Michael Preece (born September 15, 1936) [1] is an American film and television director, script supervisor, producer, and actor best known for directing television series Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger and films The Prize Fighter and Logan's War: Bound by Honor .
Preece was born in Los Angeles, California [1] and graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School. His father was a salesman for a cigarette and cigar company, [2] and his mother, Thelma Preece, was the first female business agent in Hollywood and founder of the Script Clerks Guild which later became the Script Supervisor Local 871 IATSE. [3]
While a freshman student at Santa Monica City College in the summer of 1955 in the early days of television Preece took on a job as a script supervisor. He worked as a script supervisor on such TV series as Mr. Novak , I Spy , and Hawaii Five-O and a score of such feature films as The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), The Spirit of St. Louis (1957), The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Cimarron (1962), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), How the West Was Won (1965), Morituri (1965), Will Penny (1968), True Grit (1969), The Hawaiians (1970), The Getaway (1972), The Paper Chase (1973), and Breakheart Pass (1975). Starting in 1975 Preece directed over 300 episodes of TV series, including Dallas where he set a record for most episodes directed and filmed each cast member firing a gun in order to ensure that no one knew who shot J.R. He also directed episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger , The Streets of San Francisco , Knots Landing , 7th Heaven , Falcon Crest , Barnaby Jones , The Bionic Woman , T.J. Hooker , MacGyver , When the Whistle Blows (TV series) , Baywatch , Hunter , Fantasy Island , The Incredible Hulk , Trapper John, M.D. , Stingray (NBC TV series) , B. J. and the Bear , Ace Crawford, Private Eye , Mike Hammer (1984 TV Series), Jake and the Fatman , The Young Riders , Flamingo Road and Renegade . [4]
Preece also directed such films as The Prize Fighter (1979) [5] one of the most financially successful films ever released by New World Pictures, Great Day (1983), Beretta's Island (1994), [6] Walker Texas Ranger 3: Deadly Reunion (1994), Logan's War: Bound by Honor (1998) (for which he won a Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best TV Director), Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998), [7] and The President's Man (2000). [8]
Preece currently resides in Los Angeles, California. [9] In 1969 he married Evelyn Thomas (February 2, 1942 - March 26, 2017). He had four children from a previous marriage. His daughter Gretchen is married to singer-songwriter Randy Newman.
Preece has spoken at Women in Film breakfast meetings. [10]
Dallas is an American prime time soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1978, to May 3, 1991. The series revolved around an affluent and feuding Texas family, the Ewings, who owned the independent oil company Ewing Oil and the cattle-ranching land of Southfork. The series originally focused on the marriage of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies. As the series progressed, Bobby's elder brother, oil tycoon J.R. Ewing, became the show's breakout character, whose schemes and dirty business became the show's trademark. When the show ended on May 3, 1991, J.R. was the only character to have appeared in every episode.
Larry Martin Hagman was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera Dallas, and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Hagman had supporting roles in numerous films, including Fail-Safe, Harry and Tonto, S.O.B., Nixon, and Primary Colors. His television appearances also included guest roles on dozens of shows spanning from the late 1950s until his death, and a reprise of his signature role on the 2012 revival of Dallas. Hagman also worked as a television producer and director. He was the son of actress Mary Martin. Hagman underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995. He died on November 23, 2012, from complications of acute myeloid leukemia.
Walker, Texas Ranger is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film Lone Wolf McQuade, with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Texas Ranger Division. The show aired on CBS in the spring of 1993, with the first season consisting of three pilot episodes. Eight full seasons followed with new episodes airing from September 25, 1993, to May 19, 2001, and reruns continuing on CBS until July 28, 2001. It has been broadcast in over 100 countries and spawned a 2005 television film entitled Trial by Fire. The film ended on a cliffhanger, which was never resolved. DVD sets of all seasons have been released. At various times since 1997, reruns of the show have aired, in syndication, on the USA Network and Action in Canada.
Tracy Dawn Scoggins is an American actress and model. She began her career in Elite Model Management in New York City and the European modeling circuit. She returned to the United States and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio in the late 1970s. In early 1980s, Scoggins began appearing on television and film, notable playing main roles in the short-lived television series The Renegades (1983) and Hawaiian Heat (1984).
