John Sturges was the original director for Wild Is the Wind (1957), but on March 15, 1957, only a week before the shooting was scheduled to begin, he withdrew from the film due to illness, according to contemporary news items. George Cukor took over direction and stated years later in a interview that Sturges left the project to replace Fred Zinnemannon The Old Man and the Sea (1958), but a Cukor biography states that Sturges left the project when it became apparent that the film would be more of a love story than an action picture.
The Magnificent Seven (1960) was a major inspiration for Stephen King when writing his fifth Dark Tower novel, Wolves of the Calla. In reference to the film's director, King named the beleaguered farming village Calla Bryn Sturgis.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945." Pages 1079-1085. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
Directed 2 actors to Oscar nominations: Louis Calhern (Best Actor, The Magnificent Yankee (1950) and Spencer Tracy (Best Actor, Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); The Old Man and the Sea (1958)).
When he met with Akira Kurosawa, Kurosawa told Sturges that he loved The Magnificent Seven. Sturges always maintained that this was the single proudest moment of his life.