Walter J. Doniger (July 1, 1917, in New York, New York - November 24, 2011, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) was an American film and television

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He was a graduate of the

Harvard School of Business Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Career

In the early 1940s, Doniger started as a scriptwriter with

Universal Films Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he worked on training films for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. His knowledge of military matters was reflected in some of his later work for television and films. After the war, Doniger worked as a screenwriter, director and producer. He wrote some of the scripts for the NBC-TV series ''

Your Show Time ''Your Show Time'' is an American anthology drama series that debuted on NBC Television on the East Coast in September 1948 and then on both the East and the West Coast, as a network show, on January 21, 1949. The show was produced by Marshall ...

'' (1949). He specialized in hard-boiled action pictures, including prison dramas ('' Duffy of San Quentin'', 1954, and '' The Steel Cage'', 1954), as well as war pictures ('' Cease Fire!'', 1953). The latter was one of the first 3-D war films. He directed sports films, including '' Safe at Home!'' (1962, starring

New York Yankee The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

greats

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

and Roger Maris), and the made-for-TV movie '' Mad Bull'' (1977). In 1957, Doniger established a production company, Bettina Productions Ltd. By this time he had gravitated towards working primarily for episodic television, particularly as director of western series, such as ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

'' (1956–57); ''

Tombstone Territory ''Tombstone Territory'' is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959. The first season was sponsored by Bristol-Myers (consumer products) and the second s ...

'' (1957–58), ''

Maverick Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to: History * Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick Aviation * AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design * General Aviation Design Burea ...

'', (1957), and ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

'' (1958–60). He also directed episodes of ''

Highway Patrol A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is prima ...

'', '' Men Into Space'', '' Dick Powell Theatre'', '' Mr. Novak'', '' Bracken's World'', '' Rod Serling's Night Gallery'', and '' Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law'', among others. During the 1960s, Doniger directed 64 episodes of the popular soap opera '' Peyton Place''. After leaving ''Peyton Place'', Doniger worked at Universal and eventually returned to action subjects, where he was most at home. He directed several episodes of the popular crime series '' McCloud''. His abrasive style occasionally brought him into conflict with producers and stars.

Later life

In 2008, Doniger donated some of his television scripts and records to the Cinematic Arts Library of 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 ...

References

External links

*
Obituary of Walter Doniger
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', Nov. 27, 2011 American film directors American television directors 1917 births 2011 deaths Harvard Business School alumni American male screenwriters {{US-film-director-stub