Jeff Bleckner (born August 12, 1943) is an American

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Biography

Born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, Bleckner made his directorial debut

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

with ''The Unseen Hand/Forensic and the Navigators'', an evening of one-act plays by

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

, in 1970. He also directed three off-Broadway productions of works by David Rabe: the first two plays in his

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

trilogy, ''

The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel ''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' is a play by David Rabe. Rabe's first play in his Vietnam War trilogy that continued with '' Sticks and Bones'' and '' Streamers'', its story is bracketed by scenes depicting the death of the everyman-like ...

'' and '' Sticks and Bones'' (both of which transferred to Broadway), and ''The Orphan''. Additional Broadway credits include Paul Zindel's ''The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild'' and

Herb Gardner Herbert George Gardner (December 28, 1934 – September 24, 2003) was an American commercial artist, cartoonist, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gardner was the son of a bar owner. His late brother, Robe ...

's '' The Goodbye People''. Bleckner's television directing credits include ''

Welcome Back, Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the ser ...

'', '' Bret Maverick'', ''The

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Stockard Channing, Her accolades include three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a nomination for an Acade ...

Show'', ''

Knots Landing ''Knots Landing'' is an American primetime television soap opera that aired on CBS from December 27, 1979, to May 13, 1993. A spin-off of ''Dallas (TV series), Dallas'', it was set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles and initially cente ...

'', ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

'', '' Trapper John, M.D.'', '' Lou Grant'', ''

Remington Steele ''Remington Steele'' is an American television series co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on NBC from October 1, 1982, ...

'', ''

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 Metropolitan Police Department staff ...

'', '' Commander in Chief'', ''

Medium Medium may refer to: Aircraft *Medium bomber, a class of warplane * Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Medium'' (1921 film), a German silent film * ''The Medium'' (1951 film), a film vers ...

'', '' Hawthorne'' Blackout Effect, NTSB The crash of flight 323 and ''

Boston Legal ''Boston Legal'' is an American legal comedy drama television series created by former lawyer and Boston native David E. Kelley, produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. The series aired from October 3, 2004, to Decem ...

'', in addition to numerous television movies. His most recent project is the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

for ''Conspiracy'', a potential series for the 2007–08 season, starring Lisa Sheridan as a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

attorney attempting to undercover the secrets of a

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

company she successfully defended. He is also the director of '' Remember Sunday (2013)'', an American romantic drama film.

Awards and nominations

;Awards *1971

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

Most Promising Director (''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'') *1972 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director (''Sticks and Bones'') *1982 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *1984 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (''Concealed Enemies'') *1984

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of Film director, film and Television director, television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Dir ...

Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *2001 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television ('' The Beach Boys: An American Family'') ;Nominations *1972

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Direction of a Play (''Sticks and Bones'') *1982

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (''Hill Street Blues'') *1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (''Do You Remember Love'') *1986 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials (''Do You Remember Love'') *1995 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special ('' Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story'') *2000 Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries ('' The Beach Boys: An American Family'') *2001 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (''The Beach Boys: An American Family'') *2004 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television (''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical theatre, musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns a confidence trick, con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and ...

'') *2012 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series ('' Beyond the Blackboard'', 2011)

References

External links

* *
Jeff Bleckner
at the Internet off-Broadway Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Bleckner, Jeff 1943 births American theatre directors American television directors Primetime Emmy Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Directors Guild of America Award winners Mass media people from Brooklyn Living people Film directors from New York City