Sharron Miller

Last updated

Sharron Miller
Born
Enid, Oklahoma
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She is one of the pioneering women directors who worked regularly in mainstream Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s (along with Elaine May, Lee Grant, Joan Darling, Joan Micklin Silver, Karen Arthur, Gabrielle Beaumont, Lela Swift, Gwen Arner, Randa Haines, and Kim Friedman). [1] In 1984 she was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award (DGA Award) for directing a narrative (non-documentary) work. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Career

Born in Enid, Oklahoma and raised in Perry, Oklahoma, Miller began writing and directing short films as a teenager. [5] After graduating from Oklahoma State University in 1971 with a degree in Theatre, she attended graduate school in Film at Northwestern University. In 1972, she went to Hollywood and worked as a script supervisor, sound editor, and film editor before becoming a professional director in 1976 when she was hired to direct the NBC television series, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams . This made her one of the handful of women directing in Hollywood at that time. She also edited the theatrical film Guardian of the Wilderness in 1976, the true story of mountaineer Galen Clark and Abraham Lincoln saving Yosemite from being destroyed by logging companies. [6] [7]

She has written and directed several short films, but the majority of her work has been in television where she has had a long and prolific career directing television movies and series. Early in her career she studied with acting teachers Jack Garfein, Harold Clurman, and Jeff Corey, and has demonstrated an ability to elicit strong performances from actors. Sharon Gless, Cloris Leachman and Peggy McCay all won Emmy Awards under her direction, and James Stacy received an Emmy nomination.

In 1983 Miller won the DGA Award, [8] two Emmy Awards, [9] the Peabody Award [10] and the Christopher Award [11] [12] for the ABC Afterschool Special she produced and directed, The Woman Who Willed a Miracle . [13] [14] This true-life drama is the story of Leslie Lemke, the blind and mentally retarded boy with cerebral palsy who became world-famous as a savant pianist. [15] It is one of the most well-known and honored of all Afterschool Specials, receiving Emmy Awards in all the major categories, in addition to numerous other awards.

In 1987 she was nominated for the DGA Award [16] and an Emmy Award [17] for directing two different episodes of the series, Cagney & Lacey (Turn, Turn, Turn part 1 and Turn, Turn, Turn part 2) [18] [19]

Selected filmography

Film
YearTitleNotes
1981 Cradle Song (1981 short film) [20] Director, producer, writer, editor
1978 The House of the Dead Director, editor
1976 Deportee Director, producer, writer, editor
1971 Felice Director, producer, writer, editor
Television
YearTitleNotes
2002 The District Director
2001–2002 That's Life Director, multiple episodes
1999 Hyperion Bay Director, multiple episodes
1998 Any Day Now Director
1997 Fame L.A. Director, multiple episodes
1996 The Client Director
1996 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Director
1995 Christy Director
1994 Hotel Malibu Director, the pilot
1993 Second Chances Director, the pilot, multiple episodes
1992–1993 Homefront Director, multiple episodes
1993 Sisters Director
1990–1992 The Trials of Rosie O'Neill Director, multiple episodes
1991 Father Dowling Mysteries Director
1990 The Outsiders Director, the pilot
1989 China Beach Director
1988 Little Girl Lost Director, TV movie
1988 Pigeon Feathers Director, PBS American Playhouse Drama
1984–1988 Cagney & Lacey Director, multiple episodes
1986–1987 L.A. Law Director, multiple episodes
1986 Pleasures Director, TV movie
1984 The Paper Chase Director
1984 Maximum Security Director, Editor, multiple episodes
1983-1985 This is the Life Director, multiple episodes
1983 The Woman Who Willed a Miracle Producer, Director, ABC Afterschool Special
1979–81 In Search of ... Producer, Director, Writer, Editor, multiple episodes
1976–78 The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams Director, multiple episodes

