Michael Preece obit

Michael Preece, Prolific ‘Dallas’ and ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ Director, Dies at 88

Randy Newman’s father-in-law started out as a script supervisor on films including ‘Mutiny on the Bounty,’ ‘How the West Was Won’ and ‘The Getaway.’

 He was not on the list.

Michael Preece, the script supervisor turned director who called the shots on multiple episodes of series including Hunter, Dallas and Walker, Texas Ranger, died Thursday. He was 88.

Preece died of heart failure at his Brentwood home in Los Angeles, his daughter, Gretchen Preece-Newman — wife of two-time Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman — told The Hollywood Reporter.

Preece directed 19 episodes of NBC’s Hunter from 1984-90 during the show’s first six seasons; 62 installments of CBS’ Dallas from 1981-91 (seasons four through 14), plus the 1997 reunion telefilm War of the Ewings; and 70 episodes of CBS’ Walker, Texas Ranger during its nine-season, 1993-2001 run.

Preece also worked on The Bionic Woman, Barnaby Jones, Fantasy Island, Flamingo Road, T.J. Hooker, The New Mike Hammer, Riptide, Knots Landing, Falcon Crest, MacGyver, 7th Heaven and many other series before calling it a career in 2007.

Michael Conway Preece was born in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, 1936. His mother, Thelma, founded the Script Clerks Guild (later IATSE’s Script Supervisor Local 871), and his father, Harold, was a cigarette and cigar salesman.

Preece graduated from Alexander Hamilton High School and while a freshman at Santa Monica City College during the summer of 1955 landed a job in set continuity on the syndicated series Waterfront, starring Preston Foster.

He then worked as a script supervisor for all three seasons of NBC’s I Spy (1965-68) and on films including The Old Man and the Sea (1958), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), True Grit (1969), The Hawaiians (1970), The Getaway (1972), The Paper Chase (1973) and Breakheart Pass (1975).

Preece graduated to director in ’75 on an episode of ABC’s The Streets of San Francisco and went on to helm two features, The Prize Fighter (1979) and Beretta’s Island (1993).

Preece by far directed the most Walker, Texas Ranger episodes, and on Dallas, only Leonard Katzman helmed more (only five more, in fact).

In a 2012 interview, Preece said there was a saying on the set of Dallas that the show was “director proof,” meaning no director could screw it up.

“Larry [Hagman] knew his character. He had a tendency to go a little bigger than was needed, so you’d try to curb him a little bit,” he noted. “Or if he didn’t know his lines well, sometimes he would have them written on cue cards and I’d say, ‘Larry, you sound like you’re reading it.’ But basically, he needed very little direction — and that was true of much of the cast. They made it easy.”

Preece was a longtime employee of Lorimar Productions, and before he would ever a direct on Dallas, he filmed each castmember firing a gun in order to ensure that no one would know who really shot Hagman’s J.R. Ewing in the show’s iconic third-season cliff-hanger that aired in March 1980.

In addition to his daughter — she said her dad was especially proud to have such an accomplished musician as Newman as his son-in-law — survivors include his son, Gary; grandchildren Jason, Ariana, Molly, Patrick, Alice and Adrian; great-grandchildren Jason and Emma; and great-great-grandson Julian.

He met his first wife, Paula, at Hamilton, and they were married from 1953 until their 1968 divorce. He was then married to Hollywood hairstylist Evelyn Preece from 1969 until her 2017 death.

Director

Shadows Over Sulphur Falls

Director

Pre-production

 

Jessica Biel, Beverley Mitchell, Barry Watson, David Gallagher, Catherine Hicks, Mackenzie Rosman, and Happy in 7th Heaven (1996)

7th Heaven

5.3

TV Series

Director

2004–2007

13 episodes

 

Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger (1993)

Walker, Texas Ranger

5.7

TV Series

Director

1993–2001

70 episodes

 

The President's Man (2000)

The President's Man

4.7

TV Movie

Director

2000

 

Chuck Norris, Marco Sanchez, and James Wlcek in Sons of Thunder (1999)

Sons of Thunder

5.9

TV Series

Director

1999

1 episode

 

Chuck Norris and Eddie Cibrian in Logan's War: Bound by Honor (1998)

Logan's War: Bound by Honor

5.2

TV Movie

Director

1998

 

Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, and Linda Gray in Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998)

