Born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England; educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. Veteran director who entered British films as a writer in 1930, then moved to Hollywood in 1939 on the strength of his success directing British films like KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1937). Stevenson was responsible for such accomplished, atmospheric delights as JANE EYRE (1944) and TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (1948) but, after directing a spate of unsuccessful films for Howard Hughes at RKO in the late 1940s and early 50s, he worked in TV from 1952 to 1956 ("Gunsmoke" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents"). Stevenson then joined Walt Disney, where he pioneered the studio's live-action attempts and became one of the most commercially successful directors of the 1950s and 60s, thanks to projects such as OLD YELLER (1957), THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR (1961), MARY POPPINS (1964), THE LOVE BUG (1968) and BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (1971). His last film was THE SHAGGY D.A. for Disney in 1976. Married (1934-44) to actress Anna Lee (née Joan Boniface Winnifrith), who appeared in a number of his films in both England and the US. Their daughter (b. 1938) is actress Venetia Stevenson.  Nominated for Directing 1964: MARY POPPINS 1 nomination