Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller
Born	Enid, Oklahoma
Occupation	Director, screenwriter, producer

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has also worked as a sound editor and film editor. Miller was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing drama.

In 1984, she won the DGA Award, two Emmy Awards, the Peabody Award and the Christopher Award for her afterschool special, The Woman Who Willed a Miracle. This true-life drama is about Leslie Lemke, the blind and mentally retarded boy with cerebral palsy who became world-famous as a savant pianist.

Career

A native of Enid, Oklahoma, Miller began writing and directing short films as a teenager. After graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1971 she attended graduate school at Northwestern University, majoring in film. In 1972, she went to Hollywood and worked as a script supervisor and film editor before becoming a professional director, producer and screenwriter in 1976. She has written and directed several short films, but the majority of her work has been in television, where she has had a long and prolific career directing television movies and series. She is known for her ability to elicit strong performances from actors. Sharon Gless, Cloris Leachman and Peggy McCay all won Emmy Awards under her direction and James Stacy received an Emmy nomination.

In 1988, Miller was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award and an Emmy Award for directing two different episodes of the series, Cagney & Lacey.

Selected filmography

Film
Year	Film	Notes
1971	Felice	Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
1976	Deportee	Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
1978	House of the Dead	Director
1981	Cradle Song	Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Television
Year	Title	Notes
1976-78	The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams	Director, multiple episodes
1980	In Search of. . .	Producer, Director, Writer, Editor
1983	The Woman Who Willed a Miracle	Producer, Director, ABC Afterschool Special
1984	Maximum Security	Director, Editor, multiple episodes
1984	The Paper Chase	Director
1984–1988	Cagney & Lacey	Director, multiple episodes
1986	Pleasures	Director, TV movie
1986–1987	L.A. Law	Director, multiple episodes
1987	Pigeon Feathers	Director, PBS American Playhouse Drama
1988	Little Girl Lost	Director, TV movie
1989	China Beach	Director
1990	The Outsiders	Director, the pilot
1990–1992	The Trials of Rosie O'Neill	Director, multiple episodes
1991	Father Dowling Mysteries	Director
1993	Sisters	Director
1992–1993	Homefront	Director, multiple episodes
1993	Second Chances	Director, the pilot
1994	Hotel Malibu	Director, the pilot
1995	Christy	Director
1996	The Client	Director
1996	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Director
1997	Fame L.A.	Director, multiple episodes
1998	Any Day Now	Director
1999	Hyperion Bay	Director, multiple episodes
2001–2002	That's Life	Director, multiple episodes
2002	The District	Director

Awards

Year	Award	Result	Category	Series
1983	Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence	Won	Television Special	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983	Peabody Award		Television Special	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983	Daytime Emmy Award		Outstanding Individual Direction in Children's Programming	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
			Outstanding Children's Entertainment Special	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983	New York International Film and TV Festival		Gold Medal	This Is the Life (Episode "Bon Voyage and Shalom")
1984	Directors Guild of America Award		Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Shows - Daytime	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1984	Christopher Award		Television Special	ABC Afterschool Special "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1984	New York International Film and TV Festival		Gold Medal	This Is the Life (Episode "Reprise for the Lord")
1985	New York International Film and TV Festival		Gold Medal	This Is the Life (Episode "The Face of Gabriel Ortiz")
1986	Los Angeles Project With Industry Award		Outstanding Contribution to Awareness of Disabled Issues	Cagney & Lacey (Episode "The Gimp")
1987	Viewers for Quality Television Award		Best Director in a Quality Drama Series	Cagney & Lacey (Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 2)
1987	State of California Media Access Award			Cagney & Lacey (Episodes "Turn, Turn, Turn", parts 1 & 2)
1987	Scott Newman Drug Prevention Awareness Award			Cagney & Lacey (Episodes "Turn, Turn, Turn", parts 1 & 2)
1988	Los Angeles Women in Film Festival Award		Lillian Gish Award for Excellence in Episodic Directing	Cagney & Lacey (Episode "Don't I Know You?")
1988	Humanitas Prize Certificate		For Humanizing Achievement in Television	Cagney & Lacey (Episode "Don't I Know You?")
1988	Humanitas Prize Certificate		For Humanizing Achievement in Television	Cagney & Lacey (Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 2)

References

• Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
• "CAGNEY & LACEY. . .and Me" by Barney Rosenzweig, iUniverse, Inc. 2007
• Sixth Annual International Edition of Film Directors: a Complete Guide (USA), 1988, pg. 10-13, by: Michael Singer

External links

• Sharron Miller at the Internet Movie Database