Iowa filmmaker, evangelist dies at 86
He was not on the list.
Russell S. Doughten Jr. saw the movie theater the way some evangelical Christians see rivers, lakes and streams — as a place for spiritual rebirth and rededication to the Christian faith.
The Iowa native rose to international fame for a series of four films that showed life on Earth after the rapture, or end of times, and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
He died Monday at his Carlisle, Iowa, home. The cause of death was a longtime renal ailment, his family said. He was 86.
"His whole purpose in life was to win people to Christ," said Gertrude Doughten, his wife of 63 years. "He believed the best way to do that was through his films."
His most famous Christian film, A Thief in the Night, has been seen by more than 300 million people worldwide, and viewings led more than 1 million to deepen their Christian faith, according to figures from his production company.
Doughten reached a secular audience, too. He was associate producer and assistant director of The Blob, a 1958 monster movie about an amorphous alien mass that threatens to devour an entire town. The movie is considered a cult classic and was the first starring role for actor Steve McQueen, a major star of the 1960s and 1970s.
Doughten also produced the 1967 crime noir thriller The Hostage, starring John Carradine, father of Kung-Fu star David Carradine, in his final role.
And he made Fever Heat, a story about the thrills of stock car racing, filmed in Stuart, Iowa. The movie proved to be the final film for Nick Adams, best known for playing Johnny Yuma from TV's The Rebel from 1959 to 1961. Adams died of a drug overdose shortly before the movie's release.
Doughten was a key figure in making Iowa a destination for filmmaking, said Wendol Jarvis, former director of the Iowa Film Office.
"A lot of people learned their trade from Russ Doughten," Jarvis said. "He was a man who believed in his message and loved his trade. He was very generous to the people he worked with, and he was never one to boast about anything he did."
A Thief in the Night, filmed in Des Moines and released in 1972, was the first film in Doughten's Christian tetralogy. The story follows the life of a young woman left behind on Earth after the rapture, when true believers ascend to heaven and others are left to fight in the war between Christ and the Antichrist, evangelical Christians believe. The young woman in the film grapples with a crumbling society and the rise of the Antichrist.
Doughten appeared in A Thief in the Night and its three sequels as a pastor with weak faith who doesn't ascend to heaven. The long, wiry beard he wore in the film was his trademark throughout much of his career.
The passion evoked by his film was illustrated by a comment left on his online obituary through Peterson Funeral Home in Carlisle.
"I was saved through the viewing of A Thief in the Night,' wrote Lisa Rosales of Des Moines. "Although I never met your loved one, I will after I pass from this life and into life eternal and (I will) thank him for his service to the Lord."
Doughten also founded Mustard Seed International, a nonprofit whose mission was to translate Christian films for use by missionaries around the world.
Doughten was born en route to the Iowa Falls hospital on Feb. 16, 1927, to his Woolstock parents. He graduated from Chester High School and studied drama at Drake University in Des Moines, where he met his future wife, Gertrude Sprague, then a pre-med student.
Doughten told his wife he fully became a Christian in 1951, about a year after they married. The couple moved to Chester Springs, Pa.
Doughten first worked in Christian films for Good News Productions, which produced children's television and other religious programs. After a stint in California, he came to Iowa in 1964 to form his own film production company.
Gertrude Doughten would become a psychiatrist and eventually worked at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines until her retirement last year.
"We each gave the other the opportunity to pursue our dreams," Gertrude Doughten said.
Doughten and his wife had four sons, one of whom, Mark, died in infancy. Twins Paul Doughten and Joel Doughten each became medical doctors, and the youngest, Tim Doughten, followed his father into the film business.
Director
The Healing (1983)
The Healing
5.2
Video
Director
1983
Face in the Mirror (1982)
Face in the Mirror
5.1
Director
1982
Brother Enemy (1981)
Brother Enemy
6.8
Director
1981
Whitcomb's War (1980)
Whitcomb's War
5.6
Director
1980
Nite Song (1978)
Nite Song
7.2
Director
1978
Ride the Wind (1977)
Ride the Wind
7.4
Director
1977
Sammy (1977)
Sammy
7.6
Director
1977
Happiness Is... (1975)
Happiness Is...
