Joseph Pevney

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Joseph Pevney
Born	September 15, 1911(1911-09-15) New York City, New York, United States
Died	May 18, 2008 (aged 96) Palm Desert, California, United States
Occupation	Film and television director

Joseph Pevney (September 15, 1911 – May 18, 2008) was an American film and television director.

[edit] Biography

Pevney was born on September 15, 1911 in New York City, New York.

He made his debut in vaudeville as a boy soprano in 1924. Although he hated vaudeville, he loved the theatre and developed a career as a stage actor, appearing in such plays as Home of the Brave, The World We Make, Key Largo, Golden Boy and Nature Son. A short career as a film actor followed, his most notable appearance being in the classic 1947 boxing film Body and Soul, in which he played the role of Shorty Pulaski. Subsequently Pevney became a prolific film and television director, with a directing career that spanned over 80 productions from 1950 to 1984. Among those were films including Female on the Beach (1955) with Joan Crawford and Jeff Chandler, Tammy and the Bachelor (1957) with Debbie Reynolds and Leslie Nielsen, the James Cagney vehicle Man of a Thousand Faces (1957), and Westerns such as The Plunderers (1960).

Pevney also helmed multiple episodes of noted television series, including Bonanza, Star Trek, The Paper Chase, and Trapper John, M.D.. He is tied with Marc Daniels for directing the most original Star Trek episodes, including such fan favorites as "The Devil in the Dark, "Arena", "The City on the Edge of Forever", "Amok Time", and "The Trouble with Tribbles".^[1] Star Trek NBC executive Herb Solow and executive co-producer Robert Justman write, in their 1996 book "Star Trek The Real Story," of Pevney:

Joseph Pevney was an ex-actor turned director. Some former actors become good directors; some become hack directors. Pevney was the former, but more than just "good."^[2]

Pevney died on May 18, 2008 in Palm Desert, California at age 96.^[3]^[4]