Lucky Chances
1990 · TV Show
Director
Buzz Kulik
1922-07-23
•
Kearny, New Jersey, USA
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.
Crew Credits
Around the World in 80 Days
1989 · TV Show
Director, Creator
Too Young The Hero
1988 · Movie
Director
Her Secret Life
1987 · Movie
Director, Producer
Women of Valor
1986 · Movie
Director, Producer
Kane & Abel
1985 · TV Show
Director, Supervising Producer
George Washington
1984 · TV Show
Producer, Associate Producer, Director, Writer
Rage of Angels
1983 · TV Show
Director
The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper
1981 · Movie
Additional Writing
The Hunter
1980 · Movie
Director
From Here to Eternity
1979 · TV Show
Director, Producer
Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women
1978 · Movie
Director, Producer
Never Con a Killer
1977 · Movie
Director, Producer
Babe
1977 · Movie
Director
Kill Me If You Can
1977 · Movie
Director
Corey: For the People
1977 · Movie
Executive Producer, Director
The Feather And Father Gang
1977 · TV Show
Director
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
1976 · Movie
Director
Cage Without a Key
1975 · Movie
Director, Producer
Matt Helm
1975 · Movie
Director, Producer
Remember When
1974 · Movie
Director
Bad Ronald
1974 · Movie
Director
No image
Give Me Liberty
1974 · Movie
Director
Shamus
1973 · Movie
Director
Incident on a Dark Street
1973 · Movie
Director
Pioneer Woman
1973 · Movie
Director
Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John
1973 · Movie
Director
Crawlspace
1972 · Movie
Director
To Find a Man
1972 · Movie
Director
The Man Who Came to Dinner
1972 · Movie
Director
Brian's Song
1971 · Movie
Director
Vanished
1971 · TV Show
Director
A Storm in Summer
1970 · Movie
Director
Riot
1969 · Movie
Director
Villa Rides
1968 · Movie
Director
Sergeant Ryker
1968 · Movie
Director
Warning Shot
1967 · Movie
Director, Producer
Ready for the People
1964 · Movie
Director
No image
Kentucky Jones
1964 · TV Show
Producer, Director
The Yellow Canary
1963 · Movie
Director
The Great Adventure
1963 · TV Show
Director
No image
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 · TV Show
Director
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963 · TV Show
Director
The Lieutenant
1963 · TV Show
Director
The Richard Boone Show
1963 · TV Show
Director
Saints and Sinners
1962 · TV Show
Director
The Explosive Generation
1961 · Movie
Director
The Dick Powell Show
1961 · TV Show
Director
Cain's Hundred
1961 · TV Show
Director
The Defenders
1961 · TV Show
Director
Dr. Kildare
1961 · TV Show
Director
The Killers of Mussolini
1959 · Movie
Director
The Twilight Zone
1959 · TV Show
Director
Rawhide
1959 · TV Show
Director
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 · TV Show
Director
Naked City
1958 · TV Show
Director
No image
Pursuit
1958 · TV Show
Director
Collector’s Item
1957 · Movie
Director
Perry Mason
1957 · TV Show
Director
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957 · TV Show
Director
No Right to Kill
1956 · Movie
Director
Gunsmoke
1955 · TV Show
Director
Climax!
1954 · TV Show
Director
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · TV Show
Director
No image
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · TV Show
Director
Studio One
1948 · TV Show
Director
