Bill Persky

American director, screenwriter and producer

Bill Persky

Born|  (1931-09-09) September 9, 1931 (age 92)
Occupation(s)| Television director
Screenwriter
Television producer
Actor
Spouse| Joanna Patton (3rd wife)
Children| Dana Persky
Jamie Persky
Liza Persky
Alexandra Feldon

Bill Persky (born September 9, 1931) is an American television director, screenwriter, and producer.

## Biography

[edit]

Persky was born to a Jewish family, the son of an estate auctioneer.[1] His father would travel between various resort towns where the wealthy lived to conduct estate auctions.[1] He has one older sister, Bunny Persky Grossinger, and attended Ramble Elementary School in Hot Springs, Arkansas.[1] During the summers, he worked as a lifeguard in the Borscht Belt in the Catskill Mountains.[1] He attended Syracuse University, where he studied advertising, and after school went to work for an advertising agency in New York City.[1] He then took a job at WNEW where he met Sam Denoff where they wrote jokes for the DJs out of fun which soon morphed into part of their job tasks.[1] The writing team moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s, taking a job to write for The Steve Allen Show.[1]

Persky and Denoff wrote some of the most popular episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show. They later wrote and created the television show That Girl starring Marlo Thomas as well as Good Morning World starring Joby Baker and Ronnie Schell. Persky directed 100 episodes of the situation comedy Kate and Allie.[2] He also directed the situation comedies The Practice (1976) and Busting Loose (1977), and the movie Serial (1980).

In 2015, Persky appeared on the reality TV show NY:ER (Season 2, Episode 13) as himself after suffering a collapsed lung. In the appearance, Persky had his wife bring a copy of his book My Life as a Situation Comedy to the ER so he could sign a copy for his nurse. His wife also claimed to have brought him a bottle of bourbon, which was not shown.[citation needed]

## Personal life

[edit]

Persky has been married three times. He has three daughters with his first wife: neuropsychologist Dana Persky, restaurateur Jamie Persky, and television producer Liza Persky. He had fourth daughter, Alexandra Feldon, with his second wife Marsha Pinkstaff. His third wife is New York advertising executive, Joanna Patton.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Robey, Charity (November 17, 2017). "Shelter Island profile: Bill Persky, seeking the 'nothing fancy'". Shelter Island Reporter. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
2. ^ Wendy S. Loughlin (April 15, 2010). "SU to host special event with Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, director Bill Persky '53 in New York City May 5". Syracuse University. Retrieved July 18, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* An interview with Bill Persky, March 2011
* Audio interview with Bill Persky, July 2014
* Bill Persky at IMDb
* Bill Persky at The Interviews: An Oral History of Television

Awards for Bill Persky

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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

1950s|

* Peter Tewksbury for "Medal for Margaret" (1959)

1960s|

* Ralph Levy & Bud Yorkin for The Jack Benny Show (1960)
* Sheldon Leonard for The Danny Thomas Show (1961)
* Nat Hiken for Car 54, Where Are You? (1962)
* John Rich for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963)
* Jerry Paris for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1964)
* No Award (1965)
* William Asher for Bewitched (1966)
* James Frawley for "Royal Flush" (1967)
* Bruce Bilson for "Maxwell Smart, Private Eye" (1968)
* Greg Garrison for "October 17, 1968" (1969)

1970s|

* Dwight Hemion for "The Sound of Burt Bacharach" (1970)
* Jay Sandrich for "Toulouse-Lautrec is One of My Favorite Artists" (1971)
* John Rich for "Sammy's Visit" (1972)
* Jay Sandrich for "It's Whether You Win or Lose" (1973)
* Jackie Cooper for "Carry On, Hawkeye" (1974)
* Gene Reynolds for "O.R." (1975)
* Gene Reynolds for "Welcome to Korea" (1976)
* Alan Alda for "Dear Sigmund" (1977)
* Paul Bogart for "Edith's 50th Birthday" (1978)
* Noam Pitlik for "The Harris Incident" (1979)

