Joseph Anthony made his Broadway debut in 1937, and in the years following he was the partner of dancer Agnes de Mille, was employed as a set designer on films and dabbled as a film actor. His main interest, however, was the stage, and he became one of Broadway's most accomplished directors. In addition to occasionally acting on stage and in TV, he directed a handful of films, with varying success, and tried his hand at directing for television, becoming the house director on the series "Brenner" (1964).