Clark Credle was living out the legacy of his great grandfather William Beaudine as an assistant director when he suffered a debilitating stroke on his 40th birthday in 2017. His life would never be the same.
“Every time I see Clark, I remind him what a miracle he is,” longtime friend Marc Adelman tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Most people would not have survived what he’s gone through, let alone be able to thrive and contribute and be a present father and husband.”
“He is a living, breathing miracle,” echoes assistant director Sunday Stevens. Credle’s documentary The First Family of Film shares his own personal story as well as that of his extraordinary heritage.
William Beaudine was one of the most prolific directors in early Hollywood cinema. Active from 1909 to 1967, when he retired at 75, reportedly the oldest active director in Hollywood at the time, Beaudine had directed around 350 known films and hundreds of television episodes. He was an assistant to director D.W. Griffith on The Birth of A Nation before accruing credits for himself on projects like Sparrows, Billy the Kid Versus Dracula and 79 directorial credits from the television series Lassie.
William Beaudine on the set of Lassie.
‘The First Family of Film’ Documentary 2025 ©
His son, William (Bill) Beaudine, Jr. was an assistant director and production manager known for several Lassie shows. For the Beaudines, Hollywood was their family business, and each generation tried to keep the tradition alive.
Enter the Credle family.
Gary Credle, who was then working as an assistant director, had been introduced to the film business by the elder William Beaudine and then continued working with Beaudine Jr. before marrying his only daughter, Kathy Beaudine. Gary Credle was a production manager-line producer throughout the ’70s before spending the next 30 years of his career at Warner Bros. Kathy and he had three sons: Matt, Beau and Clark Credle.
While his brothers were enamored by the world of camera operating, Clark Credle followed in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, becoming an assistant director. At the height of his career, Clark Credle was working on the sets of films like Argo, American Sniper, Star Trek Into Darkness, the Pirates of Caribbean movies and the TV series Shameless, among others. The day before his life-altering incident, Clark Credle was telling his wife, Katie, that he was finally where he wanted to be with work. After that night, he’d be forever changed.
“It’s kind of hard to go from being comfortable to not even being responsible for your own behavior,” Clark Credle tells THR. After the stroke, he couldn’t speak for a year and was in a wheelchair. Not only was he forced to stop doing what he loved, but the experience also led to him being somewhat isolated from his family, including his three young daughters.
Having spent decades in the industry and commanding a four-generations family name, Clark Credle’s film community has come together to support his journey of recovery.
“No traumatic brain injury can stop Clark from being the man he is, namely a husband and father and a natural born storyteller,” Colin Farrell, who met the assistant director while working on Saving Mr. Banks and is featured in the documentary alongside Jerry O’Connell, says. “He’s still chasing his dreams, daily, his spirit undiminished.”
Colin Farrell with the Credle family.
Katie Credle
“Clark is one of the great ADs of our industry,” adds Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins. “With his current documentary, I’ve personally watched him transform into a director and visionary who has not let his struggles hold him back.”
Clark Credle has made astonishing steps in his speech and mobility and boasts complete cognitive strength despite his traumatic brain injury.
Besides the more obvious struggles that having a stroke poses, Clark and Katie Credle share some of the unacknowledged battles. “It’s scary for some people because what happened to Clark could be a nightmare, something that they don’t ever want to have happen to them. So that’s intimidating for people,” Katie Credle says. “To be spoken down to sucks,” Clark Credle adds.
Since the stroke, the family moved to Colorado for the best medical support, putting another kind of distance between Clark Credle and the silver screen. Now, eager to get back into the work he loves and provide for his family, Clark Credle is making a love letter to his family that he’s incredibly proud of.
“It’s a labor of love,” Clark Credle says of his documentary.
When asked if Hollywood is still a family to him, Clark Credle’s answer is immediate: “Always.”
Clark Credle is planning his last trip to L.A. to finish up The First Family of Film and plans on offering the finished product to documentary buyers at HBO, Showtime, Amazon and Netflix.
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