1980s|

* James Burrows for "Louie and the Nice Girl" (1980)
* James Burrows for "Elaine's Strange Triangle" (1981)
* Alan Rafkin for "Barbara's Crisis" (1982)
* James Burrows for "Showdown: Part 2" (1983)
* Bill Persky for "A Very Loud Family" (1984)
* Jay Sandrich for "The Younger Woman" (1985)
* Jay Sandrich for "Denise's Friend" (1986)
* Terry Hughes for "Isn't It Romantic?" (1987)
* Gregory Hoblit for "Pilot (Hooperman)" (1988)
* Peter Baldwin for "Our Miss White" (1989)

1990s|

* Michael Dinner for "Good-bye" (1990)
* James Burrows for "Woody Interruptus" (1991)
* Barnet Kellman for "Birth 101" (1992)
* Betty Thomas for "For Peter's Sake" (1993)
* James Burrows for "The Good Son" (1994)
* David Lee for "The Matchmaker" (1995)
* Michael Lembeck for "The One After the Superbowl" (1996)
* David Lee for "To Kill a Talking Bird" (1997)
* Todd Holland for "Flip" (1998)
* Thomas Schlamme for "Pilot" (Sports Night) (1999)

2000s|

* Todd Holland for "Pilot" (Malcolm in the Middle) (2000)
* Todd Holland for "Bowling" (2001)
* Michael Patrick King for "The Real Me" (2002)
* Robert B. Weide for "Krazee-Eyez Killa" (2003)
* Anthony and Joe Russo for "Pilot" (Arrested Development) (2004)
* Charles McDougall for "Pilot" (Desperate Housewives) (2005)
* Marc Buckland for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2006)
* Richard Shepard for "Pilot" (Ugly Betty) (2007)
* Barry Sonnenfeld for "Pie-lette" (2008)
* Jeffrey Blitz for "Stress Relief" (2009)

2010s|

* Ryan Murphy for "Pilot" (Glee) (2010)
* Michael Spiller for "Halloween" (2011)
* Steven Levitan for "Baby on Board" (2012)
* Gail Mancuso for "Arrested" (2013)
* Gail Mancuso for "Las Vegas" (2014)
* Joey Soloway for "Best New Girl" (2015)
* Joey Soloway for "Man on the Land" (2016)
* Donald Glover for "B.A.N." (2017)
* Amy Sherman-Palladino for "Pilot" (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) (2018)
* Harry Bradbeer for "Episode 1" (2019)

2020s|

* Andrew Cividino and Dan Levy for "Happy Ending" (2020)
* Lucia Aniello for "There Is No Line" (2021)
* MJ Delaney for "No Weddings and a Funeral" (2022)
* Christopher Storer for "Review" (2023)

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Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

1950s|

* James Allardice & Jack Douglas & Hal Kanter & Harry Winkler for The George Gobel Show (1955)
* Arnold M. Auerbach & Barry Blitzer & Vincent Bogert & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Harvey Orkin & Arnold Rosen & Terry Ryan & Tony Webster for The Phil Silvers Show (1956)
* No Award (1957)
* Billy Friedberg & Nat Hiken & Coleman Jacoby & Arnold Rosen & A.J. Russell & Terry Ryan & Phil Sharp & Tony Webster & Sydney Zelinka for The Phil Silvers Show (1958)
* George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1959)

1960s|

* George Balzer & Hal Goldman & Al Gordon & Sam Perrin for The Jack Benny Show (1960)
* Dave O'Brien & Martin Ragaway & Sherwood Schwartz & Al Schwartz & Red Skelton for The Red Skelton Show (1961)
* Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1962)
* Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show (1963)
* No Award (1964)
* No Award (1965)
* Sam Denoff & Bill Persky for "Coast to Coast Big Mouth" (1966)
* Buck Henry & Leonard B. Stern for "Ship of Spies: Parts 1 and 2" (1967)
* Allan Burns & Chris Hayward for "The Coming Out Party" (1968)
* No Award (1969)

