Joseph Sargent, an Emmy-winning director who worked on many TV shows and occasional films such as Colossus: The Forbin Project and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, passed away today at the age of 89.
Sargent played a key role in two of the genres that I follow on a regular basis.
First, in 1966, he directed an episode of the original Star Trek series called ‘The Corbomite Maneuver’. It was the first regular episode of that series, following the two pilots, and it was also the episode that introduced the world to Dr McCoy, Lt Uhura and Yeoman Rand.
Then, in 1993, he directed Abraham, one of the first TV-movies produced as part of ‘The Bible Collection’. It starred Richard Harris and Barbara Hershey as Abraham and Sarah (this was only five years after Hershey played Mary Magdalene in The Last Temptation of Christ), and while it meanders a bit — just like the biblical Abraham did — it’s a fairly decent adaptation of the biblical story.
The news of Sargent’s passing got me wondering if he was the first director of a ‘Bible Collection’ film to pass away — and sure enough, he was. These are the others:
- Ermanno Olmi (Genesis: Creation and the Flood) — born 1931, age 83
- Peter Hall (Jacob) — born 1930, age 84
- Roger Young (Joseph, Moses, Solomon, Jesus, St. Paul) — born 1942, age 72
- Nicolas Roeg (Samson and Delilah) — born 1928, age 86
- Robert Markowitz (David) — born 1935, age 79
- Harry Winer (Jeremiah) — born 1947, age 67
- Raffaele Mertes (Esther, The Apocalypse) — born 1959, age 55
Sargent was, by all accounts, a widely respected filmmaker within his field, and he won four Emmys and was nominated for five more. He also won three Directors Guild awards and was nominated for five more of those, too. May he rest in peace.
The film Abraham happens to be on YouTube right now. You can watch it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ANJ13iWUU
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In