Arthur Lubin (July 25, 1898 – May 12, 1995) was an American film director and producer who directed several Abbott & Costello films and created the TV series Mister Ed. A prominent director for Universal Pictures in the 1950s, he is perhaps best known today as the man who gave Clint Eastwood his first contract in film.
Arthur Lubin was born Arthur William Lubovsky in Los Angeles in 1898. He grew up in Jerome, Arizona, and attended Page Military Academy and Carnegie Tech. As a child he had worked as a water boy for touring theatre companies and volunteered for circuses; on graduation from college in 1922 he decided to become an actor. Lubin began acting in stage plays (mostly in "Little Theatre") and movies, also directing shows for the Hollywood Writers Club. As an actor he specialized in heavy melodrama, in sharp contrast with his later work as a film director. In 1925 he and some friends were charged with obscenity by the Los Angeles police for putting on a production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms. He later worked on Broadway.