Daniel Haller was born in Glendale, California, and received his art training at the renowned Chouinard Institute. By chance, he happened to meet New World Pictures head Roger Corman in the mid-1950s when Corman was still an unknown, independent producer-director-jack-of-all-trades. Corman persuaded Haller to become an art director, a relationship that continued through some 30 Corman films. He later became a director, under Corman's banner, turning out such films as Paddy (1970) and Devil's Angels (1967), with John Cassavetes. In 1971, he moved over to television, directing episodes of Kojak (1973), Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971) and The Blue Knight (1975), as well as such made-for-TV films as Black Beauty (1978) and Little Mo (1978). Haller lives in the western San Fernando Valley on a ranch with his family, where they raise horses.