1970s|

* No Award (1970)
* James L. Brooks & Allan Burns for "Support Your Local Mother" (1971)
* Burt Styler for "Edith's Problem" (1972)
* Lee Kalcheim & Michael Ross & Bernie West for "The Bunkers and the Swingers" (1973)
* Treva Silverman for "The Lou and Edie Story" (1974)
* Stan Daniels & Ed. Weinberger for "Will Mary Richards Go to Jail?" (1975)
* David Lloyd for "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (1976)
* James L. Brooks & Allan Burns & Stan Daniels & Bob Ellison & David Lloyd & Ed. Weinberger for "The Last Show" (1977)
* Harve Brosten & Barry Harman & Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf for "Cousin Liz" (1978)
* No Award (1979)

1980s|

* R.J. Colleary for "The Photographer" (1980)
* Michael J. Leeson for "Tony's Sister and Jim" (1981)
* Ken Estin for "Elegant Iggy" (1982)
* Glen Charles and Les Charles for "Give Me a Ring Sometime" (1983)
* David Angell for "Old Flames" (1984)
* Ed. Weinberger & Michael J. Leeson for "Pilot" (The Cosby Show) (1985)
* Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan for "A Little Romance" (1986)
* Gary David Goldberg & Alan Uger for "A, My Name is Alex" (1987)
* Hugh Wilson for "The Bridge" (1988)
* Diane English for "Pilot" (Murphy Brown) (1989)

1990s|

* Bob Brush for "Good-bye" (1990)
* Gary Dontzig & Steven Peterman for "Jingle Hell, Jingle Hell, Jingle All the Way" (1991)
* Elaine Pope & Larry Charles for "The Fix-Up" (1992)
* Larry David for "The Contest" (1993)
* David Angell & Peter Casey & David Lee for "The Good Son" (1994)
* Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano for "An Affair to Forget" (1995)
* Joe Keenan & Christopher Lloyd & Rob Greenberg & Jack Burditt & Chuck Ranberg & Anne Flett-Giordano & Linda Morris & Vic Rauseo for "Moon Dance" (1996)
* Ellen DeGeneres & Mark Driscoll & Dava Savel & Tracy Newman & Jonathan Stark for "The Puppy Episode" (1997)
* Peter Tolan & Garry Shandling for "Flip" (1998)
* Jay Kogen for "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" (1999)

2000s|

* Linwood Boomer for "Pilot" (Malcolm in the Middle) (2000)
* Alex Reid for "Bowling" (2001)
* Larry Wilmore for "Pilot" (The Bernie Mac Show) (2002)
* Tucker Cawley for "Baggage" (2003)
* Mitchell Hurwitz for "Pilot" (Arrested Development) (2004)
* Mitchell Hurwitz & Jim Vallely for "Righteous Brothers" (2005)
* Greg Garcia for "Pilot" (My Name Is Earl) (2006)
* Greg Daniels for "Gay Witch Hunt" (2007)
* Tina Fey for "Cooter" (2008)
* Matt Hubbard for "Reunion" (2009)

2010s|

* Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd for "Pilot" (Modern Family) (2010)
* Steven Levitan & Jeffrey Richman for "Caught in the Act" (2011)
* Louis C.K. for "Pregnant" (2012)
* Tina Fey & Tracey Wigfield for "Last Lunch" (2013)
* Louis C.K. for "So Did the Fat Lady" (2014)
* Simon Blackwell & Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche for "Election Night" (2015)
* Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang for "Parents" (2016)
* Aziz Ansari & Lena Waithe for "Thanksgiving" (2017)
* Amy Sherman-Palladino for "Pilot" (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) (2018)
* Phoebe Waller-Bridge for "Episode 1" (2019)

2020s|

* Dan Levy for "Happy Ending" (2020)
* Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky for "There Is No Line" (2021)
* Quinta Brunson for "Pilot" (Abbott Elementary) (2022)
* Christopher Storer for "System" (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

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