Login
Login

Robert Butler (director)

{{Short description|American television and film director (1927–2023)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Robert Butler

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|11|16|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|11|03|1927|11|16}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Film and television director

}}

Robert Stanton Butler (November 16, 1927 – November 3, 2023){{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/11/robert-butler-dead-tv-director-batman-star-trek-hill-street-blues-moonlighting-pilots-1235600452/|title=Robert Butler Dies: TV Director For 'Batman,' 'Star Trek,' 'Hill Street Blues' & 'Moonlighting' Pilots Was 95|language=en-US|first=Armando|last=Tinoco|website=Deadline|date=2023-11-11|access-date=2023-11-18}} was an American film{{cite web|title=Robert Butler|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/83725/Robert-Butler|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130728215830/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/83725/Robert-Butler|url-status=dead|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|archive-date=2013-07-28}} and Emmy Award-winning television director. He is best known for his work in television, where he directed the pilots for a number of series including Star Trek, Hogan's Heroes, Batman, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Hill Street Blues.

Career

Butler graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he majored in English. He was first in an army band, before his career as a stage manager and an assistant before launching his directing career with an episode of Hennesey (starring Jackie Cooper and including a young Ron Howard)Susan King, [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-classic-hollywood-robert-butler-batman-20140119,0,788902.story#axzz2tPyYIMQW "Director Robert Butler put stamp on 'Batman,' other landmark series"], Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2014. and then went on to direct such shows as The Untouchables, Dr. Kildare, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Batman, The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone.

Butler shot pilots for many TV series including the original Star Trek, Shane, Hogan's Heroes, Batman, The Blue Knight, Hill Street Blues, Remington Steele (a show which he also co-created), Moonlighting, Sisters, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Butler also directed episodes for many other shows, including Bonanza, I Spy, Blue Light, The Invaders, Gunsmoke, The Outcasts, Mission: Impossible, Kung Fu, Hawaii Five-O, Columbo: Publish or Perish, Columbo: Double Shock and Midnight Caller.

Butler directed actor Kurt Russell in four Walt Disney movies, including Guns in the Heather, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Barefoot Executive.

Butler won two Emmy Awards for outstanding directing, the first in 1973 for The Blue Knight pilot and the second in 1981 for his Hill Street Blues premiere.

In 2014, Butler's work was the subject of a career retrospective at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.

Butler was honored by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction in February 2015.[https://variety.com/2015/tv/awards/james-l-burrows-and-robert-butler-to-receive-dga-lifetime-achievement-award-1201424072/, Variety, February 5, 2015]

Robert Butler died in Los Angeles on November 3, 2023, at age 95 -- missing his 96th birthday by only 13 days.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/robert-butler-dead-batman-star-trek-hill-street-blues-1235644907/|title=Robert Butler, Director on Pilots for 'Batman,' 'Star Trek' and 'Hill Street Blues,' Dies at 95|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=November 11, 2023|access-date=November 11, 2023}} With his death, Ralph Senensky became the last living director to direct an episode of Star Trek (1966).{{Cite web |last=Berman |first=Marc |date=May 1, 2024 |title=Legendary TV Director Ralph Senensky Turns 101 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2024/05/01/happy-birthday-ralph-senensky-the-legendary-tv-director-turns-101/ |access-date=July 7, 2025 |website=Forbes |language=en-US}}

Filmography

=Film=

=Television=

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Director

! Producer

! Notes

1959–1960

|Hennesey

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

rowspan=2|1960

|Happy

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1960–1961

|The DuPont Show with June Allyson

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|5 Episodes

rowspan=7|1961

|Bonanza

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Dick Van Dyke Show

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

The Dick Powell Theater

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Gertrude Berg Show

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

Have Gun – Will Travel

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Michael Shayne

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Peter loves Mary

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1961–1962

|The Detectives

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|5 Episodes

rowspan=2|1962

|Follow The Sun

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

The Rifleman

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

rowspan=3|1962–1963

|Dr. Kildare

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

Stoney Burke

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

The Untouchables

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|7 Episodes

rowspan=3|1963

|Ben Casey

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

The Greatest Show On Earth

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

The Richard Boone Show

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1963–1964

|The Lieutenant

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1963–1965

|The Defenders

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

rowspan=2|1964

|Arrest and Trial

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Twilight Zone

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1964–1966

|The Fugitive

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|6 Episodes

rowspan=3|1965

|Mister Roberts

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|5 Episodes

Run For Your Life

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Virginian

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1965–1966

|Hogan's Heroes

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|5 Episodes

1965–1975

|The Magical World Of Disney

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|12 Episodes

rowspan=5|1966

|Blue Light

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Shane

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

I Spy

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|4 Episodes

Batman

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|6 Episodes

Star Trek

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

rowspan=4|1967

|Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Invaders

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

Judd, for the Defense

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

N.Y.P.D.

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1967–1972

|Gunsmoke

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

1967–1981

|Insight

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|4 Episodes

rowspan=2|1968

|Cimarron Strip

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

Ironside

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

rowspan=3|1969

|Mission: Impossible

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

The Outcasts

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

CBS Playhouse

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1969–1970

|Lancer

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|4 Episodes

1970

|Then Came Bronson

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1972

|Nichols

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1972–1973

|The Waltons

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|3 Episodes

rowspan=4|1973

|Doc Elliot

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Hawaii Five-O

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Kung Fu

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|4 Episodes

Roll Out

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1973–1974

|Columbo

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1975

|The Blue Knight

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1981

|Hill Street Blues

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|6 Episodes

1982–1987

|Remington Steele

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|Also creator and executive consultant

rowspan=2|1985

|Moonlighting

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

Our Family Honor

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

1987

|Out on a Limb

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1988–1991

|Midnight Caller

|{{yes}}

|{{yes|Executive}}

|rowspan=2|Also executive consultant

1991–1996

|Sisters

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

1993

|Sirens

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|2 Episodes

1993–1994

|Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

|{{yes}}

|{{yes|Executive}}

|Also executive consultant

1999

|St. Michael's Crossing

|{{yes}}

|{{yes|Executive}}

|

2001

|The Division

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|1 Episode

TV movies

class="wikitable"
Year

! Title

! Director

! Producer

! Writer

1971

|Death Takes a Holiday

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1973

|The Blue Knight

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1974

|McMasters of Sweetwater

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1975

|Strange New World

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

rowspan=3|1976

|Dark Victory

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

James Dean

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

Mayday at 40,000 Feet!

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1977

|In the Glitter Palace

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

rowspan=2|1978

|Lacy and the Mississippi Queen

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

A Question of Guilt

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1984

|Concrete Beat

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1986

|Long Time Gone

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1987

|On the Edge

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

|{{yes}}

1988

|Out of Time

|{{yes}}

|{{yes|Executive}}

|{{no}}

1991

|The Brotherhood

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1994

|White Mile

|{{yes}}

|{{no}}

|{{no}}

1998

|Glory, Glory

|{{yes}}

|{{yes|Executive}}

|{{no}}

Associate director

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDb name}}
  • {{Memory Alpha|Robert Butler}}
  • {{The Interviews name}}

{{Robert Butler}}

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Robert Butler

|list =

{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaOutstandingDirectingDramaSeries 1971–1989}}

{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardLifetimeTelevision}}

{{EmmyAward DirectingDrama}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Robert}}

Category:1927 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:American television directors

Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:Film directors from Los Angeles

Category:Directors Guild of America Award winners

Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni