The Late Great Jay Sandrich

Television director Jay Sandrich, who directed several episodes of such classic shows as Get Smart, He & She, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died on September 22 2021 at the age of 89. The cause was complications from dementia.

Jay Sandrich was born in Los Angeles on February 24 1932. He was the son of movie director Mark Sandrich, who directed such films as Top Hat (1935) and Holiday Inn (1942). He attended Beverly Hills High School and the University of California, Los Angeles. He served in the United States Army. He began his career as an assistant director on I Love Lucy. In the late Fifties he also served as an assistant director on Science Fiction Theatre, Official Detective, The Red Skelton Show, Make Room for Daddy, Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse, and Angel.

In the Sixties he continued working as an assistant director on Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show. He also served as an assistant director on The Untouchables; The Dick Van Dyke Show; I'm Dickens, He's Fenster; The Bill Dana Show; and Off to See the Wizard. He made his directorial debut with an episode of Make Room for Daddy. He directed 23 of the 26 episodes of He & She. He also directed episodes of The Bill Dana Show, That Girl, Get Smart, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, Here's Lucy, The Governor & J.J., Nanny and the Professor, Julia, The Bill Cosby Show, Arnie, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

In the Seventies Jay Sandrich continued directing The Mary Tyler Moore Show, ultimately directing 119 of the show's 168 episodes. He also directed several episodes of The Bill Cosby Show, The New Dick Van Dyke Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Beacon Hill, and Soap. He also directed episodes of the shows The Good Life; Here-We-Go-Again; Diana; We'll Get By; The Odd Couple; Laverne & Shirley; Rhoda; Ball Four; Phyllis; The Tony Randall Show; Insight; Soap; Loves Me, Loves Me Not; Welcome Back, Kotter; The Betty White Show; WKRP in Cincinnati; Lou Grant; The Mary Tyler Moore Hour; Stockard Channing in Just Friends; Benson; and The Stockard Channing Show.

In the Eighties Jay Sandrich directed several episodes of The Cosby Show. He also directed episodes of the shows Love, Sidney; It Takes Two; Insight; Night Court; The Four Seasons; Off the Rack; Comedy Factory; It's a Living; The Golden Girls; A Different World; The Van Dyke Show; and Carol & Company.

In the Nineties Mr. Sandrich continued directing episodes of The Cosby Show. He also directed episodes of the shows Love & War, Thea, The Office, Pearl, Ink, The Tony Danza Show, Built to Last, LateLine, Style & Substance, Thanks, and My Family. In the Naughts he directed episodes of Three Sisters, Charlie Lawrence, and Two and a Half Men.

Jay Sandrich's career spanned nearly fifty years. He also served as a mentor for many younger television directors. He was nominated for Emmy awards for directing ten times and won four Emmys. He worked on some of the greatest sitcoms of all times, including I Love Lucy, The Danny Thomas Show, Get Smart, He & She, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Soap. What is more, he directed some of the best episodes of those shows. He was certainly a very talentd director.