Thomas Harry Cherones, Jr. ( ; born September 11, 1939) is an American director and producer of several

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

. He is best known for his work on ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', where he directed 81 of the 86 episodes of the first five seasons. For his work directing the series, he won a Directors Guild of America Award, and a

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 ...

as producer.

Early life

Cherones was born and raised in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, where his father, Tom Cherones, Sr. operated a radio and television repair shop. His grandfather was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

immigrant. His mother was Hazel Belle Hyche. He has a younger brother, Bill Cherones, who also worked in Hollywood. Cherones graduated from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and received a master's degree in telecommunications from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

in 1966. From 1961 to 1965, he was a lieutenant in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Television career

Cherones began working in educational television while a student at the

and later produced and directed programs for WQED in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. His first work after moving to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

in 1975 was as a production manager for ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

''. Cherones began as a television director on ''

My Sister Sam ''My Sister Sam'' is an American television sitcom starring Pam Dawber and Rebecca Schaeffer that aired on CBS from October 6, 1986, to April 12, 1988. Synopsis The sitcom follows the lives of a 29-year-old San Francisco freelance photographe ...

'' in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he directed and produced ''Seinfeld'' (81 episodes) and ''

NewsRadio ''NewsRadio'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from March 21, 1995, to May 4, 1999, focusing on the work lives of the staff of a New York City AM news radio station. It had an ensemble cast featuring Dave Foley, Stephen R ...

'' (56 episodes). His work on ''Seinfeld'' won him praise as well as an

Emmy 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 catego ...

, a DGA Award and a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

. Cherones also worked on '' Welcome Back Kotter'', ''

Caroline in the City ''Caroline in the City'' is an American television sitcom that ran on NBC from 1995 until 1999. It stars Lea Thompson as cartoonist Caroline Duffy, who lives in Manhattan. The rest of the cast includes Eric Lutes, Malcolm Gets, Amy Pietz, an ...

'', '' Annie McGuire'', and '' Ellen.'' Several of Cherones's ''Seinfeld'' episodes are considered highlights of the series, including " The Chinese Restaurant," " The Parking Garage," and " The Contest," with the latter featured in rankings of the greatest television episodes of all time."TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time" ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

''; June 15, 2009; Pages 34–49 Within ''Seinfeld'', he appears in a cameo as the fictional director in " The Pilot." Cherones left ''Seinfeld'' after season five at Jerry Seinfeld's request: "He was tired of the same thing, I guess. We changed writers almost every season, and finally he just wanted somebody else, another presence, to try to keep it fresh," Cherones said. He was succeeded as lead director by

Andy Ackerman Robert Andrew Ackerman (born September 19, 1956) is an American director, producer, and script editor who is best known for his work on ''Seinfeld'', '' The New Adventures of Old Christine'' and the HBO series ''Curb Your Enthusiasm''. Early ...

. In 2003, Cherones was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame in 2001.

Later life

From 2002 to 2014, Cherones taught a film production course at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, where he had earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1976. In 2012, Cherones published his first novel, ''The Hardly Boys'', a parody of the old ''Hardy Boys'' books.

Personal life

Cherones has two children, Susan and Scott, from his first marriage. He moved to Hollywood in 1975 with his second wife, Joyce Keener, who died in 2006. Cherones is married to photographer Carol E. Richards. They divide their time between Florence, Oregon, and

Taos, New Mexico Taos () is a town in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Santa Fe ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherones, Tom 1939 births American people of Greek descent American television directors 21st-century American novelists American parodists Parody novelists Living people People from Tuscaloosa, Alabama University of Alabama alumni University of New Mexico alumni Directors Guild of America Award winners Primetime Emmy Award winners People from Florence, Oregon People from Taos, New Mexico Television producers from Alabama Television producers from Oregon American male novelists