A former radio writer, casting director and film editor, Jerry Hopper switched to film directing in 1952. Hopper was long associated with Paramount, where he megged such programmers as The Atomic City (1952) and Pony Express (1953). He also directed many TV episodes (he was especially busy on Gunsmoke), but surprisingly was never engaged to direct a made-for-TV feature film. Jerry Hopper's last theatrical feature was the internationally financed western Madron (1970).