19 August,2015 02:46 PM IST | | PTI
Film and television director-producer Bud Yorkin, who gave the groundbreaking television comedy 'All In The Family', has died. He was 89
Los Angeles: Film and television director-producer Bud Yorkin, who gave the groundbreaking television comedy 'All In The Family', has died. He was 89.
Yorkin died of natural causes at his home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, reported Deadline. Yorkin partnered with Norman Lear and made many television comedies including 'Maude', 'Good Times', 'The Jeffersons' and 'Sanford and Son'.
"In 1959, Bud produced and directed 'The Fred Astaire Show', which won nine Emmys. We then became partners. His was the horse we rode in on, and I couldn't love or appreciate him more," Lear said in a statement.
Yorkin won writing and directing Emmys for the special 'An Evening With Fred Astaire' (1959) and another for directing 'The Jack Benny Program' in 1960. He directed and co-produced many of the 1970s shows that broke the sitcom mold by introducing topical, real-world elements of class, race, politics and social change, as well as previously unseen settings into comic situations.
'All In The Family' was an an instant sensation when it bowed in January 1971, reigning as the number one primetime program for five seasons, and remained in the top 12 throughout the decade.
Yorkin also directed a number of features including 'Come Blow Your Horn' (1963), 'Never Too Late' (1965), 'The Thief Who Came To Dinner' (1973), and his final project 'Love Hurts' (1990). Yorkin is survived by his wife Cynthia Sikes, sons David and Michael, daughters Nicole and Jessica and four grandchildren. A private funeral is being planned.