5.6
Director
1975
Fever Heat (1968)
Fever Heat
6.1
Director (as Russell S. Doughton)
1968
John Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton, Ron Hagerthy, Don Kelly,
Jennifer Lea, and Danny Martins in The Hostage (1967)
The Hostage
5.3
Director
1967
Penny and Brad
Teenage Diary
4.6
Short
Director (as Russ Doughten)
1960
The Blob (1958)
The Blob
6.3
Director (uncredited)
1958
Writer
The Shepherd (1984)
The Shepherd
4.9
original story
1984
The Prodigal Planet (1983)
The Prodigal Planet
4.4
screenplay
story
1983
Home Safe (1981)
Home Safe
4.8
Writer
1981
Image of the Beast (1981)
Image of the Beast
4.5
story and screenplay
1981
Whitcomb's War (1980)
Whitcomb's War
5.6
story
1980
Heaven's Heroes (1980)
Heaven's Heroes
6.2
screenplay
1980
The Paradise Trail (1979)
The Paradise Trail
6.1
screenplay
1979
A Distant Thunder (1978)
A Distant Thunder
5.1
story and screenplay
1978
All the King's Horses (1977)
All the King's Horses
4.5
Writer
1977
A Stranger in My Forest (1976)
A Stranger in My Forest
5.4
screenplay
1976
Survival (1975)
Survival
5.3
original story
screenplay
1975
Happiness Is... (1975)
Happiness Is...
5.6
idea
screenplay
1975
Blood on the Mountain (1974)
Blood on the Mountain
6.5
story and screenplay
1974
A Thief in the Night (1972)
A Thief in the Night
4.6
story
1972
Penny and Brad
Teenage Diary
4.6
Short
Writer (as Russ Doughten)
1960
Actor
The Prodigal Planet (1983)
The Prodigal Planet
4.4
Reverend Matthew Turner
1983
Image of the Beast (1981)
Image of the Beast
4.5
Reverend Matthew Turner (as Russell Doughten)
1981
Whitcomb's War (1980)
Whitcomb's War
5.6
1980
A Distant Thunder (1978)
A Distant Thunder
5.1
Reverend Matthew Turner (as Russ Doughten Jr.)
1978
A Thief in the Night (1972)
A Thief in the Night
4.6
Reverend Matthew Turner
1972
Producer
The Shepherd (1984)
The Shepherd
4.9
executive producer
1984
The Prodigal Planet (1983)
The Prodigal Planet
4.4
executive producer
1983
The Healing (1983)
The Healing
5.2
Video
producer
1983
Face in the Mirror (1982)
Face in the Mirror
5.1
producer
1982
Brother Enemy (1981)
Brother Enemy
6.8
producer
1981
Image of the Beast (1981)
Image of the Beast
4.5
executive producer
1981
Whitcomb's War (1980)
Whitcomb's War
5.6
producer
1980
Heaven's Heroes (1980)
Heaven's Heroes
6.2
executive producer
1980
The Paradise Trail (1979)
The Paradise Trail
6.1
executive producer
1979
Nite Song (1978)
Nite Song
7.2
producer
1978
A Distant Thunder (1978)
A Distant Thunder
5.1
executive producer
1978
Ride the Wind (1977)
Ride the Wind
7.4
producer
1977
All the King's Horses (1977)
All the King's Horses
4.5
producer
1977
Sammy (1977)
Sammy
7.6
producer
1977
A Stranger in My Forest (1976)
A Stranger in My Forest
5.4
executive producer
1976
Survival (1975)
Survival
5.3
executive producer
1975
Happiness Is... (1975)
Happiness Is...
5.6
producer
1975
Blood on the Mountain (1974)
Blood on the Mountain
6.5
executive producer
1974
A Thief in the Night (1972)
A Thief in the Night
4.6
executive producer
1972
Fever Heat (1968)
Fever Heat
6.1
producer
1968
John Carradine, Harry Dean Stanton, Ron Hagerthy, Don Kelly,
Jennifer Lea, and Danny Martins in The Hostage (1967)
The Hostage
5.3
producer
1967
The Blob (1958)
The Blob
6.3
associate producer (as Russell Doughten)
1958
Script and Continuity Department
Life Flight: The Movie (1987)
Life Flight: The Movie
6.4
script consultant
1987
Self
Soul Winners
Self
2011
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