David Anspaugh (born September 24, 1946) is an American television and film director.

Professional career

After earning a bachelor's degree from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship campus of Indiana University and, with over 40,000 students, its largest ca ...

, Anspaugh moved to

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky Moun ...

, where he worked as a substitute teacher and ski instructor for several years. Anspaugh then enrolled in 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) School of Cinematic Arts. His work as an associate producer on

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s led to his producing and directing ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

''. He followed this with directing '' St. Elsewhere'' and ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

''. Anspaugh's

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directing debut was '' Hoosiers'', a nostalgic sports drama about a small-town team winning the Indiana state basketball title in 1952. The film was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. It was named best sports film of all time by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

in 2015 and by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's expert panel and website users in 2005. ''Hoosiers'' also was named to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

. Anspaugh's other feature-film directing credits include '' Fresh Horses'', ''

Rudy Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...

'', '' Moonlight and Valentino'', '' WiseGirls'', '' The Game of Their Lives'', and '' Little Red Wagon''. He also has directed several TV movies. In spring 2015, Anspaugh taught a class at Indiana University in directing for film and TV. In 2015 and 2017, he directed plays for the Bloomington Playwrights Project. Anspaugh made his acting debut in the 2019 BPP production of ''To Quiet the Quiet'', which he also directed. In 2017, he directed the musical '' Spring Awakening'' at Ivy Tech Bloomington.

Personal life

Anspaugh was born in Decatur, Indiana, to Lawrence (a portrait photographer) and Marie Anspaugh. He has a younger sister, Jane. He was married from 1974 to 1988 to cruise line sales manager Tamara Kramer. They have a daughter, Vanessa. Anspaugh married ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

'' actress

Roma Downey Roma Burnett (née Downey) is an actress, producer, and author from Derry, Northern Ireland. She produced the mini-series ''The Bible'' for the History Channel and also appeared in it as Mary, mother of Jesus. For nine seasons she played Moni ...

on November 24, 1995. The couple had a daughter, Reilly Marie, on June 3, 1996. In 1997, Anspaugh was diagnosed as clinically depressed and was treated at a rehabilitation clinic. The condition ultimately led to a breakdown of his marriage. Downey filed for divorce in March 1998; it was finalized later that year. After living in California for three decades, in June 2014 Anspaugh relocated to Bloomington, Indiana.

Awards

Anspaugh received two Primetime Emmy Awards for producing ''

'' and a

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Catego ...

for directing ''Hill Street Blues''. On the night of the world premiere of ''Hoosiers'' in 1986, Anspaugh was named a

Sagamore of the Wabash The Sagamore of the Wabash is an honorary award created by the U.S. state of Indiana during the term of Governor Ralph F. Gates, who served from 1945 to 1949. A tri-state meeting was to be held in Louisville with officials from Indiana, Ohio ...

. This is Indiana's highest civilian honor, given to those who have rendered distinguished service to the state or governor. He was awarded Indiana's Governor's Arts Award in 1991. In 1996 he received Indiana University's Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion for Distinguished Achievement. The Indiana Historical Society named Anspaugh an Indiana Living Legend in 2011. In 2013 Anspaugh was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He also received the Hall's Silver Medal Award, given in recognition of contributions to Indiana high school basketball by someone other than a high school player or coach."Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Honors 'Hoosiers'"
WBUR, December 28, 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anspaugh, David 1946 births Living people American television directors USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni People from Decatur, Indiana Film directors from Indiana Directors Guild of America Award winners Indiana University Bloomington alumni Television producers from Indiana