Kirk Browning (March 28, 1921 – February 10, 2008) was an American

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 ...

and producer who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of ''

Live from Lincoln Center ''Live from Lincoln Center'' was a seventeen-time Emmy Award-winning series that broadcast notable performances from the Lincoln Center in New York City on PBS starting 1976. The program aired between six and nine times per season. Episodes of '' ...

''. Born in New York City, Browning dropped out of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

after attending for only one month and moved to

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

, where he was hired as a newspaper reporter. Because of a childhood injury, he was rejected by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

when he tried to enlist during World War II, so he worked as an ambulance driver in England and France.''New York Times'' obituary
/ref> In the late 1940s, he was a chicken farmer operating an egg route in

Ridgefield, Connecticut Ridgefield is an affluent New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and on the New York state border, Ridgefield had a population o ...

when one of his customers offered him a job in the music library at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. The clerical position led to his directing live televised performances by the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, the parent corporation of the National Broadcasting Company especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC ...

conducted by

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

. Soon after he was made a stage manager of the network's newly formed opera company, and he later became its director. Among Browning's many credits are the premiere of the first opera written specifically for television,

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...

's ''

Amahl and the Night Visitors ''Amahl and the Night Visitors'' is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer.Menotti, Gian-Carlo: ''Amahl and the Night Visitors (piano-vocal score)'', G. Schirmer, Inc., 1997. It was commiss ...

'' in 1951;

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

's first special in 1957; numerous ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

'' productions between 1951 and 1958; '' Live from the Met'' and ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is produced by the PBS member statio ...

'' for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

; and television adaptations of plays such as ''

June Moon ''June Moon'' is a play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner. Based on the Lardner short story "Some Like Them Cold," about a love affair that loses steam before it ever gets started, it includes songs with words and music by Lardner but is n ...

'', '' Damn Yankees!'', ''

A Touch of the Poet ''A Touch of the Poet'' is a Play (theatre), play by Eugene O'Neill completed in 1942 but not performed until 1958, after his death. It and its sequel, ''More Stately Mansions'', were intended to be part of a nine-play cycle entitled ''A Tale ...

'', ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', ''

The Time of Your Life ''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway in 1939. C ...

'', ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

'', ''

Fifth of July Fifth of July may refer to: Dates * July 5 * Independence Day (Venezuela) * Fifth of July (New York) Other uses * ''Fifth of July'' (play) by Lanford Wilson * '' The Fifth of July'', album by Watershed {{disambiguation, date ...

'', '' You Can't Take it with You'', ''

The House of Blue Leaves ''The House of Blue Leaves'' is a play by American playwright John Guare which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Criti ...

'', ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...

'', and ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'', which earned him a nomination for the

Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Television Film Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

. Browning won two

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s, one for directing a 1987 production of

's ''Goya'' with

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

and the other for his 1988 production of ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', both broadcast by PBS, and two

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

s, for ''The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People'' in 1973 and '' La Gioconda'' in 1979. He also received two

Christopher Award The Christopher Award (established 1949) is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, films and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit". It is given by The Christophers, a Christian organizatio ...

s and a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

. Browning died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 2008.

Selected productions

* '' NBC Opera Theatre'': ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'' (1953) * '' NBC Opera Theatre'': ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' (1957) * ''Kennedy Center Tonight'': Stravinsky's Firebird by the

Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

'' (1982) * ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever and direc ...

'': ''

'' * ''Live from Lincoln Center'': ''

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Conducts Beethoven's Ninth with the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

'' (1983) * '' Live from the Metropolitan Opera'': ''Centennial Gala'' (1984) * '' Live from the Metropolitan Opera'': ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' (1985) * ''

'': ''

The Gospel at Colonus ''The Gospel at Colonus'' is an African-American musical version of Sophocles's tragedy, '' Oedipus at Colonus. '' The show was created in 1983 by the experimental-theatre director Lee Breuer, one of the founders of the seminal American avant-ga ...

'' (1986) * '' Verdi's Requiem'' (1986) * ''

'':

's ''Goya'' (1987) * ''

'': ''

'' * ''Christmas with the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, formerly known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, is an American choir affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It has performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle for o ...

and

Shirley Verrett Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 – November 5, 2010) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who successfully transitioned into soprano roles making her a Soprano sfogato. Verrett enjoyed great fame from the late 1960s through the 1990s; she was ...

'' (1987) * '' The Metropolitan Opera Presents'': ''

'' * ''A Pavarotti Celebration: Scenes from

La Bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'' (1989) * ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' (1998) * ''

'' (2000)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Browning, Kirk 1921 births 2008 deaths American television directors American television producers Primetime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award winners