Jeff Bleckner (born August 12, 1943) is an American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

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 ...

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Bleckner made his directorial debut off-Broadway with ''The Unseen Hand/Forensic and the Navigators'', an evening of one-act plays by

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any write ...

, in 1970. He also directed three off-Broadway productions of works by

David Rabe David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 ('' In the Boom Boom Room''), ...

: the first two plays in his

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

trilogy, ''

The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel ''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' is a play by David Rabe. Rabe's first play in his Vietnam War trilogy that continued with '' Sticks and Bones'' and '' Streamers'', its story is bracketed by scenes depicting the death of the everyman-like ti ...

'' and '' Sticks and Bones'' (both of which transferred to

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 ...

), and ''The Orphan''. Additional Broadway credits include

Paul Zindel Paul Zindel Jr. (May 15, 1936 – March 27, 2003) was an American playwright, young adult novelist, and educator. Early life Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York, to Paul Zindel Sr., a policeman, and Betty Zindel, a nurse; h ...

's ''The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild'' and

Herb Gardner Herbert George Gardner (December 28, 1934 – September 25, 2003), was an American commercial artist, cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gardner was the son of a bar owner. His late brother, Robert ...

's ''

The Goodbye People ''The Goodbye People'' is a play by Herb Gardner. The play had a brief run on Broadway in 1968 and was made into a film which was released in 1986. Plot The dramedy focuses on elderly Max Silverman, who is determined to reopen the Coney Islan ...

''. Bleckner's television directing credits include ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class called the "Sweathogs." Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the seri ...

'', ''

Bret Maverick ''Bret Maverick'' is an American Western television series that starred James Garner in the title role, a professional poker player in the Old West. The series aired on NBC from December 1, 1981 to May 4, 1982. It is a sequel series to the 1957- ...

'', ''The Stockard Channing Show'', '' Knots Landing'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'', ''

Trapper John, M.D. ''Trapper John, M.D.'' is an American medical drama television series and spin-off of the film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970). Pernell Roberts portrayed the title character, a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, Californ ...

'', ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'', ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from O ...

'', ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'', '' Commander in Chief'', ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

'', '' Hawthorne'' Blackout Effect, NTSB The crash of flight 323 and '' Boston Legal'', in addition to numerous television movies. His most recent project is the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for ''Conspiracy'', a potential series for the 2007-08 season, starring

Lisa Sheridan Lisa Sheridan (December 5, 1973 – February 25, 2019) was an American actress. Known mainly for her work on television, Sheridan was a regular cast member in cult favorites series such as, ''FreakyLinks'' and ''Invasion''. Life and career S ...

as a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

attorney attempting to undercover the secrets of a

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

company she successfully defended.

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1971 Drama Desk Award Most Promising Director (''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'') *1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (''Sticks and Bones'') *1982 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *1984 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (''Concealed Enemies'') *1984

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 ...

Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *2001 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (''The Beach Boys: An American Family'') ;Nominations *1972

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Direction of a Play (''Sticks and Bones'') *1982 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (''Do You Remember Love'') *1986 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials (''Do You Remember Love'') *1995 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special ('' Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story'') *2000 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries ('' The Beach Boys: An American Family'') *2001 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (''The Beach Boys: An American Family'') *2004 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'') *2012 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series Beyond the Blackboard (2011)

External links

* *
Jeff Bleckner
at the

Internet off-Broadway Database The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway. The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundatio ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleckner, Jeff 1943 births American theatre directors American television directors Primetime Emmy Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Directors Guild of America Award winners People from Brooklyn Living people Film directors from New York City