Patrick Duffy is an American actor and director widely known for his role on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas, where he played Bobby Ewing, the youngest son of Miss Ellie, and the brother of J.R. Ewing from 1978 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1991. Duffy returned to reprise his role as Bobby in a continuation of Dallas, which aired on TNT from 2012 to 2014. He is also well known for his role on the ABC sitcom Step by Step as Frank Lambert from 1991 to 1998, and for his role as Stephen Logan on the CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Duffy played the lead character's father in the 2014 NBC sitcom Welcome to Sweden.
Mitch Pileggi is an American actor. He played Horace Pinker in Shocker, Walter Skinner on The X-Files, Colonel Steven Caldwell on Stargate SG-1, Ernest Darby in Sons of Anarchy, and Harris Ryland in the TNT revival of Dallas (2012–2014).
Martial Law is an American crime action comedy television series created by Carlton Cuse that aired on CBS from September 26, 1998, to May 13, 2000. The title character, Sammo Law, is a Chinese law officer and martial arts expert who comes to Los Angeles in search of a colleague and remains in the United States.
Steve Forrest was an American actor who was well known for his role as Lt. Hondo Harrelson in the hit television series S.W.A.T. which was broadcast on ABC from 1975 to 1976. He was also known for his performance in Mommie Dearest (1981).
Leonard Katzman was an American film and television producer, writer and director. He was most notable for being the showrunner of the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas.
Steven Francis Kanaly is an American actor, best known for his role as Ray Krebbs on the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas.
Sheree Julienne Wilson is an American actress, producer, businesswoman, and model. She is best known for her roles as April Stevens Ewing on the American primetime television series Dallas (1986–1991) and as Alex Cahill-Walker on the television series Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001).
Elliott Pershing Stitzel, better known by his stage name Stephen Elliott, was an American actor. His best known roles were that of the prospective father-in-law, Burt Johnson, in the hit 1981 film Arthur and as Chief Hubbard in the 1984 blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop.
Jerrold Immel is a United States television music composer, whose most famous works are the theme tune to the soap opera Dallas and Voyagers!.
Sue Ellen Ewing is a fictional character and one of the female leads in the CBS primetime soap opera Dallas. Sue Ellen was portrayed by Linda Gray and appeared on the show since its pilot episode, first broadcast on April 2, 1978. Dallas followed the trials of the wealthy Ewing family in the city of Dallas, Texas, into which Sue Ellen married when she wed J.R. Ewing. Gray played Sue Ellen until the twelfth season of Dallas, when her character finally leaves Texas after beating J.R. at his own game in the 1989 episode "Reel Life". Gray returned for the 1991 series finale "Conundrum" and the subsequent Dallas telemovies. She reprised the role for the 2012 continuation series of Dallas, which ran until 2014.
Aaron Dee Norris is an American stunt performer, director, occasional actor, and film and television producer. He is the younger brother of action film star Chuck Norris.
Brad Leland is an American film and television actor best known for his role as Buddy Garrity in the NBC/DirecTV series Friday Night Lights. He has appeared in over 100 feature films and television shows and numerous theater performances.
Jerry Jameson is an American television and film director, editor and producer.
Arthur Bernard Lewis was an American television writer and producer. He wrote sixty-nine episodes of the CBS oil soap opera Dallas and was the supervising producer of over one hundred episodes of the show.
Dallas is an American prime time soap opera developed by Cynthia Cidre and produced by Warner Horizon Television, that aired on TNT from June 13, 2012, to September 22, 2014. The series was a revival of the prime time television soap opera of the same name that was created by David Jacobs and which aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991. The series revolves around the Ewings, an affluent Dallas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries.
Logan's War: Bound by Honor is a 1998 American made-for-television action film directed by Michael Preece. It was written by Walter Klenhard, based on a story he wrote with Chuck Norris and his brother Aaron. Chuck Norris also starred in the film, with Eddie Cibrian and Joe Spano. The film premiered on November 1, 1998 on CBS.
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