Barnet Kellman (born November 9, 1947) is an American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

and

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), ...

Biography

Barnet Kellman (born November 9, 1947) is an American theatre,

and

, and educator, best known for the premiere productions of new American plays, and for the pilots of long-running television series such as

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for ''FYI'', a ...

and Mad About You. He is the recipient of two

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s and a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. He is the co-founder and director of USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts, and holds the school's Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

Early life and education

Kellman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and raised in suburban

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. His father, was Joseph A. G. Kellman, an attorney, and his mother was Verona Kellman (née Kramer). He attended the

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

, Phi Beta Kappa and graduated cum laude in 1969. He attended Yale School of Drama, eventually earning his Ph.D from Union Institute at Antioch on a Danforth Graduate Fellowship. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, he studied theater and film in Europe and worked with renowned theater pioneer Joan Littlewood at her Theater Royal in Stratford, East London, appearing in her production of ''The Marie Lloyd Story''.

Theatre

Kellman began as an actor, joining Actors’ Equity at age nineteen. While still at Colgate, was an assistant to director Alan Schneider on the Broadway production of

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as '' The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (196 ...

's '' A Delicate Balance''. In the 1970s, he was a mainstay on New York City's Off-Broadway. He directed productions in the early seasons of Playwrights Horizons, and the Manhattan Theatre Club. His WPA Theatre production of Key Exchange introduced playwright Kevin Wade and moved to the Orpheum Theatre for a year long run, while his acclaimed Circle Rep production of ''Danny and the Deep Blue Sea'' introduced playwright John Patrick Shanley and actor John Turturro. For

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a ...

's New York Shakespeare Festival, he directed the works of David Rabe and William Hauptman. He was an Associate Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and, for ten years a regular director at the

Eugene O’Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

Theatre Center's National Playwrights Conference associated with works by Shanley, Lee Blessing and Richard Dresser. His Hudson Guild production of Lee Kalcheim's ''

Breakfast with Les and Bess ''Breakfast with Les and Bess'' was an off-Broadway play written by Lee Kalcheim that originally premiered at Hudson Guild Theatre in October 1982 before transferring to Lamb's Theatre in May 1983. Plot synopsis It follows a radio celebrity co ...

'' had a long run at the Lambs Theatre. Other notable premieres include plays by

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio and ...

and Donald Margulies. He is a past board member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers.

Television and Film

Kellman got his start in the early 1980s as a director for soap operas such as the

NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

daytime soap opera series '' Another World'' and CBS's '' As the World Turns''. He directed the Showtime adaptation of the long-running Broadway play, ''Gemini'', and the CBS special ''Orphans, Waifs and Wards''. He made his feature film directorial debut with the

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

screen adaptation of '' Key Exchange'', which starred Brooke Adams. An opportunity to direct the pilot episodes of half-hour TV comedies brought Kellman to Los Angeles. In his first pilot season he mounted pilots starring George Segal, Oprah Winfrey, Patty Lupone and Kenneth McMillan. His second pilot season brought success when his pilots of ''

The Robert Guillaume Show ''The Robert Guillaume Show'' is an American sitcom television series starring Robert Guillaume that aired on ABC from April 5 to July 19, 1989. Synopsis The series starred Guillaume as Edward Sawyer, a single father with two children who begins ...

'' and ''

'' were picked up as series. In 1999, Kellman directed the ''

'' finale episode, “Never Can Say Goodbye”. He won

s in 1990 and 1992 for his work. Kellman directed fifty pilots, half of which went to series, launching long runs such as

NBC's The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ar ...

'' Mad About You'', '' Suddenly Susan'', and '' George Lopez''. He also worked on CBS's ''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

'', '' Felicity'', '' E.R.'', '' Ally McBeal'', '' My Boys'' and ''

8 Simple Rules ''8 Simple Rules'' (originally ''8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter'') is an American sitcom television series originally starring John Ritter and Katey Sagal as middle-class parents Paul and Cate Hennessy, raising their three chi ...

''. Kellman made his feature film directorial debut with the

screen adaptation of '' Key Exchange'' which starred Brooke Adams. He went on to direct

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's 1992's '' Straight Talk'' starring

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

as a sultry, wise-cracking DJ., and the Tri-Star release ''

Slappy and the Stinkers ''Slappy and the Stinkers'' is a 1998 American direct-to-video family adventure comedy film directed by Barnet Kellman. The film stars B. D. Wong and Bronson Pinchot. Its plot concerns a group of children who try to save an abused sea lion from ...

'' for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acq ...

in 1998. In 2000, he directed the ABC television movie ''Mary and Rhoda'', reuniting

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on '' The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), whi ...

and Valerie Harper. When Murphy Brown returned to the CBS schedule for an eleventh season in 2018, Kellman returned to direct the season finale.

Teaching career

In 2008, during a Writers Guild strike, Kellman joined the film faculties of the American Film Institute and the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). In 2011, he was awarded tenure at USC and co-founded the school's groundbreaking comedy program, USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts. In 2017, USC named him inaugural holder of its Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

Awards and nominations

Emmy Award: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown'' 1992 Emmy Award: Best Comedy, ''Murphy Brown'' - Producer 1990 Directors Guild Award: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy, ''Murphy Brown'' Pilot 1989 Monitor Award: Best Director, ''Pepsi – To The Victors'', starring Martin Sheen 1985 Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown,'' 1991 Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown'' 1990 Directors Guild Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown,'' 1990 Emmy Nomination: Best Comedy ''Murphy Brown'' - Producer 1990 Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown'' 1989 Viewers For Quality Television Award 1989 Media Access Award 1989 Directors Guild Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown'' 1988 Emmy Nomination: Outstanding Direction of a Comedy Series, ''Murphy Brown'' 1988 Daytime Emmy Nomination: Best Direction, ''Another World'' 1981

Selected filmography

Director

* '' Samantha Who?'' * '' Notes from the Underbelly'' * ''

Four Kings ''Four Kings'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 5 to March 16, 2006, as a part of winter 2006 programming, but was cancelled before the end of the season. It starred Seth Green, Josh Cooke, Shane McRae, and Todd G ...

'' * '' Living with Fran'' * '' George Lopez'' * ''

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the J ...

'' * ''

Mary and Rhoda ''Mary and Rhoda'' is a 2000 American made-for-television comedy-drama film starring Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper reprising their roles as Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern from the 1970–1977 sitcom ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. ...

'' * '' Felicity'' * '' Good Advice'' * ''

'' * '' ER'' * '' Bless This House'' * ''

'' * '' Mad About You'' * '' Straight Talk'' * ''

'' * '' Another World'' * '' True Jackson, VP''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kellman, Barnet American male film actors American television directors Television producers from New York City 1947 births Living people Film directors from New York City Directors Guild of America Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners Yale School of Drama alumni Colgate University alumni Union Institute & University alumni