Kim Manners

Kim Manners was raised in a show business family. His father, Sam Manners (born Savino Maneri in Cleveland, Ohio) had production credits on shows such as The Wild Wild West and Route 66. Manners did some acting as a child; his first role was at the age of three in a Chevrolet commercial. He also watched and occasionally participated in his father's work as well as the work of William Beaudine, director of The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. It was Beaudine who inspired Manners to become a director.{{cite web|url=http://www.dga.org/news/v26_6/feat_kimmanners.php3|title=Kim Manners|last=Hurwitz|first=Matt|date=March 2002|work=DGA Monthly|publisher=Directors Guild of America|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316022856/http://www.dga.org/news/v26_6/feat_kimmanners.php3|archive-date=March 16, 2010}}

Manners' brother, Kelly, has production and directorial credits on Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse and his sister, Tana, works as a television director.

Manners made his directorial debut in 1978 at age 27, directing an episode of Charlie's Angels. Prior to this, he had worked as unit production manager on the show and as an assistant director on a handful of other projects. Other notable directorial credits to Manners' name include episodes of 21 Jump Street, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Baywatch, K-9000, and The Commish.

Manners left his directing job at Stephen J. Cannell Productions in 1993 to work on the television series The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. He directed 7 of the series' 27 episodes, more than any other director for the show. He joked that he was the series' "mascot director". He was happy with the work for the series, and felt that it "stretched" him creatively. He said, "It really woke me up as a director, almost spiritually…" and that directing for Brisco was a large contributing factor to his later success as a regular director on The X-Files.{{cite journal|title=Fantasies in Dark and Light|journal=Starlog|date=June 1996|first=Joe|last=Nazzaro|issue=227|pages=70–73}}

Manners signed on to produce and direct The X-Files in the show's second season at the advice of Rob Bowman, who had worked on the show in its first season, and James Wong and Glen Morgan, who were writers for the show and had previously worked with Manners on 21 Jump Street.

Manners, along with his fellow producers on The X-Files, was nominated for four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Manners was referenced in the X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" with a foul-mouthed police detective named after him. Following the finale of The X-Files in 2002, Manners directed a number of small projects before signing on to direct and produce Supernatural in 2005.

Manners died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, on January 25, 2009, at age 58.{{cite web|url=http://www.zap2it.com/celebrities/news/zap-kimmannersobit,0,6396518.story |title=Zap2It |website=Zap2it |access-date=February 3, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130093831/http://www.zap2it.com/celebrities/news/zap-kimmannersobit%2C0%2C6396518.story |archive-date=January 30, 2009 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.tvguide.com/News/Supernatural-Manners-Dies-1002150.aspx|title=Supernatural Producer-Director Kim Manners Dies after Cancer Battle|last=Mitovich|first=Matt|date=January 26, 2009|work=TVGuide.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616064642/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Supernatural-Manners-Dies-1002150.aspx|archive-date=June 16, 2011}}

The closing credits of the Supernatural season four episode "Death Takes a Holiday", which aired on March 12, 2009, showed two photos of Manners, along with the caption "We dedicate the entire season to Kim Manners" and a message stating, "We miss you, Kim."{{cite episode|series=Supernatural|series-link=Supernatural (U.S. TV series)|episode-link=Supernatural (season 4)#ep75|title=Death Takes a Holiday|airdate=March 12, 2009|number=15|season=4}} The fifth episode of the second season of AMC's Breaking Bad, titled "Breakage", which premiered on April 5, 2009, featured a dedication in the end credits, which stated "Dedicated to our Friend Kim Manners".{{cite episode|series=Breaking Bad|series-link=Breaking Bad|episode-link=Breakage (Breaking Bad)|title=Breakage|airdate=April 5, 2009|number=5|season=2}} The episode "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", from the revival season for The X Files which aired on February 1, 2016, features a scene where Mulder sits against Manners' gravestone, inscribed with Manners' real date of birth and death, and the phrase, "Let's Kick It in the Ass."{{cite web|url=http://www.tvinsider.com/article/70160/touching-x-files-tribute-to-kim-manners-legacy/|title=Behind the Touching X-Files Tribute to the Legacy of Kim Manners|work=TV Insider|date=February 2, 2016 |access-date=February 3, 2016}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0543129}}

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• [http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Kim_Manners Supernatural Wiki] entry about Manners with links to interviews and tributes

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Category:1951 births

Category:2009 deaths

Category:American television directors

Category:American television producers

Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California