Awards

YearAwardResultCategorySeries
1983 Peabody Award WonTelevision Special ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Individual Direction in Children's Programming ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
Outstanding Children's Entertainment Special ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983 Christopher Award [21] Television Special ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983 Film Advisory Board Award of ExcellenceTelevision Special ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1983 New York International Film and TV Festival [22] [23] Gold Medal This Is the Life
(Episode "Bon Voyage and Shalom")
1983 Directors Guild of America Award [24] Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Shows – Daytime ABC Afterschool Special
"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle"
1984 New York International Film and TV Festival [25] Gold Medal This Is the Life
(Episode "Reprise for the Lord")
1985 New York International Film and TV Festival [26] Gold Medal This Is the Life
(Episode "The Face of Gabriel Ortiz")
1987 Viewers for Quality Television Award Best Director in a Quality Drama Series Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 2)
1987 Humanitas Prize Certificate

For Humanizing Achievement in Television

 Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 2)
1987 CINE Golden Eagle Award Drama American Playhouse
(Episode "Pigeon Feathers")
1988 Women in Film Award Lillian Gish Award for Excellence in Episodic Directing Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Don't I Know You?")
1988 Humanitas Prize Certificate

For Humanizing Achievement in Television

 Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Don't I Know You?")
1987 Primetime Emmy Award [27] NominatedOutstanding Directing in a Drama Series Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 2)
1987 Directors Guild of America Award [28] Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series Cagney & Lacey
(Episode "Turn, Turn, Turn", part 1)

Memberships

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Bancroft</span> American actress (1931–2005)

Anne Bancroft was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Tony Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She is one of only 24 thespians to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Directors Guild of America</span> Film and television trade union

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America.

Lynne Littman is an American film and television director and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Flannery</span> American actress

Susan Flannery is an American actress and director. She made her screen debut appearing in the 1965 Western film Guns of Diablo and later appeared in some television series. From 1966 to 1975, Flannery starred as Laura Horton on the NBC daytime soap opera, Days of Our Lives for which she received her first Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Robert Lieberman was an American film and television director.

The 11th Daytime Emmy Awards were held on Wednesday, June 27, 1984, to commemorate excellence in daytime programming from the previous year (1983). Once again, the ceremony was not telecast.

Helen Shaver is a Canadian actress and film and television director. After appearing in a number of Canadian movies, she received a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress for her performance in the romantic drama In Praise of Older Women (1978). She later appeared in the films The Amityville Horror (1979), The Osterman Weekend (1983), Desert Hearts (1985), The Color of Money (1986), The Believers (1987), The Craft (1996),Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996) and Down River (2013). She received another Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress nomination for the 1986 drama film Lost!, and won a Best Supporting Actress for We All Fall Down (2000). Shaver also starred in some short-lived television series, including United States (1980) and Jessica Novak (1981), and from 1996 to 1999 starred in the Showtime horror series, Poltergeist: The Legacy, for which she received a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Thomas</span> American director and actress (born 1947)

Betty Thomas is an American director and actress. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series Hill Street Blues. As of March 2018, Thomas is one of just two directors to have multiple films on the list of seventeen highest-US-grossing female-directed films. Additionally, two of her films are in the top twenty-five highest-US-grossing female-directed films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Coolidge</span> American filmmaker (born 1946)

Martha Coolidge is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as Valley Girl, Real Genius and Rambling Rose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenny Ortega</span> American filmmaker and choreographer

Kenneth John Ortega is an American filmmaker, touring manager, and choreographer. He is known for directing the films Newsies, Hocus Pocus, The Cheetah Girls 2, High School Musical, Michael Jackson's This Is It, Descendants, and Julie and the Phantoms. He also choreographed the films One from the Heart, St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Dirty Dancing; and directed multiple concert tours for Cher, Gloria Estefan, Miley Cyrus, and Michael Jackson. For his work, Ortega was honored with both a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Disney Legend Award in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Barclay</span> American television director and producer

Paris K. C. Barclay is an American television director, producer, and writer. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner and is among the busiest single-camera television directors, having directed nearly 200 episodes of television to date, for series such as NYPD Blue, ER, The West Wing, CSI, Lost, The Shield, House, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Glee, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Watcher, and American Horror Story: NYC. He also serves as an executive producer on many of the shows he directs, and occasionally as a writer or co-creator as well. From 2013 to 2017, Barclay served two terms as the President of the Directors Guild of America.

