Kirk Browning
Encyclopedia
Kirk Browning was an American television director
and producer
who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of Live from Lincoln Center
.
Born in New York City, Browning dropped out of Cornell University
after attending for only one month and moved to Waco, Texas
, where he was hired as a newspaper reporter. Because of a childhood injury, he was rejected by the United States Army
when he tried to enlist during World War II, so he worked as an ambulance driver in England and France. In the late 1940s, he was a chicken farmer operating an egg route in Ridgefield, Connecticut
when one of his customers offered him a job in the music library at NBC
. The clerical position led to his directing live televised performances by the NBC Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Arturo Toscanini
. 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
's Amahl and the Night Visitors
in 1951; Frank Sinatra
's first special in 1957; numerous Hallmark Hall of Fame
productions between 1951 and 1958; Live from the Met
and Great Performances
for PBS
; and television adaptations of plays such as June Moon
, Damn Yankees!, A Touch of the Poet
, The Taming of the Shrew
, The Time of Your Life
, Tartuffe
, Fifth of July
, You Can't Take it with You
, The House of Blue Leaves
, Our Town
, and Death of a Salesman
, which earned him a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Television Film
.
Browning won two Primetime Emmy Award
s, one for directing a 1987 special with Plácido Domingo
and the other for his 1988 production of Turandot
, both broadcast by PBS, and two Daytime Emmy Award
s, for The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People in 1973 and La Gioconda
in 1979. He also received two Christopher Award
s and a Peabody Award
.
Browning died of a heart attack
in 2008.
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
who had hundreds of productions to his credit, including 185 broadcasts of Live from Lincoln Center
Live from Lincoln Center
Live From Lincoln Center is an ongoing series of musical performances produced by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in conjunction with Thirteen/WNET in New York City....
.
Born in New York City, Browning dropped out of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
after attending for only one month and moved to Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, where he was hired as a newspaper reporter. Because of a childhood injury, he was rejected by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
when he tried to enlist during World War II, so he worked as an ambulance driver in England and France. In the late 1940s, he was a chicken farmer operating an egg route in Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, the 300-year-old community had a population of 24,638 at the 2010 census. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S...
when one of his customers offered him a job in the music library at NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The clerical position led to his directing live televised performances by the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
. 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
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's Amahl and the Night Visitors
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. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
in 1951; Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
's first special in 1957; numerous Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
productions between 1951 and 1958; Live from the Met
Live from the Met
Live from the Metropolitan Opera is an American television program that presented performances of complete operas from the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, on the Public Broadcasting Service television network. The program began in 1977, and was telecast live for its first few seasons...
and Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
for PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
; and television adaptations of plays such as June Moon
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 not considered a musical per se.At its center is Fred...
, Damn Yankees!, A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet
A Touch of the Poet is a play by Eugene O'Neill.It and its sequel, More Stately Mansions, were intended to be part of a nine-play cycle entitled A Tale of Possessors Self-Dispossessed...
, The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew
The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1591.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken tinker named Sly into believing he is actually a nobleman himself...
, The Time of Your Life
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 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City...
, Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
, Fifth of July
Fifth of July
Fifth of July is a 1978 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Set in rural Missouri in 1977, it revolves around the Talley family and their friends, and focuses on the disillusionment with America in the wake of the Vietnam War...
, You Can't Take it with You
You Can't Take It with You
You Can't Take It with You is a comedic play in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. The original production of the play opened at the Booth Theater on December 14, 1936, and played for 837 performances...
, The House of Blue Leaves
The House of Blue Leaves
The House of Blue Leaves is a play by American playwright John Guare, first staged in 1966 by Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut....
, Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
, and Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman (2000 film)
Death of a Salesman is a 2000 television film directed by Kirk Browning, based on the 1949 play of the same name by Arthur Miller. The film stars American actor Brian Dennehy as Willy Loman ....
, which earned him a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Television Film
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Television Film
The Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television is one the of the annual awards given by the Directors Guild of America.-2000s:*2000: Jeff Bleckner – The Beach Boys: An American Family...
.
Browning won two Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
s, one for directing a 1987 special with Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
and the other for his 1988 production of Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, both broadcast by PBS, and two Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
s, for The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People in 1973 and La Gioconda
La Gioconda (opera)
La Gioconda is an opera in four acts by Amilcare Ponchielli set to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Angelo, tyran de Padoue, a play in prose by Victor Hugo, dating from 1835...
in 1979. He also received two Christopher Award
Christopher Award
The Christopher Award is presented to the producers, directors, and writers of books, motion pictures and television specials that "affirm the highest values of the human spirit"...
s and a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
.
Browning died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in 2008.