Director Paul Bogart Passes On

Paul Bogart, who directed such feature films as Skin Game and TV shows such as All in the Family, passed on 15 April 2012 at the age of 92.

Paul Bogart was born on 21 November 1919 in New York City. Following his graduation from James Monroe High School in the Bronx he worked as a printer. He answered a "Help Wanted" advertisement for puppeteers and travelled with a marionette troupe. During World War II he served as a tail gunner in the United States Army Air Forces, but he did not see combat. After he war he worked various odd jobs and also returned to the marionette troupe. It was a friend who told him of openings at NBC. As a result he found himself as a stage manager at the network. He eventually became an associate director, working on such shows at NBC as Today and Howdy Doody.

It was in 1955 that he began directing primetime dramas, starting with an episode of Appointment with Adventure. In the late Fifties he directed episodes of such shows as Justice, The Kaiser Aluminium Hour, Suspicion, Shirley Temple Theatre, and Kraft Theatre. In the Sixties he directed such shows as The U. S. Steel Hour, Way Out, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Defenders, Get Smart, and Coronet Blue. It was in the Sixties that he also began directing feature films. His feature film debut was The Three Sisters in 1966. In the Sixties he went onto direct Marlowe (1969) and Halls of Anger (1970).

In the Seventies Mr. Bogart directed the films Skin Game (1971), Cancel My Reservation (1972), Class of '44 (1973), and Mr. Ricco (1975). He directed several episodes of All in the Family, as well as such shows as Nichols, Alice, and Visions. In the Eighties he directed episodes of the shows Gloria, Mama Malone, The Golden Girls, and Bagdad Cafe. He directed the films Oh God! You Devil (1984) and Torch Song Trilogy (1988).

Paul Bogart was a director who was skilled in both television and film. It should be little surprise that he won five Emmy Awards for his direction on shows ranging from The Defenders to All in the Family to The Golden Girls. He was a master of timing, who always kept a close eye on the editing on his projects, whether it was a feature film or a television situation comedy. Although best known for his work in television, Paul Bogart was quite capable of creating very fine films. Marlowe, Skin Game, and Torch Song Trilogy were all very well done movies. Talented in both directing television and film, Paul Bogart will be remembered.