Marvin Chomsky obit

Marvin J. Chomsky, ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Roots’ Director, Dies at 92

The four-time Emmy winner also helmed the features 'Evel Knievel' and 'Tank,' the telefilm 'Death of a Salesman' and the miniseries 'Billionaire Boys Club.'

 

 He was not on the list.

Marvin J. Chomsky, a four-time Emmy-winning director with credits including Roots, Star Trek and Hawaii Five-O, has died. He was 92.

Chomsky died Monday evening of natural causes in a hospice facility in Santa Monica, his son, producer Peter Chomsky, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Chomsky called the shots for such features as Evel Knievel (1971), starring George Hamilton, and Tank (1984), starring James Garner, and helmed the straight-from-the headlines miniseries Billionaire Boys Club in 1987.

He won his Emmys for his work on the 1978 miniseries Holocaust, the 1980 telefilm Attica, the 1982 telefilm Inside the Third Reich and the 1986 miniseries Peter the Great. He collected five other nominations during his career.

Born in New York City in 1929, Chomsky started out as a set decorator and art director. He began his directing career in 1964 with the medical drama The Doctors and the Nurses, then followed with episodes of other series including The Wild Wild West, Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Mannix and Police Story.

Chomsky directed three episodes of NBC’s original Star Trek — “And the Children Shall Lead” and “Day of the Dove” in 1968 and “All Our Yesterdays” in 1969 — and in 1977 helmed two episodes of the groundbreaking ABC miniseries Roots.

He also directed numerous TV movies including Assault on the Wayne, Fireball Forward, Invitation to a March with Blythe Danner, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Telling Secrets with Cybill Shepherd and Doctor Franken.

His last credit came for directing and producing the 1995 telefilm Catherine the Great, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Chomsky also served as a producer on a number of projects, including a 1966 TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman, starring Lee J. Cobb, and the 1966 sci-fi film The Bubble, starring Michael Cole.

Survivors include his three sons, Peter (and his wife, Genelle), Eric and David; and his granddaughter, Liliana.

He also directed Vanessa Redgrave in the 1982 TV movie, My Body, My Child, the miniseries Brotherhood of the Rose (1989) with Robert Mitchum, Peter Strauss and David Morse.

Director (68 credits)

 1995 Catherine the Great (TV Movie)

 1993 Triumph Over Disaster: The Hurricane Andrew Story (TV Movie)

 1993 Telling Secrets (TV Movie)

 1991 Strauss Dynasty (TV Mini Series) (8 episodes)

- Adele (1991)

- Hetti (1991)

- Lili (1991)

- Josef (1991)

- Revolution of 1848 (1991)

1989 Brotherhood of the Rose (TV Mini Series) (2 episodes)

- Part II (1989)

- Part I (1989)

 1988 I'll Be Home for Christmas (TV Movie)

 1987 Billionaire Boys Club (TV Mini Series) (2 episodes)

- Part II (1987)

- Part I (1987)

 1987 Angel in Green (TV Movie)

 1986 Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- Part II (1986)

- Part I (1986)

 1986 The Deliberate Stranger (TV Mini Series) (2 episodes)

- Part 2 (1986)

- Part 1 (1986)

 1986 Peter the Great (TV Mini Series) (4 episodes)

- Part IV (1986)

- Part III (1986)

- Part II (1986)

- Part I (1986)

 1985 Robert Kennedy and His Times (TV Mini Series) (1 episode)

- Episode #1.1 (1985)

 1984 Nairobi Affair (TV Movie)

 1984 Tank

 1982 I Was a Mail Order Bride (TV Movie) (directed by)

 1982 Inside the Third Reich (TV Movie)

 1982 My Body, My Child (TV Movie)

 1981 Evita Peron (TV Movie)

 1980 King Crab (TV Movie)

 1980 Attica (TV Movie)

 1980 Doctor Franken (TV Movie)

 1979 Hollow Image (TV Movie)

 1979 Playboy's 25th Anniversary Celebration (TV Movie documentary)

 1979 Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff

 1978 Holocaust (TV Mini Series) (4 episodes)

- Part 4: 1944-1945 (1978)

