Marvin Joseph Chomsky (May 23, 1929 – March 28, 2022) was an American director and producer who worked both in television and film.

Early life and career

Chomsky born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

and raised in

Brooklyn 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 ...

. He attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

in Manhattan, during which time he began working in radio, and later on, for a television show aimed at teenagers, while the medium was still in its early stages. He graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

with a bachelor's degree in speech in 1950, and from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with a master's degree in drama the following year. He also served in the U.S. Army, before pursuing a career in film and television. His early jobs included work as an

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

set decorator The set decorator is the head of the set decoration department in the film and television industry, responsible for selecting, designing, fabricating, and sourcing the "set dressing" elements of each set in a Feature Film, Television, or New Media ...

, and producer. Chomsky was a prolific television director, and his career spanned from 1964 to 1995. During the late 1960s, Chomsky directed episodes of ''

The Wild Wild West ''The Wild Wild West'' is an American Western, espionage, and science fiction television series that ran on the CBS television network for four seasons from September 17, 1965, to April 11, 1969. Two satirical comedy television film sequels w ...

''. He also directed episodes of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'', ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central character ...

'', and ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

''. He also directed made-for-TV movies such as '' Brink's: The Great Robbery'' (1976), ''

Victory at Entebbe ''Victory at Entebbe'' is a 1976 American made-for-television action-drama film for broadcast on ABC, directed by Marvin J. Chomsky. The film starred Helmut Berger, Linda Blair, Anthony Hopkins, Burt Lancaster, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Dre ...

'' (1976), ''

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...

'' (1980) and ''

Billionaire Boys Club The Billionaire Boys Club was an investing and social club organized in 1983 by Joseph Henry Hunt (born Joseph Henry Gamsky) in Southern California. It was originally simply named "BBC", the initials of Bombay Bicycle Club, a restaurant Hunt had ...

'' (1987). During the 1970s, Chomsky served as one of the directors for the

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

'' (1977), and he worked on other miniseries such as ''

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

'' (1978), ''

Inside the Third Reich ''Inside the Third Reich'' (german: Erinnerungen, "Memories") is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945, serving as Adolf Hitler's main architect before this period. It is considered to be one of the ...

'' (1982) and ''

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

'' (1986). He directed

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...

in the 1982 TV movie, ''

My Body, My Child ''My Body, My Child'' is a 1982 American made-for-television drama film directed by Marvin J. Chomsky and starring Vanessa Redgrave. It premiered on ABC on 12 April 1982. It includes early performances by future ''Sex and the City'' co-stars, Sara ...

'', the miniseries ''

The Brotherhood of the Rose ''The Brotherhood of the Rose'' is the first novel in a trilogy by David Morrell, first published in 1983. It is followed by ''The Fraternity of the Stone'' (1985) and ''The League of Night and Fog'' (1987), and a short story, '' The Abelard Sanc ...

'' (1989) with

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

Peter Strauss Peter Lawrence Strauss (born February 20, 1947) is an American television and film actor, known for his roles in several television miniseries in the 1970s and 1980s. He is five-time Golden Globe Awards nominee. Early life Strauss was born in C ...

and

David Morse David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American actor, singer, television director, and writer. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the medical drama series ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–88). His film ca ...

, and the TV movie ''

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

'' (1995), starring

Catherine Zeta-Jones Catherine Zeta-Jones (; born 25 September 1969) is a Welsh actress. Known for her versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Tony Award. In 2010, she was appointed C ...

. His feature film directing credits include ''

Evel Knievel Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...

'' (1971), '' Live A Little, Steal A Lot'' (1975), ''

Mackintosh and T.J. ''Mackintosh and T.J.'' is a 1975 American modern day Western film starring Roy Rogers in his last feature film appearance in a film that was specifically written for him. Prior to this film his most recent feature film appearances were in the ...

'' (1976), ''

Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff ''Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff'' is a 1979 American drama film directed by Marvin J. Chomsky. The screenplay by Polly Platt is based on the 1970 novel of the same title by William Inge. Inge wrote two novels, both set in the fictional town of Freedom, ...

'' (1979) and ''

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

'' (1984).

Awards

Chomsky was the winner of Four Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series is presented to the best directing of a television drama series, usually for a particular episode.Though this category is the dominant one in which dramatic directing has been ...

for ''

'' in 1978; Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special for ''Attica'' in 1980 and for ''

'' in 1982, and Outstanding Miniseries Peter the Great in 1986. (NATAS, IMDB)

Personal life

Chomsky was married twice, first to Tobye Kaplan, until their divorce, and then to Christa Baum, from whom he was separated at the time of his death. He had three sons, including Peter Chomsky, who is also a television producer. He was a cousin of linguist

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

. Chomsky died under hospice care in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, on March 28, 2022, aged 92.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chomsky, Marvin J. 1929 births 2022 deaths American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American television directors Film directors from New York City Military personnel from New York City Primetime Emmy Award winners Stanford University alumni Stuyvesant High School alumni Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts alumni United States Army soldiers