven features were within the genre, along with much of his television work. He also worked regularly with Audie Murphy – on the westerns Ride Clear of Diablo, Walk the Proud Land, and Ride a Crooked Trail, as well as the film version of Murphy's life story To Hell and Back, the boxing film World in My Corner, Shining Victory, and Joe Butterfly. In later years Hibbs switched worked mainly in television, directing episodes of Perry Mason, Ironside, and The F.B.I., as well as various western series.

Hibbs died at age 79 in Ojai, California. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.