Thursday, March 31, 2022

Marvin J. Chomsky Passes On

The Wild Wild West and the mini-series Roots, died on March 28 2022 at the age of 92.

Marvin J. Chomsky was born on May 23 1929. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1950. He began his career in the television industry as an art director on an episode of Camera Three in 1957. He also served as a set director on the show Video Village and on the show Play of the Week. He served as an art director on episodes of The Nurses and Gunsmoke.

Mr. Chomsky made his directorial debut on the TV series The Nurses, ultimately directing three episodes of the show. He would later direct several episodes of The Wild Wild West. In the Sixties he also directed episodes of the shows Maya, Star Trek, Then Came Bronson, Gunsmoke, Lancer, Storefront Lawyers, The Wonderful World of Disney, The Name of the Game, The Intern and Mission: Impossible.

In the Seventies Marvin J. Chomsky directed two episodes of the miniseries Roots and all four episodes of the miniseries Holocaust. He directed episodes of the shows The Name of the Game, The Interns, Bearcats!, Mission: Impossible, Cannon, Cade's County, Hawaii Five-O, The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Banyon, Mannix, The Magician, Police Story, and Kate McShane. He directed several TV movies, among them Assault on the Wayne, Brinks: The Great Robbery, Victory at Entebbe, and Dr. Franken. He made his motion picture directorial debut when he directed the movie Evel Knievel (1971). In the Seventies he also directed the feature films Murph the Surf (1975), Mackintosh and T.J. (1975), and Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979).

In the Eighties Marvin J. Chomsky's career was primarily focused on mini-series and TV movies. He directed episodes of the mini-series Robert Kennedy and His Times, Peter the Great, The Deliberate Stranger, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna, Billionaire Boys Club, and Brotherhood of the Rose. He directed such TV movies as Evita Peron, Inside the Third Reich, I Am a Mail Order Bride, and I'll Be Home for Christmas. He also directed the feature film Tank (1984).

In the Nineties Marvin J. Chomsky directed episodes of the mini-series Strauss Dynasty. He directed the TV movies Telling Secrets, Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story, and Catherine the Great.

Marvin J. Chomsky was a gifted television director. He won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for Holocaust, the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special for Attica, and Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special for Inside the Third Reich. He was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for Roots and Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or a Special for Billionaire Boys Club. Mr. Chomsky had a gift for directing TV shows, miniseries, and TV movies set in different eras, as evinced by Inside the Third Reich and Peter the Great. He also had a knack for directing TV shows, miniseries, and TV movies that dealt with difficult subjects, whether it was slavery, the holocaust, or a prison uprising. Much of Marvin J. Chomsky's work went well beyond mere entertainment.

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