Remembering Ralph Senensky

We are sad to learn that director Ralph Senensky has passed away at the age of 102. Senensky began his television career on Playhouse 90 before going to direct Star Trek, The Waltons, Mission: Impossible, and dozens of other iconic series throughout the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s.

Below are some excerpts from his 2011 interview:

On directing the Star Trek episode “This Side of Paradise”:

“It's a fallacy when you think that directors tell actors how to play a scene. You stage the scene. You know, you stage the blocking and if what they’re doing emotionally is off, you acknowledge it. But I mean, Leonard Nimoy wasn’t off. And one of the memorable moments in that, there was a scene where Spock has been off with Leila. And Kirk has been trying to reach him and finally catches up with him. And I originally, as it was written in the script, and the way I staged it … there were five of them. Kirk, Sulu, one other man, and Leonard, and Jill Ireland, who was playing Leila. And they were standing in the center of the field talking. And Kirk is saying, you know, why wouldn’t you talk to me, you know, why were you disrespectful when I tried to reach you on the phone? And Spock was being a little sassy. And it just wasn’t working. And I looked across the field and there was this wonderful branch. And I said to Gerry Finnerman - and I’d never done it before, and I’ve never done it since - I said I want to break the set up and move it and go someplace else. He said fine. So, we went over there and that was where I had Spock hang, hang like a monkey, from the limb. And he just, he just changed. I mean, he used that and it just became a wonderful scene and then Bill Shatner, his response to him, hanging from the limb and just the, you know, the disrespect he was showing, he played it. It's a classic scene.”    

On his approach to working with actors as a director:

“I like actors. I mean, I like actors. I admire acting. I’ve gone to many different acting classes and studied acting. …So I was aware of approaches to acting. I feel that… as a director you don’t come in and have your way of directing and then direct that and everybody, every actor should adapt. I mean, I think actors are each very individual. And it's up to the director to handle the actor in the way that the actor will give the best performance. I mean, that’s what a doctor does with patients. You treat them individually.”

On directing The Waltons’ episode “The Marathon” and his personal memories of dance marathons:

“When I was about 10 years old, there was a marathon, a dance marathon in Mason City [Iowa], at the Armory. And we went every Friday night. And I was so caught up in it, every morning when I got up I would call to see who had dropped out the night before. And Friday nights they had a talent contest. And I entered one night and played piano and won first prize; 50 cents. It was the Depression. …That’s one of my two favorite episodes of The Waltons. And then, on that show, the art directors did an incredible job. And we needed a huge hall. Well, the budget and there wasn’t the space to do it. So, Ed Graves, the art director set up a big black cyclorama. There were no walls. Then he just set up bleachers, the platform for the piano and some columns. And that was it. And then Russell Metty, that superlative cameraman, then lit it and you’re not aware that you’re not in a big room. And Russell Metty, who at this point was an elderly man, not too well, and on The Waltons, he could just sit in his chair and with his gaffing crew he could dictate. That show he did not sit in his chair. He was out on his feet because he was lighting it and it's, I just think, some spectacular work. Loved it.”

On advice for aspiring directors:

“Turn the clock back and let’s go back and do it the way they did it back in the 50’s and 60’s. And if we can’t turn the clock back, let’s do some way to go back and see how they were doing it. Not in the result, but just in the approach to the work. The dedication to the work and the commitment to the work and try to bring some of that back.”

Watch Ralph Senensky’s full interview and ready his obituary in The Hollywood Reporter.