Lee Philips (born Leon Friedman; January 10, 1927 – March 3, 1999) was an American actor,

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 ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

Life and career

Philips was born in New York. His acting career started on Broadway, and peaked with a starring role as Michael Rossi in the film adaptation of '' Peyton Place'' opposite Lana Turner. He appeared in the

Paddy Chayefsky Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays. He was ...

motion picture, ''Middle of the Night'' (1959) as

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...

's character's ex-husband, George. The following year, Philips was cast as the compassionate Lieutenant Wood in the episode, "The White Healer", on the syndicated television

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a dif ...

, ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'', hosted by Stanley Andrews. Later in the 1960s, his career shifted towards directing, with credits ranging from the television series of '' Peyton Place'' to ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Prod ...

''. He still did occasional acting, such as his appearance in 1963 in "Never Wave Goodbye", a two-part episode of '' The Fugitive''. He also guest starred on '' The Outer Limits'' in the premiere episode, " The Galaxy Being". Also in 1963, he played a lead role in "

Passage on the Lady Anne "Passage on the Lady Anne" is an episode of the American television anthology series ''The Twilight Zone''. In this episode, a couple whose marriage is struggling travel aboard an aging ocean liner, unaware that the ship is on a final voyage into ...

", an hour-long episode of ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

''; he returned to the show the following year in the episode " Queen of the Nile", where he plays a reporter named Jordan "Jordy" Herrick. He was Juror Number 5 in the Studio One version of Twelve Angry Men. He appeared in '' Flipper'' in 1964 and also made two guest appearances on '' Perry Mason'' in 1965: as Kevin Lawrence in "The Case of the Golden Venom", less than nine months later he played as murderer Gordon Evans in "The Case of the Fatal Fortune". Also guest starred on the '' Combat!'': episode: "A Walk with an Eagle". In 1973 he directed '' The Girl Most Likely to...'' starring

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series '' The West Wing'' ...

.Witbeck, Chrles . "''Red Badge of Courage'' / They Finally Got It Right" (''Boca Raton News'', December 6, 1974, page 8)
/ref> He directed

Dick Van Dyke Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, entertainer and comedian. His award-winning career has spanned seven decades in film, television, and stage. Van Dyke began his career as an entertainer on radio and telev ...

on several episodes of '' Diagnosis: Murder''. Philips died from progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

Filmography

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Philips, Lee 1927 births 1999 deaths American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors American film directors American television directors 20th-century American male actors Male actors from New York City