Joan Darling (née Kugell; born April 14, 1935, Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an American actress, film and television director and a dramatic arts instructor.

Biography

Born Joan Kugell in Boston, Darling began her career with the New York improvisational theater troupe "Premise Players," and soon graduated to off-Broadway and Broadway productions. She gravitated to feature films making her debut in Theodore J. Flicker's '' The Troublemaker'' (1964) and later his ''

The President's Analyst ''The President's Analyst'' is a 1967 American satirical black comedy film written and directed by Ted Flicker and starring James Coburn. The film has elements of political satire and science fiction, including themes concerning modern ethics ...

''. She went into television in the 1970s. She was a regular on the law series '' Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law'', playing office secretary to Arthur Hill,

Lee Majors Lee Majors (born Harvey Lee Yeary; April 23, 1939) is an American actor. Majors portrayed the characters of Heath Barkley in the American television Western series ''The Big Valley'' (1965–1969), Colonel Steve Austin in the American television ...

, and

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...

. Darling was the first woman nominated for an Emmy for directing. She was nominated four times, winning one. She was nominated two times for a Directors Guild of America award, winning one. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance of Dorothy Parker in ''Woven in a Crazy Plaid''. Darling directed episodes of the television series ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974, to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The Mary Tyle ...

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Doc DOC, Doc, doc or DoC may refer to: In film and television * ''Doc'' (2001 TV series), a 2001–2004 PAX series * ''Doc'' (1975 TV series), a 1975–1976 CBS sitcom * "D.O.C." (''Lost''), a television episode * ''Doc'' (film), a 1971 Wester ...

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Hizzonner ''Hizzonner'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC on Thursday nights from May 10 to June 14, 1979. Synopsis The series centered on Mayor Cooper, a widower with two grown children, Annie, a civil rights attorney, and James, a hippie ...

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moor ...

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Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ''Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman'' is an American satirical soap opera that aired in daily weeknight syndication from January 1976 to July 1977. The series follows the titular Mary Hartman, an Ohio housewife attempting to cope with various bizarre ...

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Magnum, P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...

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Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

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Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

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The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...

'', as well as the feature film ''The Check Is in the Mail'', and a number of television movies. She directed the famous "

Chuckles Bites the Dust "Chuckles Bites the Dust" is an episode of the television situation comedy ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' which first aired on October 25, 1975. The episode's plot centers on the WJM-TV staff's reaction to the absurd death of Chuckles the Clown, an ...

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'' and received a 1976 Emmy nomination for her efforts. In 1976, she broke new ground when she directed the feature film ''

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

''. At the time, Darling was part of a small circle of women directors to direct a major Hollywood studio feature film.

Personal life

Darling was married three times. Her first husband was physicist Robert Klein; her second was folk musician Erik Darling, and her present husband is Bill Svanoe, a writer and a professor at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Partial filmography as director

* '' Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories'' (TV series) * ''

'' (TV series) * ''

'' (1977 feature film) * '' M* A* S* H'' (TV series) * ''

'' (TV series) * ''

Phyllis Phyllis is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Phyllis Bartholomew (1914–2002), English long jumper * Phyllis Drummond Bethune (née Sharpe, 1899–1982), New Zealand artist * Phyllis Calvert (1915–2002), British actress * P ...

'' (TV series) * ''

'' (TV series)

References

External links

* 1935 births American film directors American stage actresses American television actresses American television directors American women television directors Living people Actresses from Boston Directors Guild of America Award winners 21st-century American women {{US-tv-bio-stub