Randa Jo Haines is a film and television director and producer. Haines started her career as a script supervisor on several low-budget features in the 1970s, including Let's Scare Jessica to Death and The Groove Tube. She is best known for directing the critically acclaimed feature film Children of a Lesser God (1986), which starred William Hurt and Marlee Matlin, for which Matlin won the 1987 Academy Award as Best Actress, and which was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including an Academy Award for Best Picture. Haines also won the Silver Bear at the 37th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1989 she was a member of the jury at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2002 she was a member of the jury at the 24th Moscow International Film Festival.

"The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" is a 1983 episode of the American television anthology series ABC Afterschool Special, starring Cloris Leachman, M. Emmet Walsh, Leif Green and Rosemary Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Darling</span> American actress

Joan Darling is an American actress, film and television director and a dramatic arts instructor.

Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards.

Joanna Lee was an American writer, producer, director and actress.

<i>ABC Afterschool Special</i> American anthology television series (1972–1997)

ABC Afterschool Special is an American anthology television series that aired on ABC from October 4, 1972, to January 23, 1997, usually in the late afternoon on weekdays. Most episodes were dramatically presented situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were either in animated form or presented as documentaries. Topics included illiteracy, substance abuse and teenage pregnancy. The series won 51 Daytime Emmy Awards and four Peabody Awards during its 25-year run.

John Herzfeld is an American film and television director, screenwriter, actor and producer. His feature film directing credits include Two of a Kind, 2 Days in the Valley (1996), 15 Minutes (2001) and Escape Plan: The Extractors (2017). He has also directed numerous made-for-television movies, including The Ryan White Story (1989), The Preppie Murder (1989), Casualties of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story (1993) and Don King: Only in America (1997), for which he was nominated for an Emmy and won the DGA award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for directing the 1980 ABC Afterschool Special titled Stoned.

Neema Barnette is an American film director and producer, and the first African-American woman to direct a primetime sitcom. Barnette was the first African-American woman to get a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures. Since then, she accumulated a number of awards, including a Peabody, an Emmy and an NAACP Image Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Riggen</span> Mexican film director (born 1970)

Patricia Riggen is a Mexican film director. She is best known for directing the 2007 film Under the Same Moon and the 2011 Disney Channel original film Lemonade Mouth.

References

  1. ↑ "ROUGH GOING IN TV FOR WOMEN DIRECTORS". Los Angeles Times. November 18, 1986. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Awards / History / 1983". www.dga.org. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  3. ↑ "WOMEN DIRECTORS EARN MORE NOMINATIONS IN '87". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1987. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Celebrating Excellence - The DGA Awards' 60th Anniversary". www.dga.org. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Cherokee Strip Museum - Perry, Oklahoma". www.cherokee-strip-museum.org. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Galen Clark - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)".
  7. ↑ "Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias" (PDF). National Park Service.
  8. ↑ "Awards / History / 1983".
  9. ↑ 11th Daytime Emmy Awards#Outstanding Children.27s Entertainment Special
  10. ↑ "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" . Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Christopher Awards (1984)". IMDb. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Christophers, Inc". www.christophers.org. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008.
  13. ↑ "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle". February 9, 1983. Retrieved June 26, 2021– via IMDb.
  14. ↑ The Woman Who Willed a Miracle
  15. ↑ Treffert, Darold. "Whatever Happened to Leslie Lemke?". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Awards / History / 1987".
  17. ↑ "Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series Nominees / Winners 1987".
  18. ↑ "DGA Announces 1987 TV Award Nominees". Los Angeles Times. February 9, 1988. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Awards / History / 1987". www.dga.org. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  20. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237125/?ref_=login
  21. ↑ "Christopher Awards (1983)". IMDb .
  22. ↑ "New York International Film and TV Festival (1983)". IMDb. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 15, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ↑ "Awards History 1983". dga.org. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  25. ↑ "New York International Film and TV Festival (1984)". IMDb. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  26. ↑ "New York International Film and TV Festival (1985)". IMDb. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  27. ↑ "Sharron Miller".
  28. ↑ "DGA Announces 1987 TV Award Nominees". Los Angeles Times . February 9, 1988.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.