Sam Newfield, born Samuel Neufeld (December 6, 1899 – November 10, 1964), also known as Sherman Scott or Peter Stewart, was an American director, one of the most prolific in American film history—he is credited with directing over 250 feature films in a career which began during the silent era and ended in 1958. In addition to his staggering feature output, he also directed one- and two-reel comedy shorts, training films, industrial films, TV episodes and pretty much anything anyone would pay him for. Because of this massive output—he would sometimes direct more than 20 films in a single year—he has been called the most prolific director of the sound era. Many of Newfield's films were made for PRC Pictures. It was a film production company headed by his brother Sigmund Neufeld. The films PRC produced were low-budget productions, the majority being westerns, with occasional horror films or crime drama.

Family and education

Newfield completed one year of high school, according to the 1940 US census. His brother Morris Neufeld was a stage actor, according to the 1930 US census.

Pseudonyms

Sam Newfield was credited as Sherman Scott and Peter Stewart on a number of films he made for the PRC. He used these names in order to hide the fact that one person was responsible for so many of PRC's films.

Partial filmography

Partial filmography is listed below for the different names he used.

As Sam Newfield

As Sherman Scott

As Peter Stewart

Film statistics

Between 1923 and 1930 Newfield directed over 50 comedies. Feature films statistics per year, starting with 1933, are summarised in the following table.