Dallas: War of the Ewings

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1998

 

The Lazarus Man (1996)

The Lazarus Man

7.4

TV Series

Director

1996

2 episodes

 

Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Alexandra Paul, David Hasselhoff, David Chokachi, Gena Lee Nolin, and Jaason Simmons in Baywatch (1989)

Baywatch

5.5

TV Series

Director

1995

1 episode

 

Walker Texas Ranger 3: Deadly Reunion (1994)

Walker Texas Ranger 3: Deadly Reunion

5.0

Director

1994

 

Hulk Hogan, Felicity Waterman, and Robin Weisman in Thunder in Paradise (1994)

Thunder in Paradise

5.3

TV Series

Director

1994

 

Lorenzo Lamas, Kathleen Kinmont, and Branscombe Richmond in Renegade (1992)

Renegade

5.9

TV Series

Director

1993

1 episode

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jo Champa, and Franco Columbu in Beretta's Island (1993)

Beretta's Island

2.7

Director

1993

 

The Young Riders (1989)

The Young Riders

7.7

TV Series

Director

1991–1992

4 episodes

 

Richard Dean Anderson in MacGyver (1985)

MacGyver

7.6

TV Series

Director

1989–1991

11 episodes

 

Victoria Principal, Barbara Bel Geddes, Patrick Duffy, Larry Hagman, Charlene Tilton, Jim Davis, Linda Gray, and Steve Kanaly in Dallas (1978)

Dallas

7.1

TV Series

Director

1981–1991

62 episodes

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

Director

1984–1990

19 episodes

 

Wolf (1989)

Wolf

6.7

TV Series

Director

1989

1 episode

 

Falcon Crest (1981)

Falcon Crest

6.2

TV Series

Director

1981–1989

10 episodes

 

Donna Mills, Joan Van Ark, Michele Lee, Constance McCashin, John Pleshette, and Ted Shackelford in Knots Landing (1979)

Knots Landing

7.0

TV Series

Director

1986–1988

3 episodes

 

William Conrad and Joe Penny in Jake and the Fatman (1987)

Jake and the Fatman

6.4

TV Series

Director

1987

1 episode

 

Nick Mancuso in Stingray (1986)

Stingray

7.4

TV Series

Director

1986

1 episode

 

Riptide (1984)

Riptide

6.8

TV Series

Director

1986

1 episode

 

Jeff Conaway, Jonelle Allen, Laura Ashton, Claudia Christian, Art Hindle, Leslie Hope, Yvette Mimieux, Anita Morris, Ben Murphy, Robin Strand, Eddie Velez, and Sam Wanamaker in Berrenger's (1985)

Berrenger's

7.2

TV Series

Director

1985

1 episode

 

Stacy Keach in The New Mike Hammer (1984)

The New Mike Hammer

6.8

TV Series

Director

1984

5 episodes

 

Boone (1983)

Boone

7.8

TV Series

Director

1983–1984

2 episodes

 

Great Day (1983)

Great Day

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1983

 

Ace Crawford... Private Eye (1983)

Ace Crawford... Private Eye

6.4

TV Series

Director

1983

4 episodes

 

T.J. Hooker (1982)

T.J. Hooker

6.1

TV Series

Director

1982–1983

3 episodes

 

Morgan Fairchild, Mark Harmon, and Cristina Raines in Flamingo Road (1980)

Flamingo Road

6.5

TV Series

Director

1981–1982

2 episodes

 

Lou Ferrigno and Bill Bixby in The Incredible Hulk (1977)

The Incredible Hulk

7.0

TV Series

Director

1982

1 episode

 

Pernell Roberts in Trapper John, M.D. (1979)

Trapper John, M.D.

