The Only Woman to Direct an Episode of the Twilight Zone Was Also the Only Actor to Do So
Ida Lupino appeared in front of the camera in Season 1 and behind it in Season 5.
Dozens of directors and hundreds of stars stepped into The Twilight Zone (airing regularly on SYFY) throughout the acclaimed sci-fi anthology series' five-season run. However, among those countless people who braved the fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man, only one person both acted in an episode and directed an episode. And, on top of that, she was the only woman to ever direct an episode of the series
Ida Lupino was an important female filmmaker during the 1950s — an era that wasn't especially welcoming to having women behind the camera. She holds two unique Twilight Zone distinctions, having starred in the Season 1 episode "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" and directed the Season 5 episode "The Masks."
Ida Lupino: The only woman to direct a Twilight Zone episode
Lupino was born February 4, 1918, in London. The child of stage actress Connie O’Shea and music hall comedian Stanley Lupino, she started performing at an early age with the encouragement of her family. However, Lupino did not especially like acting, and instead preferred writing.
Nevertheless, she was quite successful on the screen, starring in 59 movies including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, They Drive By Night, and High Sierra. She started off playing “bad girls” in English films, and upon coming to Hollywood she worked prolifically, though she joked that she was “the poor man’s Bette Davis.” Occasionally, she butted heads with studio bosses.
When she rejected an offer to star opposite Ronald Reagan in a 1942 film called Kings Row, Warner Bros. suspended her. It was during this time off that she really began to explore the other side of moviemaking. “It’s so much more fun,” she once said. “Creating it yourself, not just parading in front of a camera.”
Working with an independent production company, Lupino directed eight movies from 1949 to 1966, several of which were about taboo topics like an unwed pregnancy or rape. She was the first woman to direct a film noir in 1953’s The Hitch-Hiker (no relation to the Twilight Zone episode). She was a prolific director of television as well.
On Rod Serling's iconic series, Lupino showcased both of her talents. In "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine," the fourth episode of the series which first aired on October 23, 1959, she played an aging film star who wishes to lose herself in the projected memories of her heyday — and this being The Twilight Zone, that might just happen literally. She directed "The Masks," the 26th episode of Season 5 which first aired on March 20, 1964. That episode followed a dying patriarch who invites his horrible family to stay with him on Mardi Gras, promising them their inheritance on the condition that they wear masks that reflect their true selves.
Lupino continued acting well into the 1970s, right up until her death on August 3, 1995, from a stroke while undergoing treatment for colon cancer. She was 77.
The next time you find yourself watching "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine" or "The Masks" (perhaps as part of SYFY's regular Twilight Zone airings), take note of the woman who is a singular part of Twilight Zone history — and Hollywood history.
The Twilight Zone airs regularly on SYFY. Check out the Schedule for more details.
