Larry Auerbach
Encyclopedia
Larry Auerbach is an American
television director.
Auerbach's career as a director coincided with the early years of television and the organization of the fledgling medium's directors during the first years after the Second World War.
A director for half a century, he was a member of the Directors Guild of America
(DGA) and one of its predecessors, the Radio and Television Directors Guild, which merged with the Screen Directors Guild in 1960 to form today's DGA. He was a former National Vice President of the DGA, as well as member of its National Board.
and Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Auerbach became the first director of Mr. Wizard in 1951, following a brief stint on Zoo Parade, a live program from the Chicago Zoo with Marlon Perkins that predated the long-running Wild Kingdom
.
on the CBS network. With Auerbach as the principal director, Love of Life was part of the early careers of actors Frances Sternhagen
, Paul Michael Glaser
, Christopher Reeve
, Roy Scheider
, Bonnie Bedelia
, Jessica Walter
, Nancy Marchand
, Ray Wise
, Warren Beatty
and Peter Falk
.
Love of Life ran for 28 years, with Auerbach at the helm for most of the episodes and still directing when the show ended in 1980 (at the time, it was the second-longest running show on television). The series concluded with Auerbach walking from empty set to empty set, turning off the lights, accompanied by Tony Bennett
's song, "We'll Be Together Again".
From there, Auerbach went on to direct several other New York-based soaps, including All My Children
, One Life to Live
, Another World
and As the World Turns
. By the time of his retirement from directing in the late 1990s, Auerbach had reached iconic status in New York daytime drama circles, with a career that spanned five full decades. He was among those interviewed by Dustin Hoffman
for the soap opera comedy, Tootsie
. Given the never-ending production cycle of soap operas (they do not have rerun seasons) and the massive number of minutes produced each week (many soaps are now daily one-hour shows, as opposed to the early 15- and 30-minute series), it seems likely that Auerbach has directed more dramatic (i.e., non-news) television than any other American director (approximately 3,000 hours).
, Frank Capra
, Walt Disney
, Darryl F. Zanuck
, Louis B. Mayer
, Jack Warner
, Lew Wasserman
, Elia Kazan
, Chuck Jones
, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
and Jack Valenti
.
He also received a Daytime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Directing in 1984 for his work on ABC's One Life to Live
.
His recollections and advice on directing soaps are featured in the books The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920–1961 by Jeff Kisseloff, Take One: Television Directors on Directing by Jack Kuney and Directing for Television: Conversations with American TV Directors by Brian G. Rose. His work on All My Children is featured in an episode of the 1982 PBS series Media Probes. A collection of kinescopes of his early work on Love of Life is archived at The Paley Center for Media in New York.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television director.
Auerbach's career as a director coincided with the early years of television and the organization of the fledgling medium's directors during the first years after the Second World War.
A director for half a century, he was a member of the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
(DGA) and one of its predecessors, the Radio and Television Directors Guild, which merged with the Screen Directors Guild in 1960 to form today's DGA. He was a former National Vice President of the DGA, as well as member of its National Board.
Directing for television
After a brief career in radio and later as a television stage manager for pioneering shows including Studs' Place with Studs TerkelStuds Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
and Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Auerbach became the first director of Mr. Wizard in 1951, following a brief stint on Zoo Parade, a live program from the Chicago Zoo with Marlon Perkins that predated the long-running Wild Kingdom
Wild Kingdom
Wild Kingdom, sometimes known as Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, is an American television show that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and was revived in 2002...
.
Directing for soap operas
In September, 1951, Auerbach was hired to be the first director of the soap opera Love of LifeLove of Life
Love of Life is an American soap opera which aired on CBS Daytime from September 24, 1951 to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation Search for Tomorrow had premiered three weeks before Love of Life, and who would go on to create The Secret Storm two and a half years...
on the CBS network. With Auerbach as the principal director, Love of Life was part of the early careers of actors Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Hussey Sternhagen is an American actress. Sternhagen has appeared on and off Broadway, in movies, and on TV since the 1950s.-Personal life:...
, Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor and director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the 1970s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch.-Early life:Glaser, the youngest of three...
, Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
, Roy Scheider
Roy Scheider
Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
, Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia
Bonnie Bedelia Culkin is an American actress best known for her supporting roles in the action film Die Hard and the courtroom drama Presumed Innocent...
, Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter
Jessica Walter is an American actress, known for the films Play Misty for Me, Grand Prix, and for her role as Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development...
, Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
, Ray Wise
Ray Wise
Raymond Nicolas "Ray" Wise is an American actor, known for his roles as Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks, as Leon C. Nash, right-hand henchman to villain Clarence Boddicker in the science fiction classic RoboCop, and recently as the Devil in the CW television series Reaper.-Life and career:Wise was...
, Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
and Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
.
Love of Life ran for 28 years, with Auerbach at the helm for most of the episodes and still directing when the show ended in 1980 (at the time, it was the second-longest running show on television). The series concluded with Auerbach walking from empty set to empty set, turning off the lights, accompanied by Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
's song, "We'll Be Together Again".
From there, Auerbach went on to direct several other New York-based soaps, including All My Children
All My Children
All My Children is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970 to September 23, 2011. Created by Agnes Nixon, All My Children is set in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. The show features Susan Lucci as Erica Kane, one of daytime's most...
, One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
, Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
and As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. By the time of his retirement from directing in the late 1990s, Auerbach had reached iconic status in New York daytime drama circles, with a career that spanned five full decades. He was among those interviewed by Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
for the soap opera comedy, Tootsie
Tootsie
Tootsie is a 1982 American comedy film that tells the story of a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. The movie stars Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lange, with a supporting cast that includes Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman,...
. Given the never-ending production cycle of soap operas (they do not have rerun seasons) and the massive number of minutes produced each week (many soaps are now daily one-hour shows, as opposed to the early 15- and 30-minute series), it seems likely that Auerbach has directed more dramatic (i.e., non-news) television than any other American director (approximately 3,000 hours).
Awards and recognition
Auerbach received the DGA's Robert B. Aldrich Award in 1991, and was named a DGA Honorary Life Member in 2004, joining a small, elite group that includes Charles Chaplin, David LeanDavid Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
, Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
, Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
, Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
, Lew Wasserman
Lew Wasserman
Lewis Robert "Lew" Wasserman was an American talent agent and studio executive, sometimes credited with creating and later taking apart the studio system in a career spanning more than six decades...
, Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career and is best known as the writer-director of All About Eve , which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won six. He was brother to screenwriter and drama critic Herman J...
and Jack Valenti
Jack Valenti
Jack Joseph Valenti was a long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and he was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world...
.
He also received a 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...
for Outstanding Directing in 1984 for his work on ABC's One Life to Live
One Life to Live
One Life to Live is an American soap opera which debuted on July 15, 1968 and has been broadcast on the ABC television network. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
.
His recollections and advice on directing soaps are featured in the books The Box: An Oral History of Television 1920–1961 by Jeff Kisseloff, Take One: Television Directors on Directing by Jack Kuney and Directing for Television: Conversations with American TV Directors by Brian G. Rose. His work on All My Children is featured in an episode of the 1982 PBS series Media Probes. A collection of kinescopes of his early work on Love of Life is archived at The Paley Center for Media in New York.