6.6

TV Series

Director

1981

1 episode

 

Greg Evigan in B.J. and the Bear (1978)

B.J. and the Bear

6.4

TV Series

Director

1980–1981

2 episodes

 

Hector Elizondo and Tom Mason in Freebie and the Bean (1980)

Freebie and the Bean

6.2

TV Series

Director

1980–1981

2 episodes

 

Ricardo Montalban and Hervé Villechaize in Fantasy Island (1977)

Fantasy Island

6.6

TV Series

Director

1980

1 episode

 

Douglas Barr, Philip Brown, Susan Buckner, Tim Rossovich, and Dolph Sweet in When the Whistle Blows (1980)

When the Whistle Blows

5.3

TV Series

Director

1980

3 episodes

 

Buddy Ebsen in Barnaby Jones (1973)

Barnaby Jones

6.9

TV Series

Director

1978–1980

5 episodes

 

Shirley (1979)

Shirley

5.7

TV Series

Director

1980

1 episode

 

A Man Called Sloane (1979)

A Man Called Sloane

6.4

TV Series

Director

1979

4 episodes

 

The Prize Fighter (1979)

The Prize Fighter

5.6

Director

1979

 

John Colicos in The Paradise Connection (1979)

The Paradise Connection

7.3

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

Michael Biehn and Patti Cohoon-Friedman in The Runaways (1978)

The Runaways

6.2

TV Series

Director

1978–1979

2 episodes

 

The Bionic Woman (1976)

The Bionic Woman

6.7

TV Series

Director

1977

3 episodes

 

Gregory Harrison and Heather Menzies-Urich in Logan's Run (1977)

Logan's Run

7.1

TV Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

The Streets of San Francisco (1972)

The Streets of San Francisco

7.3

TV Series

Director

1975–1977

2 episodes

 

Jo Ann Harris, Shelly Novack, and Robert Stack in Most Wanted (1976)

Most Wanted

6.7

TV Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

Kim Basinger in Dog and Cat (1977)

Dog and Cat

6.0

TV Series

Director

1977

 

Brenda Vaccaro in Sara (1976)

Sara

7.2

TV Series

Director

1976

1 episode

 

Actor

Falcon Crest (1981)

Falcon Crest

6.2

TV Series

Arnold - Riebmann's Guard #1

1985

1 episode

 

Skullduggery (1970)

Skullduggery

4.7

Naylor

1970

 

Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in I Spy (1965)

I Spy

7.2

TV Series

Patrolman

Phantom #2

Border Guard

1967–1968

3 episodes

 

James Arness, Amanda Blake, Milburn Stone, and Dennis Weaver in Gunsmoke (1955)

Gunsmoke

8.1

TV Series

Harry Barnes

1967

1 episode

 

Second Unit or Assistant Director

The Sand Runner

assistant director

In Production

 

The City (1977)

The City

5.9

TV Movie

second unit director

1977

 

Script and Continuity Department

Charles Bronson in Breakheart Pass (1975)

Breakheart Pass

6.7

script supervisor (as Mike Preece)

1975

 

Mitchell (1975)

Mitchell

2.8

script supervisor

1975

 

The Gun and the Pulpit (1974)

The Gun and the Pulpit

5.7

TV Movie

script supervisor (as Mike Preece)

1974

 

Anthony Quinn, Robert Forster, Frederic Forrest, and Carlos Romero in The Don Is Dead (1973)

The Don Is Dead

6.2

script supervisor (uncredited)

1973

 

The Paper Chase (1973)

The Paper Chase

7.2

script supervisor

1973

 

Lady Ice (1973)

Lady Ice

4.8

script supervisor

1973

 

The Getaway (1972)

The Getaway

7.3

script supervisor

1972

 

The Hawaiians (1970)

The Hawaiians

6.1

script supervisor

1970

 

Bill Cosby and Robert Culp in I Spy (1965)

I Spy

7.2

TV Series

script supervisor

1965–1968

82 episodes

 

Mike Connors in Mannix (1967)

Mannix

7.4

TV Series

script supervisor

1968

2 episodes

 

How the West Was Won (1962)

How the West Was Won

7.1

script supervisor

1962

 

Ron Foster and Anita Sands in The Diary of a High School Bride (1959)

The Diary of a High School Bride

5.3

script supervisor (as Mike Preece)

1959

 

Men in War (1957)

Men in War

7.1

script supervisor

1957

 

Preston Foster in Waterfront (1954)

Waterfront

7.6

TV Series

set continuity

1954–1956

1 episode

 

Thanks

Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal

Video

special thanks

2025

 

The Collector (2012)

The Collector

7.1

Short

special thanks

2012

 

Self

Forces of Nature: Anthony Mann at Universal

Video

Self - Script Supervisor for Anthony Mann

2025

 

American Frontiers: Anthony Mann at Universal

Video

Self

2019

 

Doing Dallas

8.1

TV Special

Self

2000