Sharron Miller

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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

YearTitleDirectorProducerWriterEditor
1981Cradle Song [20] YesYesYesYes
1978 The House of the Dead YesNoNoYes
1976 Deportee YesYesYesYes
1971 Felice YesYesYesYes

Television

YearTitleNotes
2002 The District
2001–2002 That's Life
1999 Hyperion Bay
1998 Any Day Now
1997 Fame L.A.
1996 The Client
1996 Mr. & Mrs. Smith
1995 Christy
1994 Hotel Malibu Pilot
1993 Second Chances
1992–1993 Homefront
1993 Sisters
1990–1992 The Trials of Rosie O'Neill
1991 Father Dowling Mysteries
1990 The Outsiders Pilot
1989 China Beach
1988 Little Girl Lost TV movie
1988 Pigeon Feathers PBS American Playhouse Drama
1984–1988 Cagney & Lacey
1986–1987 L.A. Law
1986 Pleasures TV movie
1984 The Paper Chase
1984 Maximum Security Also editor
1983-1985 This is the Life
1983 The Woman Who Willed a Miracle Also producer, ABC Afterschool Special
1979–81 In Search of ... Apso producer, writer and editor
1976–78 The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams

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

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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. ↑ "Galen Clark, Mariposa Grove Cabin - Yosemite National Park (U.S. 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. ↑ "Cradle Song". IMDb .
  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.

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