Lee Philips (born Leon Friedman; January 10, 1927 – March 3, 1999) was an American actor,

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

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 ...

Life and career

Philips was born in New York. His acting career started on Broadway, and peaked with a starring role as Michael Rossi in the film adaptation of '' Peyton Place'' opposite

Lana Turner Lana Turner ( ; born Julia Jean Turner; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over the course of her nearly 50-year career, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized pe ...

. He appeared in the

Paddy Chayefsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...

motion picture, ''Middle of the Night'' (1959) as

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

's character's ex-husband, George. The following year, Philips was cast as the compassionate Lieutenant Wood in the episode, "The White Healer", on the

syndicated television Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', hosted by

Stanley Andrews Stanley Andrews (born Stanley Martin Andrzejewski; August 28, 1891 – June 23, 1969) was an American actor perhaps best known as the voice of Daddy Warbucks on the radio program ''Little Orphan Annie'' and later as "The Old Ranger", the first ...

. Later in the 1960s, his career shifted towards directing, with credits ranging from the television series of '' Peyton Place'' to ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...

''. He still did occasional acting, such as his appearance in 1963 in "Never Wave Goodbye", a two-part episode of '' The Fugitive''. He also guest starred on '' The Outer Limits'' in the premiere episode, "

The Galaxy Being "The Galaxy Being" is the first episode of the original '' The Outer Limits'' television series, originally broadcast on September 16, 1963. In it, Allan Maxwell, an engineer for a small radio station, somehow makes contact with a peaceful alie ...

". Also in 1963, he played a lead role in " Passage on the Lady Anne", an hour-long episode of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

''; he returned to the show the following year in the episode " Queen of the Nile", where he plays a reporter named Jordan "Jordy" Herrick. He was Juror Number 5 in the Studio One version of Twelve Angry Men. He appeared in '' Flipper'' in 1964 and also made two guest appearances on ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'' in 1965: as Kevin Lawrence in "The Case of the Golden Venom", less than nine months later he played as murderer Gordon Evans in "The Case of the Fatal Fortune". Also guest starred on the ''

Combat! ''Combat!'' is an American television drama series that originally aired on ABC from 1962 until 1967. The exclamation point in ''Combat!'' was depicted on-screen as a stylized bayonet. The show covered the grim lives of a squad of American sol ...

'': episode: "A Walk with an Eagle". In 1973 he directed '' The Girl Most Likely to...'' starring Stockard Channing.Witbeck, Chrles . "''Red Badge of Courage'' / They Finally Got It Right" (''Boca Raton News'', December 6, 1974, page 8)
/ref> He directed

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

on several episodes of '' Diagnosis: Murder''. Philips died from

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...

(PSP).

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philips, Lee 1927 births 1999 deaths American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors American film directors American television directors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from New York City