Robert Butler (director)
Robert Butler | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 16, 1927 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, television director |
Robert Butler (born November 16, 1927) is an American film director[1] and Emmy Award-winning television director. He is best known for his work in television, where he directed the pilots for a number of influential series including Star Trek and Hill Street Blues.[2]
Career
Butler graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he majored in English. He was first in an army band, before his career as a stage manager and an assistant before launching his directing career with an episode of Hennesey (starring Jackie Cooper and including a young Ron Howard)[2] and then went on to direct such shows as The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Batman, The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone.
Butler shot pilots for many TV series including the original Star Trek, Hogan's Heroes, Batman, The Blue Knight, Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele (a show which he also co-created), Moonlighting, Sisters, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Butler has also directed episodes for many other shows, including I Spy, Blue Light, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Outcasts, Mission: Impossible, Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo: Publish or Perish, Columbo: Double Shock, and Midnight Caller.
He directed actor Kurt Russell in four Walt Disney movies, including Guns in the Heather, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The Barefoot Executive and the 1997 film Turbulence.[3]
Butler has won two Emmy Awards for outstanding directing, the first in 1973 for the The Blue Knight pilot, and the second in 1981 for his Hill Street Blues premiere.
In 2014 Butler's work was the subject of a career retrospective at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.[2]
Butler was honored by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) with a Lifetime Achievement Award in February 2015.[4]
Selected filmography
- The Ultimate Thrill (1974)
- James Dean (1976)
- Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978)
- Night of the Juggler (1980)
- Underground Aces (1981)
- Up the Creek (1984)
- Turbulence (1997)
- Where Do the Balloons Go? (2009)
References
- ^ "Robert Butler". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c Susan King, "Director Robert Butler put stamp on 'Batman,' other landmark series", Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2014.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (January 10, 1997). "Oh! That Explains the Fear of Flying". The New York Times.
- ^ Variety, February 5, 2015
External links
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- 1927 births
- Living people
- American film directors
- American television directors
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Film directors from California
- Film directors from Los Angeles
- Directors Guild of America Award winners
- University of California, Los Angeles alumni
- American film director, 1920s birth stubs
- Television director stubs
- Star Trek stubs