Robert Butler (director)

Robert Stanton Butler (November 16, 1927 – November 3, 2023)^[1] was an American film^[2] 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.^[3]

Robert Butler
Born	(1927-11-16)November 16, 1927 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	November 3, 2023(2023-11-03) (aged 95) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Film and television director

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)^[3] 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.^[3]

Butler was honored by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Television Direction in February 2015.^[4]

Robert Butler died in Los Angeles on November 3, 2023, at age 95 -- missing his 96th birthday by only 13 days.^[5] With his death, Ralph Senensky became the last living director to direct an episode of Star Trek (1966).^[6]

Filmography

Film

• Guns in the Heather (1969)
• The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
• The Barefoot Executive (1971)
• Scandalous John (1971)
• Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)
• The Ultimate Thrill (1974)
• Black Bart (1975) (Also producer)
• Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978)
• Night of the Juggler (1980)
• Underground Aces (1981)
• Up The Creek (1984)
• Turbulence (1997)
• Where Do the Balloons Go? (2009) (Short film)

Television

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Notes
1959–1960	Hennesey	Yes	No	3 Episodes
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
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
1962	Follow The Sun	Yes	No	3 Episodes
	The Rifleman	Yes	No	1 Episode
1962–1963	Dr. Kildare	Yes	No	2 Episodes
	Stoney Burke	Yes	No	2 Episodes
	The Untouchables	Yes	No	7 Episodes
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
1964	Arrest and Trial	Yes	No	1 Episode
	The Twilight Zone	Yes	No	2 Episodes
1964–1966	The Fugitive	Yes	No	6 Episodes
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
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
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
1968	Cimarron Strip	Yes	No	2 Episodes
	Ironside	Yes	No	1 Episode
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
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
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	Executive	Also executive consultant
1991–1996	Sisters	Yes	No
1993	Sirens	Yes	No	2 Episodes
1993–1994	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Yes	Executive	Also executive consultant
1999	St. Michael's Crossing	Yes	Executive
2001	The Division	Yes	No	1 Episode

TV movies

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
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
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	Executive	No
1991	The Brotherhood	Yes	No	No
1994	White Mile	Yes	No	No
1998	Glory, Glory	Yes	Executive	No

Associate director

• Climax! (1956–1958) (4 Episodes)
• Playhouse 90 (1958–1959) (3 Episodes)