Filmmaker Robert Butler handed away earlier within the month on November 3 at 95 years previous, in response to the Hollywood Reporter.
A director of movie and TV, Butler directed the pilot episodes for each the 1966 Batman series starring the late Adam West and the unique live-action Star Trek series in 1988, in flip setting the tone for each exhibits that they’re now well-known for. Whereas his time with Trek technically ended there—he’s credited as director for half two of Trek’s “The Menagerie,” as most of that episode reuses footage from the unaired pilot “The Cage”—he went on to direct six Batman episodes total. All of these had been early on in season one and consisted of two-parters which launched the Riddler (Frank Gorshin) in “Hello Diddle Riddler/Smack within the Center”, the Penguin (Burgess Meredith) in “High-quality Feathered Finks/The Penguin’s a Jinx,” and George Sanders’ Mr. Freeze in “Immediate Freeze/Rats Like Cheese.”
Butler directed a lot of tv, and far of his filmography consisted of style exhibits resembling The Twilight Zone (“Caesar & Me,” “The Encounter”), and Mission: Unattainable (“The Thoughts of Stefan Miklos”). In 1993, he directed the pilot episode to Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and served as one of many government producers on that present. He was nominated for an Emmy a number of occasions for guiding episodes of Lois, Remington Steele (which he co-created), and gained one for the pilot of The Blue Knight. His last episode of directed TV was for the 2001 Lifetime sequence The Division.
He was equally busy in movies, having directed many theatrical or made-for-TV films like 1975’s Unusual New World, 1969’s The Laptop Wore Tennis Sneakers, and 1988’s Out of Time. In 2015, the Administrators Guild of America granted him a Lifetime Achievement Award for tv route.
“Robert Butler was an adoring father, grandfather, uncle, good friend and trainer, who shared his zeal for movie, jazz, books, tennis, and mannequin rocket,” his family wrote. “Annual household holidays to La Jolla and the California desert had been an essential household custom. He by no means went anyplace with out his Pentax digital camera loaded with Kodak Tri-X movie.”
“Few Administrators have modified the face of tv as a lot as Bob did—his influence on the medium is actually immeasurable and this loss to our Guild is deeply felt,” wrote the DGA in its personal assertion. “Relaxed in any style, Bob’s pilots established the appear and feel of a number of seminal sequence together with Hogan’s Heroes, Batman and Star Trek. […] Bob’s legacy will reside on within the recollections of the numerous Administrators he influenced and mentored, and the numerous viewers who laughed and cheered alongside together with his distinctive work. Our deepest condolences to his household and the numerous Administrators and directorial workforce members who knew and liked him.”
Butler’s household has invited others to ship their condolence here.
Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the pieces it’s essential learn about the way forward for Doctor Who.
Trending Merchandise
