Hal Ashby was born the fourth and youngest child in a Mormon household, in Ogden, Utah, to Eileen Ireta (Hetzler) and James Thomas Ashby, on September 2, 1929. His father was a dairy farmer. After a rough childhood that included the divorce of his parents, his father's suicide, his dropping out of high school, getting married and divorced all before he was 19, he decided to leave Utah for California. A Californian employment office found him a printing press job at Universal Studios.
| Movie | Lookin' to Get Out | 1982 |
| Movie | Being There | 1979 |
| Movie | Coming Home | 1978 |
| Movie | Bound for Glory | 1976 |
| Movie | Shampoo | 1975 |
| Movie | The Last Detail | 1973 |
| Movie | Harold and Maude | 1971 |
| Movie | The Landlord | 1970 |
| Movie | The Slugger's Wife | 1985 |
| Movie | Jake's Journey | 1988 |
| Movie | Second-Hand Hearts | 1980 |
| Movie | Neil Young: Solo Trans | 1984 |
| Movie | In the Heat of the Night | 1967 |