Remembering Bruce Bilson
We are sad to learn that director Bruce Bilson has passed away at the age of 97. Bilson’s television directing career included helming dozens of the biggest TV hits of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s including The Andy Griffith Show, The Patty Duke Show, Get Smart (for which he won an Emmy), The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Dynasty.
Below are some excerpts from his 2008 interview:
On moving from assistant director to director:
“It was very simple and very dramatic. My watch started going three times as fast as it ever had. Time was flying by, I couldn’t believe it, I knew how long it took to do things on a set, I’d been doing it for ten years and boy it was just going. … We broke for dinner, the worst thing to happen to you, right. And I’m walking to dinner and one of the crew, I don’t know if it was a grip or electrician, said, ‘You from New York?’ I said, ‘No, why?’ He said, ‘Well I’ve never seen you before, but you seem to know what you’re doing.’ And that helped.”
On winning the Emmy for Get Smart:
“It was terrific and it was surprising. It was at Hollywood Palladium…I was at table with Don Adams and Don Rickles, my wife, and you know the rest of the people there. And I’m sitting back… and all of a sudden we win the second award and I was up there. Man, and it was great. It was my 40th birthday, it was on my birthday, I had been in Buenos Aires directing this terrible movie and I came home for this, and so there were all these good things going.”
On his proudest career achievement:
“You know the proudest achievement in my career is my career. And I’ve done a lot of things for a lot of different people, and I’ve done well enough I think to want me to do more. I’ve always tried to be human, portray humanity and honesty and treat crews like any -- I used to have a saying, any person in this big room we call a soundstage can help you or hurt you, so you better be nice to them.”
On advice to aspiring directors:
“Well, one is that thing I said about everybody in that big room called a soundstage can help you or hurt you, so you better treat them all with respect number one. And number two, know the script better than anybody else on the company and I really mean that. And then tell the story and when you get stuck, stop, read the script and say, ‘What is this scene really about and why is it here?’ And if you can’t get an answer, call the producer.”
Watch Bruce Bilson’s full interview and read his obituary in The Hollywood Reporter.
