Emmy-winning TV director Peter Baldwin dead

TV director and actor Peter Baldwin is no more. He was 86. Baldwin died on November 19 in Pebble Beach, California, reports variety.com. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for directing 'The Wonder Years' and a Cable ACE Award for 'Dream On'. His death was announced on the Facebook pages of his daughter Eleonora Baldwin and his son Drew Baldwin.

Born in Winnetka, Illinois, Baldwin was discovered by a Hollywood talent scout in his senior year at Stanford. He became one of Paramount's 'Golden Circle of Newcomers' and appeared in films including 'Stalag 17', 'Little Boy Lost' and Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments'. He served three years in the Navy and returned to Paramount, where he appeared in 'The Tin Star' and 'Teacher's Pet' with Clark Gable and Doris Day.

After touring with Julie Harris in 'The Warm Peninsula' play, Baldwin moved to Italy. In 1964, he won first prize at the Venice Film Festival for 'Some Sort of Cage', a docudrama about Synanon House, which he wrote, produced and directed. He went on to direct hundreds of episodes of popular shows including 'The Andy Griffith Show', 'The Partridge Family', 'Mary Tyler Moore', 'The Brady Bunch', 'Sanford and Son', 'The Bob Newhart Show', 'Happy Days', 'Chico and the Man', 'The Love Boat', 'Family Ties', 'ALF', 'Full House', 'WKRP In Cincinnati', 'Sabrina, The Teenage Witch' and 'Even Stevens.'

He also directed comedy feature film 'Meet Wally Sparks' starring Rodney Dangerfield and produced the HBO movie 'As Summers Die' starring Bette Davis, Jamie Leigh Curtis, and Scott Glenn. After retiring to Pebble Beach, he served on the board of the Pacific Repertory Theater in Carmel-By-The-Sea. He is survived by his wife, Terry, son, daughters Amy Anderson and Eleonora, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.