- Part 3: 1942-1944 (1978)

- Part 2: 1941-1942 (1978)

- Part 1: 1935-1940 (1978)

 1977 Big Hawaii (TV Series)

 1977 Danger in Paradise (TV Movie)

 1977 Roots (TV Mini Series) (2 episodes)

- Part IV (1977)

- Part III (1977)

 1977 Little Ladies of the Night (TV Movie)

 1976 Victory at Entebbe (TV Movie) (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1976 Law and Order (TV Movie)

 1976 Brinks: The Great Robbery (TV Movie)

 1975 Mackintosh and T.J.

 1975 Murph the Surf (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1975 A Matter of Wife... and Death (TV Movie)

 1975 Kate McShane (TV Series) (1 episode)

- Kate McShane (1975) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1975 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (TV Movie)

 1974 The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One (TV Movie)

 1974 Mrs. Sundance (TV Movie) (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1973 Police Story (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- The Ten Year Honeymoon (1973) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Requiem for an Informer (1973) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1973 The Magician (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- The Vanishing Lady (1973) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Pilot (1973) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1973 Mannix (TV Series) (1 episode)

- Little Girl Lost (1973)

 1973 Female Artillery (TV Movie)

 1972 Sam Cade (TV Movie)

 1972 Banyon (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- Just Once (1972)

- Think of Me Kindly (1972)

 1972 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (TV Series) (1 episode)

- A Purge of Madness (1972) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1972 Family Flight (TV Movie) (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1970-1972 Hawaii Five-O (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- Pig in a Blanket (1972) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Three Dead Cows at Makapuu: Part II (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Three Dead Cows at Makapuu: Part I (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1972 Invitation to a March (TV Movie)

 1971-1972 Cade's County (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- Jessie (1972)

- Delegate at Large (1971)

- Homecoming (1971)

 1972 Fireball Forward (TV Movie)

 1972 Cannon (TV Series) (1 episode)

- Devil's Playground (1972) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1970-1971 Mission: Impossible (TV Series) (4 episodes)

- Run for the Money (1971) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Mindbend (1971) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Terror (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Phantoms (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1971 Mongo's Back in Town (TV Movie)

 1971 Bearcats! (TV Series) (1 episode)

- The Hostage (1971) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1971 Evel Knievel (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1970-1971 The Interns (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- Castle of the Lion (1971)

- Mondays Can Be Fatal (1970)

 1970-1971 The Name of the Game (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- Beware of the Watchdog (1971) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- A Capitol Affair (1971) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- So Long, Baby, and Amen (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1971 Assault on the Wayne (TV Movie) (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1970 The Magical World of Disney (TV Series) (2 episodes)

- The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City: Part 2 (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City: Part 1 (1970) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1970 Men at Law (TV Series)

 1969 Lancer (TV Series) (1 episode)

- A Scarecrow at Hacket's (1969)

 1968-1969 Gunsmoke (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- The Innocent (1969)

- Railroad! (1968)

- 9:12 to Dodge (1968)

 1969 Then Came Bronson (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- Amid Splinters of the Thunderbolt (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Old Motorcycle Fiasco (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Runner (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1968-1969 Star Trek (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- All Our Yesterdays (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Day of the Dove (1968) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- And the Children Shall Lead (1968) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1967-1969 The Wild Wild West (TV Series) (11 episodes)

- The Night of the Bleak Island (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Night of the Winged Terror: Part II (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Night of the Winged Terror: Part 1 (1969) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Night of the Camera (1968) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Night of the Egyptian Queen (1968) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

1967 Maya (TV Series) (5 episodes)

- A Bus for Ramabad (1967) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Will the Real Prince Please Get Lost (1967) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- The Caper of the Golden Roe (1967) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Tiger Boy (1967) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

- Blood of the Tiger (1967) ... (as Marvin Chomsky)

 1964-1965 The Doctors and the Nurses (TV Series) (3 episodes)

- An Unweeded Garden (1965)

- A Messenger to Everyone (1964)

- The Bystanders (1964)