Jerry Foley 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. He directed the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' from 1995 until the end of the show's run. Foley was the executive producer and director of the

Live on Letterman ''Live on Letterman'' was an online concert series webcast by CBS and Vevo. The concerts were filmed live in the Ed Sullivan Theater, the home of '' Late Show with David Letterman'', and streamed on the CBS website. Despite the title, these conce ...

concert series before it ended in 2015. He was named Supervising Producer in May 2003.Gay, Verne. "Go Relax, Dave, Jerry Foley's Back", '' Newsday'', New York. pg. A12. 2 May 2003. Foley has 9 DGA Award nominations and 21 Emmy nominations—a record for a single person working on a variety series."DGA Awards"

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

, Retrieved on 21 May 2014.

Early career

After graduating from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, Foley spent thirteen years at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

working in a variety of functions on NBC News Overnight,

NBC News at Sunrise ''NBC News at Sunrise'' is an American early morning television news program that aired on NBC from August 1, 1983 to September 6, 1999. The program featured the top news headlines of the morning, sports and weather reports, and business segment ...

Today (U.S. TV program) ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It wa ...

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

, Tomorrow (TV series) with Tom Snyder, '' Late Night with David Letterman'',

Later (talk show) ''Later'' is a nightly half-hour-long late-night talk show that ran on NBC from 1988 until 2001. ''Later'' typically aired for half an hour four nights a week at 1:30 a.m. following '' Late Night with David Letterman'' from 1988 to 1993, an ...

with

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

Friday Night Videos ''Friday Night Videos'' (later becoming ''Friday Night'' and then ''Late Friday'') is an American music video show that was broadcast on NBC from July 29, 1983 to May 24, 2002. It was the network's attempt to capitalize on the emerging popularit ...

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

, ''WNBC News 4 New York'',

Live at Five (WNBC TV series) ''Live at Five'' was a local afternoon television news program that aired on WNBC (channel 4), the NBC flagship television station in New York City. The hour-long program was broadcast from Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. ...

NFL Live ''NFL Live'' (stylized as ''NFL Live presented by Autotrader'' for sponsorship reasons) is an American National Football League (NFL) studio show, currently airing Monday through Friday at 3:00 p.m ET on sports cable channel ESPN. Formerly know ...

, ''NBC Game of the Week'', and Another World (TV series).

Letterman era

Foley was the technical director of ''Late Night with David Letterman'' from 1988 to 1993. When the show ended in 1993, and David Letterman moved to CBS to host the '' Late Show with David Letterman'', he informed his crew at ''Late Night'' about the move in advance, and told them, "To those of you who are able, we'd love to have you come along." Foley was one of the crew members that moved to CBS with Letterman. Foley succeeded

Hal Gurnee Harold Gurnee (born January 25, 1925, in New York, New York, U.S.) is an American television director who directed all of the television shows hosted by David Letterman on NBC. Gurnee directed the NBC daytime program ''The David Letterman Show ...

as the director of the ''Late Show'' in 1995. He directed the show until its conclusion in 2015.Starr, Michael. "Top Dave Guy Quits...But The Cue Card Guy Stays", ''

The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', New York. pg. 087. 8 April 2003.Rose, Brian Geoffrey (1999). ''Directing for Television: Conversations with American TV Directors''. pg. 120-122. Scarecrow, Lanham, MD.

Other work

Foley has directed over 3900 hours of late night television. He has worked with film, television, and music talent in numerous single camera comedy segments. He has produced and directed all 72 episodes of

including concerts with

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...

The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

Phoenix (band) Phoenix is a French pop rock band from Versailles, formed in 1995. Their lineup, which has remained unchanged since their formation, comprises Thomas Mars (lead vocals), Deck d'Arcy (bass/keyboards/backing vocals), Christian Mazzalai (guitar/ba ...

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

, and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

. Foley has produced and directed over 40 Broadway performances for ''The'' ''Late Show'' including ''Wicked'', ''Pippin'', ''The Adams Family'', ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', ''Hair'', ''Young Frankenstein'', and ''Cinderella''. He was the executive producer and director of ''CBS News: 50 Years Later, Civil Rights'' and ''The Beatles 50 Years Later: How CBS is Remembering the Fab Four''. Jerry Foley has directed episodes of ABC's ''The View'' and Broadway segments for ''Good Morning America''. He was the producer and director of the "America Salutes You" benefit concert. In August 2016, Foley was named Artistic Director of the North Fork TV Festival. Jerry Foley directed the NBC primetime special '' Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet to Come''.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of film director James Foley.

Primetime Emmy Nominations

* 2013, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''THR Staff. "Emmy Winners and Nominees 2013: The Complete List", ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

''. 21 September 2013. * 2012, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''McLean, Thomas J.. "Variety Series", '' Daily Variety''. pg. 13. 22 August 2012. * 2011, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"63rd Annual Emmy Nominations", '' Daily Variety''. pg. 11. 15 July 2011. * 2010, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Juggling is essential for nominees", '' Daily Variety''. pg. A3. 3 August 2010. * 2009, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Nominees happy to lose special feeling", '' Daily Variety''. pg. Al Vol. 304 No. 31 . 18 August 2009. * 2009, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer)"The Emmy Nominations; And the nominees are...", ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

''. pg. 16. 17 July 2009. * 2008, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer)Gilbert, Matthew. "It all adds up for 'Mad Men' Sixteen nominations and a historic first for AMC drama", ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', Boston. pg. C1. 18 July 2008. * 2007, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer)Andreeva, Nellie. "Emmy folks name names", ''

''. 23 August 2007. * 2006, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer)"List of Main Primetime Emmy Nominations", '' Associated Press Online''. 23 August 2006. * 2005, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"2005 Primetime Emmy Nominations", '' Daily Variety''. pg. 10. 15 July 2005. * 2005, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer) * 2004, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Selected Emmy Noms", '' Daily Variety''. pg. A20. 12 August 2004. * 2004, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer) * 2003, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Selected Emmy Noms", '' Daily Variety''. pg. A20. 14 August 2003. * 2003, Nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (Producer)"Emmys; The other nominees", ''

''. pg. 34. 18 July 2003. * 2002, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"The Emmy Nominations; Complete List of Nominees For The Record", ''

''. pg. 18. 19 July 2002. * 2001, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Primetime Emmy Noms", '' Daily Variety''. pg. 28. 13 July 2001. * 2000, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"The 52nd Emmy Nominations", ''

''. pg. 23. 21 July 2000. * 1996, Nominated for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Emmy Award Nominations 1996; And The Emmy Nominees Are....", ''

''. pg. 22. 19 July 1996. * 1995, Nominated for Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Emmy Award Nominations 1995; Nighttime Nominees: A Complete Rundown", ''

''. pg. 26. 21 July 1995. * 1994, Nominated for Outstanding Technical Direction/Camera/Video for a Series for ''The Late Show with David Letterman''"Emmy Award Nominations 1994; Nighttime Nominees: A Complete Rundown", ''

''. pg. 26. 22 July 1994.

DGA Award Nominations

* 2007, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 2005, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 2004, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 2002, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 2001, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 2000, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 1999, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program * 1998, Nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Musical Variety Program

References

External links

"Directing Dave"
Jerry Foley - DGA.org *
Late Show with David Letterman

Live on Letterman - VEVO Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Jerry Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American television directors American television producers