Buzz Kulik

Directing·Jul 23, 1922·Kearny, New Jersey, USA

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Seymour "Buzz" Kulik (July 23, 1922 – January 13, 1999) was an American film director and producer. He directed 72 films and television shows, including the landmark CBS television network anthology series Playhouse 90 and several episodes of The Twilight Zone. Kulik went on to direct made-for-TV movies, such as Brian's Song. After leaving the army as a first lieutenant after World War II, Kulik went to work in the mail room at J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency in New York. He eventually saw a notice at work that they were looking for people to direct programs for a new medium called television, and Kulik responded. A lifelong baseball fan, he started directing the cameras at Yankee Stadium before starting a career directing live television programming such as Playhouse 90 and Lux Video Theater. He moved to Los Angeles in 1953 and eventually began directing some of the landmark series of the 1950s and 1960s including Perry Mason, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, Wagon Train, Rawhide, Dr. Kildare and The Defenders (for which he directed the pilot episode). He directed a dozen episodes of Twilight Zone, which brought him lasting fame and recognition among the legion of fans who religiously watch the Twilight Zone marathons that continue to air on holidays to this day. Kulik also began directing feature films in the 1960s including Explosive Generation with William Shatner, Warning Shot with David Jansen, Villa Rides with Robert Mitchum, Yul Brynner, and Charles Bronson, and Riot with Gene Hackman and Jim Brown. He directed the first television mini-series, Vanished, with Richard Widmark and James Farentino. In 1971, he directed what many critics and fans feel is the greatest television film ever made, Brian's Song, for which he received "Best Director" honors from the Directors Guild of America. For several years in a row the lead actors in the films he directed won "Best Actor" of the year including Peter Ustinov for A Storm in Summer, James Caan for Brian's Song, Alan Alda for Kill Me if You Can, Susan Clark for Babe, and Anthony Hopkins for The Lindbergh Kidnapping. Some of the prominent long-form mini series he directed were From Here to Eternity with Natalie Wood and William Devane, Around the World in 80 Days with Pierce Brosnin and Peter Ustinov, and Kane and Abel with Peter Strauss. In the 1970s and 1980s he also directed feature films including To Find a Man, Shamus with Burt Reynolds, and The Hunter with Steve McQueen. Over the course of a career that lasted more than 40 years, Buzz Kulik established himself, and is remembered today, as one of the greatest television directors of all time.

Film	Credit
Too Young The Hero1988 · Director	Director
Her Secret Life1987 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Women of Valor1986 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
The Hunter1980 · Director	Director
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women1978 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Kill Me If You Can1977 · Director	Director
Corey: For the People1977 · Director	Director
Babe1977 · Director	Director
Never Con a Killer1977 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case1976 · Director	Director
Matt Helm1975 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Cage Without a Key1975 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Bad Ronald1974 · Director	Director
GGive Me Liberty1974 · Director	Director
Remember When1974 · Director	Director
Pioneer Woman1973 · Director	Director
Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John1973 · Director	Director
Shamus1973 · Director	Director
Incident on a Dark Street1973 · Director	Director
The Man Who Came to Dinner1972 · Director	Director
Crawlspace1972 · Director	Director
To Find a Man1972 · Director	Director
Brian's Song1971 · Director	Director
A Storm in Summer1970 · Director	Director
Riot1969 · Director	Director
Villa Rides1968 · Director	Director
Sergeant Ryker1968 · Director	Director
Warning Shot1967 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Ready for the People1964 · Director	Director
The Yellow Canary1963 · Director	Director
The Explosive Generation1961 · Director	Director
The Killers of Mussolini1959 · Director	Director
Collector’s Item1957 · Director	Director
No Right to Kill1956 · Director	Director