Donald Joseph Scardino (born February 17, 1949) is an American

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

and producer and a former

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Career

Acting

Scardino was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to jazz musician parents, Dorothy Denny Scardino and Charles Scardino. His first

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

credit was as an

understudy In theater, an understudy, referred to in opera as cover or covering, is a performer who learns the lines and blocking or choreography of a regular actor, actress, or other performer in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to ap ...

in ''The Playroom'' in 1965. Additional Broadway acting credits include ''

Johnny No-Trump ''Johnny No-Trump'' is a play written by Mary Mercier which ran for one performance on Broadway. Productions ''Johnny No-Trump'' opened at the Cort Theatre on October 8, 1967 and ran for 5 previews and one regular performance. Directed by Joseph ...

'', ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

'', and ''

King of Hearts The king of hearts is a playing card in the standard 52-card deck. King of Hearts may also refer to: Games * The King of Hearts Has Five Sons, card game that may have been a precursor to Cluedo Books * King of Hearts (''Alice's Adventures ...

''.

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

he appeared in ''

The Rimers of Eldritch ''The Rimers of Eldritch'' is a play by Lanford Wilson. The play is set in the mid-20th century in Eldritch, Missouri, a decaying Bible Belt town that once was a prosperous coal mining community. The plot focuses on the murder of the aging local ...

'', ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. It ...

'', ''

Moonchildren ''Moonchildren'' (originally titled ''Cancer'') is a play by Brooklyn-based playwright Michael Weller. The play chronicles a year in the life of the "moonchildren" referred to in the title: eight college students living communally together in an ...

'', and '' I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road'', he was also the lead in a B horror movie titled ''

Squirm ''Squirm'' is a 1976 American natural horror film written and directed by Jeff Lieberman, starring Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R. A. Dow, Jean Sullivan, Peter MacLean, Fran Higgins and William Newman. The film takes place in the fictiona ...

'' in 1976. He additionally starred in several episodes of the ''

CBS Radio Mystery Theater ''CBS Radio Mystery Theater'' (a.k.a. ''Radio Mystery Theater'' and ''Mystery Theater'', sometimes abbreviated as ''CBSRMT'') is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, an ...

'', which ran from 1974 to 1982. In addition, he served as artistic director at

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. Under the ...

from 1991 to 1996. On

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

he appeared on the daytime

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s ''

The Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the third longest-running drama in television in American history. ''Guiding Light'' a ...

'', ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'', '' Love Is a Many Splendored Thing'', and '' Another World'' and the

primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

series ''The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (TV series), The Ghost & Mrs. Muir'' and ''The Name of the Game (TV series), The Name of the Game''. Feature film credits include ''The People Next Door (1970 film), The People Next Door'' (1970), ''Homer (film), Homer'' (1970), ''Rip-Off (film), Rip-Off'' (1971), ''

'' (1976), ''Cruising (film), Cruising'' (1980) and ''He Knows You're Alone'' (1980). In 2020, Scardino appeared as a guest on ''The Big Alakens'' Big Lake (TV series), Big Lake marathon fundraiser episode of ''The George Lucas Talk Show.''

Directing

Following his acting on the network soap operas, Scardino began to direct them. He directed episodes of '' Another World'', ''One Life to Live'', and ''

''. He went on to direct plays on and off-Broadway, including the world premiere of Aaron Sorkin's ''A Few Good Men''. He has directed extensively in television, most notably ''Tracey Takes On...'' and ''30 Rock''. Feature film directing work includes ''Me and Veronica'' (Venice Film Festival), and ''Advice from a Caterpillar'', winner, best comedy, at Aspen Comedy Festival. He directed the 2013 film ''The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'', starring Jim Carrey and Steve Carell.

Awards and nominations

*1986 Outstanding Younger Actor in a Daytime Drama Series, Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Man in a Drama Series- '' Another World'', Nominated *1994 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Music Program- ''Tracey Takes on New York'', Nominated *1998 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Music Program- ''Tracey Takes On...'' , Nominated *1998 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical/Variety- ''Tracey Takes On...'' , Nominated *2008 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series- ''30 Rock'', Won *2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series- ''30 Rock'', Won *2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series- ''30 Rock'', Nominated

Selected directing credits

* ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' (1988–1991) * ''A Few Good Men (play), A Few Good Men'' (1989 Broadway play) * ''Law & Order'' (1991–2006) * ''Tracey Takes On...'' (1997–1998) * ''Cosby (TV series), Cosby'' (1998–2000) * ''The West Wing (TV series), The West Wing'' (2000) * ''Ed (TV series), Ed'' (2002–2003) * ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2002–2003) * ''Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All'' (2003 Broadway play) * ''George Lopez (TV series), George Lopez'' (2004) * ''Hope & Faith'' (2004–2006) * ''Lennon (musical), Lennon'' (2005 Broadway musical) * ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013) *''Rescue Me (U.S. TV series), Rescue Me'' (2007) *''The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'' (2013) *''2 Broke Girls'' (2013–2017) *''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' (2015) *''Young Sheldon'' (2017) *''LA to Vegas'' (2018) *''Instinct (U.S. TV series), Instinct'' (2018) *''All About the Washingtons'' (2018) *''The Cool Kids (TV series), The Cool Kids'' (2018) *''New Amsterdam (2018 TV series), New Amsterdam'' (2019) *''The Conners'' (2020) *''Our Almost Completely True Story'' (2021) *''Only Murders in the Building'' (2021)

Selected producing credits

* ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'' (1988–1991) * ''Deadline (2000 TV series), Deadline'' (2000–2001) * ''30 Rock'' (2006–2010)

Selected acting credits

*''The People Next Door (1970 film), The People Next Door'' (1970) as Sandy Hoffman *''Homer (film), Homer'' (1970) as Homer Edwards *''Rip-Off (film), Rip-Off'' (1971) as Michael *''

'' (1976) as Mick *''Cruising (film), Cruising'' (1980) as Ted Bailey *''He Knows You're Alone'' (1980) as Marvin Travis

References

External links

* * *
Don Scardino at Godspell.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scardino, Don 1949 births Living people American male film actors American male radio actors American male soap opera actors American male stage actors American male television actors American theatre directors American television directors Male actors from New York City